National god

A national god is a guardian deity whose special concern is the safety and well-being of an ethnic group (nation), and of that group's leaders. This is contrasted with other guardian figures such as family gods responsible for the well-being of individual clans or professions, or personal gods who are responsible for the well-being of individuals. In antiquity (and to some extent continuing today), religion was a characteristic of regional culture, together with language, customs, traditions, etc. Many of these ethnic religions included national god(s) in their pantheons, such as Amaterasu of the Japanese; Amun, Amun-Ra and Horus for the Egyptians; Apollo for the people of Troy; Aramazd for Armenians eponymous Assur for the Assyrians; Ashtoret for the Sidonians; the eponymous Athena-Mykene for the Athenians and Mycenaeans; Baal for the Phoenicians; Bathala of the Tagalogs; Chemosh for the Moabites; Dagon for Philistia; Gaut for the Geats; Heracles for the Dorians; Huitzilopochtli of the Tenochtitlan Aztecs; Indra for the Vedic Indians; Inti for the Incas; Itzamna for the Mayas; Jade Emperor for the Chinese; Kataragama deviyo for Sri Lanka; Ông Trời for the Vietnamese; Lugh (Gaulish Mercury, Lugus, Lleu) for the ancient Celts; Marduk for the Babylonians; Mars and eponymous Romulus-Quirinus for the Romans; Milcom for the Ammonites; Oduduwa for the Yoruba; Perun for the ancient Slavs; Seaxnēat for the Saxons; Rangi and Papa for the Māori people; Qos for the Edomites; Siam Devadhiraj for the Thais; Murugan for the Tamils; the Sovereignty goddess and eponymous Ériu for Ireland; Tengri for the Turks and Mongols; Teshub for the Hittites; Ukko for the Finns; Wadd for the Kingdom of Awsan; Yahweh for the Israelites; Zalmoxis for the Dacians. In antiquity, each ethnic group (nation) had its own pantheon, which may or may not have overlapped with that of neighbouring groups. Many of these religions had guardian figures, which then sometimes included national gods, who were considered responsible for the safety and well-being of the nation and of its people, with a special concern for the nation's ruler and guardian.