Sama (god)
Samaʿ ( Old South Arabic s 1 mʿ "the hearing one") was an Old South Arabic god who was worshiped mainly in Sum'ay in the west of Saba . Places of worship of the Samaʿ were in Muhalum (today Jidfir ibn Muneichir ), where he was referred to as the “listener of the gazelle” (s 1 mʿ ḏẓbyt), on the Jebel Dhahab , a mountain near Raida and possibly also in a few other places. Like Almaqah , he had the bull as a sacred animal. In the 5th century BC He was ousted by Ta'lab in Samaʿi , but elsewhere his veneration continued for several centuries. He may have been a moon god like Almaqah, or an oracle god like Ta'lab because of his name.
literature
- Maria Höfner : South Arabia (Saba ', Qatabān etc.). In: Hans Wilhelm Haussig (Hrsg.): Götter und Mythen im Vorderen Orient (= dictionary of mythology . Department 1: The ancient cultures. Volume 1). Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 1965.
- Hartmut Gese , Maria Höfner, Kurt Rudolph : The religions of Old Syria, Altarabia and the Mandaeans ( The religions of humanity . Volume 10.2). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart a. a. 1970.