Seh₂ul | TriviaQuestions.online

⭐ In the context of Proto-Indo-European mythology, Seh₂ul is considered…

Reconstruction of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon reveals Seh₂ul as a solar deity, closely associated with Meh₁not, who embodies the moon, forming a complementary pair of celestial deities.

⭐ Core Definition: Seh₂ul

*Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not are the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European Sun deity and Moon deity respectively. *Seh₂ul is reconstructed based on the solar deities of the attested Indo-European mythologies, although its gender (male or female) is disputed, since there are deities of both genders. Likewise, *Meh₁not- is reconstructed based on the lunar deities of the daughter languages, but they differ in regard to their gender.

The daily course of *Seh₂ul across the sky on a horse-driven chariot is a common motif among Indo-European myths. While it is probably inherited, the motif certainly appeared after the introduction of the wheel in the Pontic–Caspian steppe about 3500 BC, and is therefore a late addition to Proto-Indo-European culture.

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👉 Seh₂ul in the context of Proto-Indo-European mythology

Proto-Indo-European mythology is the body of myths and deities associated with the Proto-Indo-Europeans, speakers of the hypothesized Proto-Indo-European language. Although the mythological motifs are not directly attested – since Proto-Indo-European speakers lived in preliterate societies – scholars of comparative mythology have reconstructed details from inherited similarities in mythological concepts found in Indo-European languages, based on the assumption that parts of the Proto-Indo-Europeans' original belief systems survived in the daughter traditions.

The Proto-Indo-European pantheon includes a number of securely reconstructed deities, since they are both cognates—linguistic siblings from a common origin—and associated with similar attributes and body of myths: such as *Dyḗws Ph₂tḗr, the daylight-sky god; his consort *Dʰéǵʰōm, the earth mother; his daughter *H₂éwsōs, the dawn goddess; his sons the Divine Twins; and *Seh₂ul and *Meh₁not, a solar deity and moon deity, respectively. Some deities, like the weather god *Perkʷunos or the herding-god *Péh₂usōn, are only attested in a limited number of traditions—Western (i.e. European) and Graeco-Aryan, respectively—and could therefore represent late additions that did not spread throughout the various Indo-European dialects.

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