Gurzil — or Agurzil — was a war deity of the ancient Berbers.

In Berber mythology

Berber mythology

The traditional Berber mythology is the ancient and native set of beliefs and deities developed by the Berber people in their historical land of North Africa...

, Gurzil was a bull-shaped war god who became identified with the son of Amun (Ammon)

Amun

Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...

. He was taken by the Berbers to their battles against the Romans.

In the 6th century

6th century

The 6th century is the period from 501 to 600 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian/Common Era. In the West this century marks the end of Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the Middle Ages.- Overview :...

, Corippus  mentioned that Iarna -- chief of the Berber tribe known as the Laguatans (or Luwata as they were later known to the Arab

Arab

Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...

s) -- took his god "Gurzil" into battle against the Byzantine

Byzantine

Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

s. Iarna was a Moorish ruler and a high priest of Gurzil. After the Moors where defeated he fled with the "sacred image" of Gurzil, but was caught and killed and the image destroyed. Gurzil was later taken by the Berber queen Dihya (Kahina) into her battles against the Muslims.

There was among the ruins of Ghirza in Libya a temple, which may have been dedicated to Gurzil, and the name of the town itself may even be related to his name.

Other sources

• Modéran, Yves. (2005). Article 'Kahena (Al-Kâhina)', Encyclopédie Berbère
  Encyclopédie berbère
  Encyclopédie berbère is a French-language encyclopaedia dealing with subjects related to the Berber people. It was launched in 1984 under the aegis of UNESCO and is published by Editions Edisud. Its first editor-in-chief was Gabriel Camps...
  
  ; vol. 27, p. 4102-4111. (Points out that according to the 6th-century historian Procopius
  Procopius
  Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
  
  , a Berber king carried an idol of the god Gurzil.)