Iambadoule

Last updated

Iambadoule is a Thracian goddess, epigraphically testified together with the Thracian god Zberthourdos (Sbelsurdos).

Contents

Epigraphy

Photo of an epigraphic dedication to deity Zberthourdos (sic) and Iambadoule. Iambadoule.jpg
Photo of an epigraphic dedication to deity Zberthourdos (sic) and Iambadoule.

The deity is attested in an inscription written in Ancient Greek. A male deity, identified as Zberthourdos, is standing unclothed with a naked woman on a horse by his side. [1] [2]

θεῷ Ζβερθούρδῳ καὶ Ἰαμβαδούλῃ, ἐπιφανηστάτοις, Αὐρ(ήλιος) Διονύσιος, στρατ(ιώτης) χῶρτις τοῦ πραιτ(ωρίου) ἑκατοντάρχ(ου) Φλωρεντίνου, θέλων ἀνέθηκα

Translation:

To God Zberthourdos and Iambadoule, the most prominent, Aurelius Dionysius, a local soldier of the praetorian centurion Florentinus, wished to dedicate.

According to Dimitar Detschew, the form Ἰαμβαδούλῃ appears in the dative, pointing to a nominative Ἰαμβαδούλῃ (Iambadoule) or Ἰαμβαδούλῃς (Iambadoules). [3]

Etymology

French archeologist Paul Perdrizet  [ fr ] indicated that the particle "-δουλέ" is also attested in personal name Δουλέ-ζελμις, a Thracian mercenary. [4]

Detschew suggested that the deity's name is an epithet of a Thracian earth-mother goddess, translated as "the one that places the grain", with "iamba" meaning "wheat; wealthy, nutrition", and "doule" from Proto-Indo-European *dhe- 'to place', plus nomen agentis suffix -lo. [5]

Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev proposed that Iambadoules means 'rainstorm, thunderstorm', from Dula 'the storm', [6] with relation to Old Iranian ambhas 'water' and Greek θύελλα (thúella) 'storm'. [7]

Legacy

According to researcher Dragoslav Antonijević, Dragojlovic argued that the South Slavic character of the samovila (a fairy-like figure) is a continuation of this Thracian goddess. [8]

Related Research Articles

Zalmoxis also known as Salmoxis (Σάλμοξις), Zalmoxes (Ζάλμοξες), Zamolxis (Ζάμολξις), Samolxis (Σάμολξις), Zamolxes (Ζάμολξες), or Zamolxe (Ζάμολξε) is a divinity of the Getae and Dacians, mentioned by Herodotus in his Histories Book IV, 93–96, written before 425 BC.

Zibelthiurdos is a Thracian god of heaven, lightning and rain, whose name is known mainly from epigraphic monuments. The only known reference to this god so far in ancient literature is in Cicero's speech against Pizon, where he is mentioned under the name Jovi Vrii. According to Cicero, Jupiter Urius had the most ancient and venerated of the barbarian temples, which was sacked by invading armies and resulted in diseases from which those afflicted never recovered.

The Bebryces were a tribe of people who lived in Bithynia. According to Strabo they were one of the many Thracian tribes that had crossed from Europe into Asia, although modern scholars have rather argued for a Celtic origin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quirinus</span> Roman deity

In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, Quirinus was also an epithet of Janus, as Janus Quirinus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bendis</span> Thracian Lunar goddess

Bendis was a Thracian goddess associated with hunting and the moon. Worship of the goddess seems to have been introduced into Attica around 430 BC. Some writers identified Bendis in Attica with the goddess Artemis, but the temple of Bendis at Piraeus which was near the temple of Artemis, clearly display that the two goddesses were distinct. She was a huntress, like Artemis, but was often accompanied by dancing satyrs and maenads, as represented on a fifth-century red-figure stemless cup at Verona.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhodope Mountains</span> Mountain range in Southeastern Europe

The Rhodopes are a mountain range in Southeastern Europe, and the largest by area in Bulgaria, with over 83% of its area in the southern part of the country and the remainder in Greece. Golyam Perelik is its highest peak at 2,191 meters (7,188 ft). The mountain range gives its name to the terrestrial ecoregion Rodope montane mixed forests that belongs in the temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome and the Palearctic realm. The region is particularly notable for its karst areas with their deep river gorges, large caves and specific sculptured forms, such as the Trigrad Gorge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dacian language</span> Extinct Indo-European language of the Carpathian region

Dacian is an extinct language generally believed to be a member of the Indo-European language family that was spoken in the ancient region of Dacia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thracian language</span> Extinct Indo-European language

