Photo of an epigraphic dedication to Zberthourdos (sic) and Iambadoule.
Zibelthiurdos is a Thraciangod 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 (Iuppiter Urius).[1][2] 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.
There is not enough information to draw clear conclusions about his cult, worship, or functions. The preserved images give reason to connect Zibelthiurdos with the ancient Greek God Zeus the Thunderer; he is depicted holding a lightning bolt in his raised right hand, and to his right an eagle with wings spread out. Some scholars consider Thracian Zbelsourdos as an equivalent and partially linguistic cognate of GeticGebeleizis and AlbanianShurdh, all theonyms used to refer to the Indo-European sky and weather god.
Names and epigraphy
In the epigraphic evidence, the deity's name is attested in 12 documents, alternatively written as Zbelthiourdes, Zbelthourdos, Zbelsourdos or Zbersurdos, Zbeltiurdus, Svelsurdus.[3]
a dedication from Moesia made by a Mucaporis to a Διί Ζβελθιούρδῳ;
an inscription in Skopia to a DEO ZBELTHIURDO;
an inscription from Perinthus to a Διί Ζιβελσούρδῳ.
According to epigraphic evidence, the name of Greek god Zeus is found in Thracian inscriptions associated with Zbelthiurdos and variations: Zbelturd, Zbelsurd, Zbeltiurd, Zpelturd. This combination is believed to attest a syncretism between the Greek deity and a local Thracian god of thunder and lightning.[5][6]
Etymology
His name speculatively means "Lightning Carrier" or "Thunderer",[7] but it is uncertain whether Zibelthiurdos is his name or an epithet. Dimitar Detschew supposed that Zbelturdos and variations are epithets of the Thracian reflex of the Proto-Indo-European sky-god *Dyēus.[8]
Tomaschek interpreted that Zibel- and Zbel- were the same word, although he believed the former to be the older form (cf. Thracian king Ζιβέλμιος, or Zibelmios).[9] He also derived Zbel- from a Proto-Indo-European stem*ģʰeib- "light, lightning".[9][10] Also the Getic theonym Gebeleizis has been explained as a compund of gebele and zis; gebele probably is from the same PIE root *ģʰeib-; zis is a reflex of the PIE day-light-sky god *Dyēus, the same as Messapic Zis (congate and equivalent of the Greek Zeus). The Thracian theonym Zibelthiurdos or Zbelsurdos appears to contain the same PIE root, but with a different phonetic development – zebele instead of gebele.[10] The second part of the theonym Zbelsurdos, surdos, has been equated with the Albanian theonym Shurdh used in some regions of northern Albania to refer to the weather god, worshiped until the 20th century and presumably preserved since Illyrian times.[11][12][13] This term has been interpreted as meaning either "water donor"[11] or "bellow, hum".[10]
In another line of scholarship, Dimitar Detschew assumed that the particles Zber- and Zbel- derived from a Proto-Indo-European stem *ģwer- 'briller, éclairer'.[14] Furthermore, if the second part of the original form of the Thracian theonym was thiurdos, thurdos, etc. instead of surdos, another etymology has been proposed: derived from a stem *twer/*tur 'to have', while *dho would indicate a nomen agentis suffix. In this view Zbelthiurdos would mean 'he who has the lightning'.[14]
Related words
Per Tomaschek, further descendants of *ģʰeib- would include Lithuanianžaibas "lightning", verb žibėti "to shine, to glow", and possibly Croatianzúblja "torch" and Slovenezubelj "flame".[9] In the same vein, Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev proposed a connection to Lithuanian Žiburys 'light, torch'.[15][16]
Zibelthiurdos shrines have been found near the village of Golemo Selo in the Kyustendil Region – an area inhabited by the Thracian Dentellets tribe – as well as near Kapitan Dimitrievo village in the Pazardzhik Province. His image was discovered in a relief from the Esquiline Hill, where he is depicted along with Yambadula (or Iambadoule), a figure of an unclear nature.[18]
At least three inscriptions to deity Zbeltiurdus were found in the ancient Dardanian territory: one in Kaçanik, another in Ljubanac (near Skopje), and the third in Dovezenac, near Kumanovë.[19]
1 2 Detschev, Dimitar (1952). "Une triade familiale, dans la religion des Thraces". Bulletin de l'Institut archéologique (in Bulgarian). 18: 50.
