Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

AMATERASU-O-MI-KAMI 13The creator god of Islam. Perceived in pre-Islamic times as the creator of the earth and water.Named by the prophet Muhammad as the onetrue god and given a hundred names or epithetsin the Qur’an, ninety-nine of which are known tomankind and accounted on the rosary beads; thefinal name remains a mystery. No representationof Allah is made in art.Allat (goddess)Astral and tutelary goddess. Pre-Islamic northernand central Arabian. One of the three daughtersof ALLAH. At Palmyra she was regularly invokedas a domestic guardian either as Allat or ASTARTEwith whom she is closely linked. At Ta’if she wassymbolized in the form of a white granite stone.In Hellenic times she became syncretized withATHENA or, according to Herodotus who calledher Alilat, with APHRODITE.See also ATARŠAMAIN.Allatu(m)Chthonic underworld goddess. Western Semitic.Modeled on the Mesopotamian goddess EREŠ-KIGAL and possibly also equating with ARSAY inCanaanite mythology. Recognized by theCarthaginians as Allatu.AlmaqahTutelary astral god. Pre-Islamic southern Arabian.Worshiped by the Saba tribe, his sacred animalis the bull. Attributes include lightning boltsand a sinuate weapon.AlpanuChthonic underworld goddess. Etruscan.Depicted wearing jewels, a loose cloak and sandalsbut otherwise naked. Also arguably a goddessof sexual love.Ama-arhusFertility goddess. Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian). Mentioned in texts as being amongthe pantheon at Uruk in Hellenistic times butalso found as an earlier manifestation of the godGULA. Also Arad-Ama-arhus, Amat-Ama-arhus.AmaethonGod of agriculture. Celtic (Welsh). A son of DONand brother of GWYDION, he is known from alimited number of Welsh texts and was engagedin a mythical battle against the ARAWN. Associatedwith ploughing and husbandry. The modernWelsh name for a farmer is amaethwr.AmašagnulFertility goddess. Mesopotamian (Babylonian-Akkadian). Mentioned in prebend documentsfrom the Hellenistic period at Uruk and thoughtto be the consort of the god PAPSUKKAL.AMATERASU-O-MI-KAMIORIGIN Shinto [Japan]. Sun goddess.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa AD 600 or earlieruntil present.SYNONYMS Shinmei; O-Hiru-Me-No-Muchi;Tensho-Ko-Daijin.CENTER(S) OF CULT Ise Naiku shrine; many othersthroughout Japan.ART REFERENCES sculptures and paintings, etc.LITERARY SOURCES Nihongi; Kojiki (Japanesesacred texts).The central figure of Shintoism and the ancestraldeity of the imperial house. One of the daughtersof the primordial god IZANAGI and said to be hisfavorite offspring, she was born from his left eye.She is the sibling of SUSANO-WO, the storm god.According to mythology she and Susano-Woare obliged to join each other in order to survive.