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] Beher may be related to the Orthodox Tewahedo Christian word for "Lord, God", egziabher "Lord of the World".[2]
History
editBeher is the god of the land and of the sea and is associated with agricultural fertility.[1] He is also identified with Meder, the earth mother. All of these names appear together in the writings of Ezana of Axum, in which the throne is dedicated to Astar, Beher, and Meder.[3] 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.[2]
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.[4]
References
edit- ^ a b "Ancient Axumite Pantheon - Afropedea". www.afropedea.org. Retrieved 2022-11-14.
- ^ a b Munro-Hay, S. C. (1991). Aksum : an African civilisation of late antiquity. Edinburgh University Press. OCLC 555231651.
- ^ Trimingham, Spencer J. (2013). Islam in Ethiopia. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-299-86698-0. OCLC 858654193.
- ^ Cartwright, Mark (March 21, 2019). "Kingdom of Axum" (PDF). Ancient History Encyclopedia.
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