↑ 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. 1207. doi:10.1515/9783110847031-016
↑ 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. 1158. doi:10.1515/9783110847031-015
↑ Ferri, Naser (2012). "Vjerovanja i štovanje bogova u predkršćanskoj Dardaniji"[Cults and Beliefs in Pre-Christian Dardania]. Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in Bosnian) (41). Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine: 138 and footnote nr. 23.
Duridanov, Ivan (1985). Die Sprache der Thraker[The language of the Thracians]. Bulgarische Sammlung (in German). Vol.5. Hieronymus Verlag. p.69. ISBN3-88893-031-6.
Treimer, Karl (1971). "Zur Rückerschliessung der illyrischen Götterwelt und ihre Bedeutung für die südslawische Philologie" [On the re-development of the Illyrian world of gods and their importance for South Slavic philology]. In Barić, Henrik (ed.). Arhiv za Arbanasku starinu, jezik i etnologiju[Archive for Arbanian antiquity, language and ethnology]. Vol.I. R. Trofenik. pp.27–33.
Vlahov, K. (1980). "Die thrakischen Gottheiten Zberthourdos, Iambadoula und Asdoula". Bulgarian Historical Review (in German). 8: 90–96.
Попов, Димитър[bg] [Popov, Dimitar]. "Збелсурд" [Sbelsurd]. In: Годишник на Софийския университет "Св. Кл. Охридски": Исторически факултет, специалност Етнология [ANNUAIRE DE L'UNIVERSITE DE SOFIA "ST. KLIMENT OHRIDSKI", FACULTE D'HISTOIRE – STUDIA ETHNOLOGICA]. Tom 2. София: Университетско издателство "Св. Кл. Охридски", 2012. pp. 113-120. ISSN1312-9406.
Popa, Al; Popa, V. (1982). "Un Intéressant Monument Représentant Jupiter-Zbelsurdos". Latomus (in French). 41 (2): 353–355. JSTOR41532498.
Tudor, D. (1978). "Deux dieux thraco-phrygiens à Drobeta". Hommages à M. J. Vermaseren. Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'Empire romain (E.P.R.O.) (in French). Vol.III. Leiden: Brill. pp.1269–1280. doi:10.1163/9789004295452_020. ISBN9789004295452.
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.
The Dacians were the ancient Indo-European inhabitants of the cultural region of Dacia, located in the area near the Carpathian Mountains and west of the Black Sea. They are often considered a subgroup of the Thracians. This area includes mainly the present-day countries of Romania and Moldova, as well as parts of Ukraine, Eastern Serbia, Northern Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary and Southern Poland. The Dacians and the related Getae spoke the Dacian language, which has a debated relationship with the neighbouring Thracian language and may be a subgroup of it. Dacians were somewhat culturally influenced by the neighbouring Scythians and by the Celtic invaders of the 4th century BC.
Gebeleizis was a god worshiped by the Getae, whose name has been interpreted as a theonym for the Indo-European sky and weather god, evidently also called by the Thracians with a symilar theonym – Zibelthiurdos or Zbelsurdos. In ancient literature he is mentioned only by Herodotus.
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.
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.
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Iambadoule is a Thracian goddess, epigraphically testified together with the Thracian god Zberthourdos (Sbelsurdos).
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Zis is a sky and lightning god in Messapian religion, occupying the most prominent role. The theonym is the equivalent and cognate of Albanian Zojz and Greek Zeus, all from Proto-Indo-European *Di̯ḗu̯s 'sky god'. Zis appears in several votive inscriptions in the Messapic alphabet from Apulia.
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