Almaqah

Sabaean inscription addressed to the god Almaqah, mentioning five ancient Yemeni gods, two reigning sovereigns and two governors,7th century,BCE

Al-maqah or Il-muqah or El-muqah (Epigraphic South Arabian ; Ge'ez አለመቀሀ, ʾLMQH, Arabic ايل مقة ) was the main god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba' and the kingdoms of Dʿmt and Aksum in Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia. On Al-maqah being the sun god scholar Jacques Ryckmans states; "Almaqah is considered a moon god, but Garbini and Pirenne have shown that the bull's head and the vine motif associated with him may have solar and dionysiac attributes. He was therefore a sun god, the male counterpart of the sun goddess Šams, who was also venerated in Saba, but as a tutelary goddess of the royal dynasty."[1] The ruling dynasty of Saba' regarded themselves as his children. Almaqah is represented on monuments by a cluster of lightning bolts surrounding a curved, sickle-like weapon. Bulls were sacred to him.

The word El-Muqah means God the Preserver or God of Muqah, El is God in the Sabaean, Akkadian, Phoenician, Northwest Semitic languages.
While Muqah means the Preserver or the Strong or it refers to the city of Muqah (Makkah).

See also

• Ancient history of Yemen