Paleo-Balkan mythology

Paleo-Balkan mythology is the group of religious beliefs held by Paleo-Balkan-speaking peoples in ancient times, including Illyrian, Thracian and Dacian mythologies. ^[1]

Horseman

The horseman was a common Palaeo-Balkan hero. The original Palaeo-Balkan word for 'horseman' has been reconstructed as *Me(n)zana-, with the root *me(n)za- 'horse'. It is based on evidence provided by: ^[2]

• Albanian: mëz or mâz 'foal', with the original meaning of 'horse' that underwent a later semantic shift 'horse' > 'foal' after the loan from Latin caballus into Albanian kalë 'horse'; the same root is also found in Albanian: mazrek 'horse breeder'; ^[3]
• Messapic: menzanas, appearing as an epithet in Zis Menzanas, found in votive inscriptions, and in Iuppiter Menzanas, mentioned in a passage written by Festus in relation to a Messapian horse sacrifice;
• Romanian: mînz;
• Thracian: ΜΕΖΗΝΑ̣Ι mezēnai, found in the inscription of the Duvanli gold ring also bearing the image of a horseman.

The reliefs of the Thracian horseman, especially his depiction as a hunter (either chasing or holding the hunted animal in his hand), were widespread within the Balkano-Danubian area during the Roman period. ^{[4] [5]}

Subsets of Paleo-Balkan mythology

• Illyrian religion
  • Albanian folk beliefs
• Thracian religion

See also

• Zalmoxianism

Sources

Citations

1. Leeming 2005, pp. xvii, 44–45.
2. Oreshko 2020, p. 118.
3. Malaj, Edmond (2013). "Familje fisnike të Drishtit mesjetar (Noble Families of Medieval Drivasto". Studime Historike. 3–4. p. 45.
4. Hampartumian 1979, p. 13.
5. Wilkes 1992, p. 247.

Bibliography

• Hampartumian, Nubar (1979). Moesia Inferior (Romanian Section) and Dacia. Corpus Cultus Equitis Thracii (CCET). Vol. 4. Brill. ISBN   978-90-04-29552-0.
• Leeming, David A. (2005). The Oxford Companion to World Mythology . Oxford University Press. ISBN   0195156692.
• Oreshko, Rostislav (2020). "The onager kings of Anatolia: Hartapus, Gordis, Muška and the steppe strand in early Phrygian culture" (PDF). Kadmos. 59 (1/2). De Gruyter: 77–128. doi:10.1515/kadmos-2020-0005. S2CID   235451836.
• Wilkes, John J. (1992). The Illyrians. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN   0-631-19807-5.