Editing Sheba (section)

=== The gods ===
[[File:CIH 393.jpg|thumb|The inscription CIH 393 with the symbol of Almaqah in the top<ref>{{Cite web |title=DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Object details |url=https://dasi.cnr.it/index.php?id=80&prjId=1&corId=27&colId=0&navId=837242924&recId=3961 |access-date=2025-01-17 |website=dasi.cnr.it}}</ref>]]
Limitations in the available evidence prevent a full reconstruction of the full religious world in Ancient South Arabian kingdoms. While many of the known inscriptions speak about gods, most only hand down the name of the divinity without describing its nature, function, or cult. It is not known, for example, if these kingdoms had a god of war or a god of the underworld. Familial relationships between the gods are frequently mentioned, however.{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|pp=51–52}}
[[File:Awwam Temple.jpg|thumb|The [[Temple of Awwam]] where [[Almaqah]] was worshipped|left]]
Saba had five gods of its pantheon: [[Almaqah]], [[Athtar]], [[Haubas]], [[Dhat-Himyam]], and [[Dhat-Badan]].{{Sfn|Robin|2002|pp=51–52}} The first three are male, and the last two are female.{{Sfn|Robin|2020|p=24}} The high god of the pantheon, and the national god of Saba, was [[Almaqah]], whose worship was centered at the [[Temple of Awwam]].{{Sfn|Maraqten|2021|p=109}} Military victory helped spread this cult, such as when a temple to Almaqah was built in [[Nashshan]] after being conquered by Saba. The mention of Almaqah in the [[Jawf valley|Jawf]] also indicates the political role played by Saba in that valley. The nature of the god is not entirely clear, but Almaqah has been hypothesized to be a [[moon god]] by some researchers.{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|pp=50–51, 96}}

Athtar was not limited to Saba, but was instead the common god of the South Arabian pantheon during its polytheistic era.{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|p=49}} Athtar was also once the great god of the Sabaean pantheon, before being supplanted by Almaqah.{{Sfn|Robin|2020|p=24}} Generally however, South Arabian deities are region-specific and lack parallel elsewhere in the Near East.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=334}}

Anthropomorphic representations of the gods are lacking entirely from the Old Sabaean period, and only begin to appear with the onset of Hellenistic and Roman influences at the turn of the Christian era.{{Sfn|Nebes|2023|p=336}}{{Sfn|Avanzini|2016|p=96}}