Apedemak

Apedemek
Nubian Lion God of War
Votive Plaque of King Tanyidamani and Apedemak, The Naqa kiosk, Excavation by John Garstang, 1909-1910, in the Temple of Apedemak, Meroe
Name in hieroglyphs	Apedemak Jprmk
Major cult center	Lion Temple, Naqa
Consort	Amesemi
Equivalents
Roman equivalent	Jupiter
Bakongo equivalent	Nzambi
Egyptian equivalent	Amun

Apedemak or Apademak (originally, due to the absence of the /p/ phoneme in Meroitic, it was probably pronounced 'abedemak' ^[1]) was a major deity in the ancient Nubian and Kushite pantheon. Often depicted as a figure with a male human torso and a lion head, Apedemak was a war god worshiped by the Meroitic peoples inhabiting Kush. He has no Egyptian counterpart.^[2] As a war god, Apedemak came to symbolize martial power, military conquest, and empire. Apedemak is also closely associated with Amun, the state-sponsored Egyptian deity during the preceding Napatan period, and is assumed to hold an equal level of importance.