Mahrem (state war-god and dynastic patron of the Aksumite kings)
Aksumite · deity · aksumite pre christian · Recorded classification
Mahrem is the war-god of the Aksumite state and the tutelary deity of its kings, who from the third century CE styled themselves 'son of the invincible Mahrem' on their monuments and coins. His warlike character is underlined both by his consistent Greek rendering as Ares and by his epithet '(he) who will not be defeated by the enemy'. Reckoned a son of the celestial head-god Astar and brother of the sea-god Beher, he is credited in the pre-Christian inscriptions of Ezana with delivering the king's enemies into his hands. His cult was displaced when Ezana adopted Christianity in the fourth century.
Parentage
Domains
- war and victory
- kingship and dynastic legitimacy
Powers
- to deliver enemies into the king's hands and grant victory in battle
- to protect and legitimise the ruling dynasty
Epithets
- walda MaḥremEncyclopaedia Aethiopica, ed. Siegbert Uhlig, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003–2014, s.v. 'Maḥrem'. (secondary)
- za-iyǝmäwwǝʾ ǝmǝnnä ḍarEncyclopaedia Aethiopica, ed. Siegbert Uhlig, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003–2014, s.v. 'Maḥrem' (epithet '(he) who will not be defeated by the enemy'). (secondary)
Relations
- sibling: Beher (god of the sea, member of the Aksumite triad)Aksumite tradition makes both Mahrem and the sea-god Beher sons of the celestial head-god Astar, so that the war-god and the sea-god are reckoned brothers within the divine family.Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, ed. Siegbert Uhlig, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003–2014, s.v. 'Maḥrem'. (secondary)
Sources
- Mahrem is the Aksumite state war-god and dynastic patron of the kings, son of Astar, equated with Ares, whose rulers called themselves 'son of the invincible Mahrem'.: Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, ed. Siegbert Uhlig, Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2003–2014, s.v. 'Maḥrem'. (secondary); Stuart C. Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1991. (secondary)