Abgal () was a pre-Islamic Arabian god, whose worship is attested by inscriptions dating to the

Palmyrene Empire The Palmyrene Empire was a short-lived breakaway state from the Roman Empire resulting from the Crisis of the Third Century. Named after its capital city, Palmyra, it encompassed the Roman provinces of Syria Palaestina, Arabia Petraea, and Egypt ...

– he is thought to have been primarily worshipped by nomads.

Overview

Abgal is known as a

tutelary deity A tutelary (; also tutelar) is a deity or a Nature spirit, spirit who is a guardian, patron, or protector of a particular place, geographic feature, person, lineage, nation, culture, or occupation. The etymology of "tutelary" expresses the concept ...

of the Arabs (or

jinn Jinn or djinn (), alternatively genies, are supernatural beings in pre-Islamic Arabian religion and Islam. Their existence is generally defined as parallel to humans, as they have free will, are accountable for their deeds, and can be either ...

) in the

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

region. Representations of him are of a youth with long hair and a moustache, wearing local garb, and holding a

lance The English term lance is derived, via Middle English '' launce'' and Old French '' lance'', from the Latin '' lancea'', a generic term meaning a wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generic term meaning a spear">wikt:lancea#Noun">lancea'', a generi ...

. He had a Greco-Roman style temple at Khirbet Semrin where he is portrayed on a relief riding a horse, equipped with bow and quiver attached to the saddle. A

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

with imagery of Abgal and Ashar, and earlier inscriptions at Kirbet-Semrin dates the active 'worship' of this jinn to between 154 and 270 AD – references to the deity appear in the

but curiously none have been found at

itself. A monument from Jebel al-Abiad (153AD) mentions him together with the deities Bel,

Baalshamin Baalshamin (), also called Baal Shamem () and Baal Shamaim (), was a Northwest Semitic god and a title applied to different gods at different places or times in ancient Middle Eastern inscriptions, especially in Canaan/Phoenicia and Syria. The t ...

, Aglibol,

Malakbel Malakbel ( Palmyrene Aramaic 𐡬𐡫𐡪𐡡𐡫 ) was a sun god worshipped in the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, frequently associated and worshipped with the moon god Aglibol as a party of a trinity involving the sky god Baalshamin. Etym ...

Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion and myth, Nemesis (; ) also called Rhamnousia (or Rhamnusia; ), was the goddess who personified retribution for the sin of hubris: arrogance before the gods. Etymology The name ''Nemesis'' is derived from the Greek ...

, and

Arsu Arsu was a god worshipped in Palmyra, Syria. A deity known from Syrian and northern Arabian lands, being represented as either male or female (most often). Arsu was connected with the evening star. Frequently portrayed as riding a camel and acc ...

, though according to he was a god of nomads, and usually mentioned in association with nomadic gods such as

Azizos In ancient Arab mythology, Azizos or Aziz ( Palmyrene: 𐡰𐡦𐡩𐡦 ''ʿzyz'') is the Palmyran Arab god of the morning star. He is portrayed as riding a camel with his twin brother Arsu, although one source says that "Azizos is depicted as ...

, Maan, Ashar, or Shalman. According to representation of such deities (also

, Asar, and Azizu) as armed and mounted men in statuary in a pair together was common across the desert regions of Syria/Mesopotamia – and together these representations may have represented divine protection.

References

Sources

* * Arabian gods Tutelary gods Palmyrene Empire {{MEast-myth-stub