Beher (god)

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Beher was the pre-Christian Ethiopian (Aksumite) god of the sea. He was part of a trinity of pre-Christian Eritrean and Ethiopian religion, together with Astar (god of sun and moon) and Mahrem (god of war and head god). [1] The name Beher is likely derived from the Arabic bahr(sea). [2]

History

Beher is the god of the land and of the sea and is associated with agricultural fertility. [1] He also appears to be identified with Meder, the Earth-Mother. Beher may be related to the Eritrean and Ethiopian Christian word for God, egziabher, originally 'Lord of the Land' as well as 'Lord of the World'. [3] All of these names appear together in the writings of Ezana in which the throne is dedicated to Astar, Beher, and Meder. [4] For the Aksumites, these gods are comparable to the Greeks'. Astar was associated with Zeus while Mahrem was parallel with Ares. Beher was associated to Poseidon. [3]

Beher and other gods of this religion likely had animal sacrifices made in their honor, mostly cattle or possibly votives as representations for those animals. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 "Ancient Axumite Pantheon - Afropedea". www.afropedea.org. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
  2. Richmond Palmer, H. (June 1941). "Trident-Gods in Sahara and Western Sudan". Man. 41. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland: 60–62. doi:10.2307/2793346. JSTOR   2793346 via JSTOR.
  3. 1 2 Munro-Hay, S. C. (1991). Aksum : an African civilisation of late antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. OCLC   555231651.
  4. Trimingham, Spencer J. (2013). Islam in Ethiopia. Routledge. ISBN   978-1-299-86698-0. OCLC   858654193.
  5. Cartwright, Mark (March 21, 2019). "Kingdom of Axum" (PDF). Ancient History Encyclopedia.