Abgal – the dream maker Arabian Mythology
Abgal – the dream maker
Culture Pre Islamic north Arabian
Classification: Jinn
Associated: the deserted
Sacred Place; Temple at Khirbet Semrin
Known from the Palmyrian Desert regions as a tutelary god of
the Bedouins and Nomads.
Representations of him are of a youth with long hair and a
moustache, wearing local garb, and holding a lance.
He was venerated in the 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 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 Palmyrene Empire.
The Sumerian people of Mesopotamia believed in the seven
wise deities that attended to the god Enki. They were also called the Apkallu
by the Akkadian people. Some ancient texts mentioned them as the Ummanu. They
were often described as being upright like mankind, but having fish heads.
(Some say they even had bird heads.) They represented wisdom and knowledge.
Here are the names of the seven sages:
Uanna, "who finished the plans for heaven and
earth",
Uannedugga, "who was endowed with comprehensive
intelligence",
Enmedugga, "who was allotted a good fate",
Enmegalamma, "who was born in a house",
Enmebulugga, "who grew up on pasture land",
An-Enlilda, "the conjurer of the city of Eridu",
Utuabzu, "who ascended to heaven".
It also appears that the Sumerian people believed in divine
right to rule, which many ancient civilizations did. To support this, there
would be an Abgal sage to attend to each king.