The Thracian language is an extinct and poorly attested language, spoken in ancient times in Southeast Europe by the Thracians. The linguistic affinities of the Thracian language are poorly understood, but it is generally agreed that it was an Indo-European language with satem features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Costoboci</span> Ancient people

The Costoboci were a Dacian tribe located, during the Roman imperial era, between the Carpathian Mountains and the river Dniester. During the Marcomannic Wars the Costoboci invaded the Roman empire in AD 170 or 171, pillaging its Balkan provinces as far as Central Greece, until they were driven out by the Romans. Shortly afterwards, the Costoboci's territory was invaded and occupied by Vandal Hasdingi and the Costoboci disappeared from surviving historical sources, except for a mention by the late Roman Ammianus Marcellinus, writing around AD 400.

*Perkʷūnos is the reconstructed name of the weather god in Proto-Indo-European mythology. The deity was connected with fructifying rains, and his name was probably invoked in times of drought. In a widespread Indo-European myth, the thunder-deity fights a multi-headed water-serpent during an epic battle in order to release torrents of water that had previously been pent up. The name of his weapon, *ml̥dʰnis, which denoted both "lightning" and "hammer", can be reconstructed from the attested traditions.

The linguistic classification of the ancient Thracian language has long been a matter of contention and uncertainty, and there are widely varying hypotheses regarding its position among other Paleo-Balkan languages. It is not contested, however, that the Thracian languages were Indo-European languages which had acquired satem characteristics by the time they are attested.

Thracology is the scientific study of Ancient Thrace and Thracian antiquities and is a regional and thematic branch of the larger disciplines of ancient history and archaeology. A practitioner of the discipline is a Thracologist. Thracology investigates the range of ancient Thracian culture from 1000 BC up to the end of Roman rule in the 4th–7th centuries AD. Modern Thracology started with the work of Wilhelm Tomaschek in the late 19th century.

Atepomarus in Celtic Gaul was a healing god. Mauvières (Indre), Apollo was associated with this god in the form Apollo Atepomarus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thracian horseman</span> Ancient Thracian divinity

The Thracian horseman is a recurring motif depicted in reliefs of the Hellenistic and Roman periods in the Balkans—mainly Thrace, Macedonia, Thessaly and Moesia—roughly from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Inscriptions found in Romania identify the horseman as Heros and Eros and also Herron and Eron, apparently the word heros used as a proper name. He is sometimes addressed in inscriptions merely as κύριος, δεσπότης or ἥρως. Inscriptions from Bulgaria give the names Salenos and Pyrmerula/Pirmerula.

Vladimir Ivanov Georgiev (1908–1986) was a prominent Bulgarian linguist, philologist, and educational administrator.

Michael Palaiologos was a son of Byzantine emperor John V Palaiologos, governor of Mesembria and claimant of the Empire of Trebizond.

References

  1. Perdrizet, Paul [in French] (1899). "Le dieu Thrace Zbelthiourdos". Revue des Études Anciennes. 1 (1): 24. doi:10.3406/rea.1899.1123.
  2. Bellon, Tiffany (2019). "Migration et appartenance(s). Le cas des Thraces à Rome (Ier-IIIe siècles apr. J.-C.)". Revue belge de philologie et d'histoire (in French). 97 (1): 151. doi:10.3406/rbph.2019.9262.
  3. Detschev, Dimitar (1952). "Une triade familiale, dans la religion des Thraces". Bulletin de l'Institut archéologique (in Bulgarian). 18: 50.
  4. Perdrizet, Paul [in French] (1899). "Le dieu Thrace Zbelthiourdos". Revue des Études Anciennes. 1 (1): 25. doi:10.3406/rea.1899.1123.
  5. Detschev, Dimitar (1952). "Une triade familiale, dans la religion des Thraces". Bulletin de l'Institut archéologique (in Bulgarian). 18: 51.
  6. Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. p. 1210. doi : 10.1515/9783110847031-016
  7. Georgiev, Vladimir I.. "Thrakisch und Dakisch". Band 29/2. Teilband Sprache und Literatur (Sprachen und Schriften [Forts.]), edited by Wolfgang Haase, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 1983. p. 1168. doi : 10.1515/9783110847031-015
  8. Antonijević, Dragoslav. "A Contribution to the Study of the Folklore Ritual Substratum in the Balkans". In: Balcanica: annuaire de l'Institut des études balkaniques, 1983, 13-14 (1982-1983), pp. 416-417.

Further reading