Bak'

Bak', the personified sun, ranks among the oldest deities of the Avars and their kindred, worship of the luminaries being reckoned the most archaic stratum of the tradition. Among the Andalal Avars the sun and moon are opposed by gender, the sun figured as a maiden and the moon as a youth, and folk narrative pairs them as sister and brother. Bak' governs daylight, warmth and the ripening of crops; oaths and blessings were sworn 'by the sun', and the drought-rite plea for rain was addressed to a burning sun that only an orphan's plight could soften.

Domains

• sun
• light daylight

Powers

• gives daylight and warmth

Relations

• sibling: Moc'In the celestial tale the sun-maiden and the moon-youth are cast as sister and brother, opposed by sex.Пережитки домонотеистических верований и обрядов у аварцев-андалальцев в XIX – начале XX в. (secondary)

Sources

• The most ancient Avar gods were the personified celestial bodies, the sun (bakъ) and the moon (motsI); among the Andalal the sun is female and the moon male.: Халилов Х.М. «Аваро-андо-цезская мифология» // Мифы народов мира. М., 1980–1982. (secondary); Пережитки домонотеистических верований и обрядов у аварцев-андалальцев в XIX – начале XX в. (secondary)