Bindus (Illyrian god) explained
Bindus is a theonym attested in the territory of the Iapodes tribe. According to scholars, the name refers to a water deity worshipped by the Iapodes, since its name is attested next to Roman deity Neptune.[1]
Epigraphy
The name is attested in epigraphic monuments found in Dardanian territory, dated to the 2nd century, near the rivers Ibra and Drina.[2] At least 11 votive documents dedicated to the deity were found in Privilica, Bihac:[3] [4] [5]
- Bindo Neptuno sacrum
- B[i]ndo Neptuno sacr[um]
- (Bindo Nep)tuno
- Bindo N[e]ptuno sa[c]r(um)
- Bindo N(eptuno) s(acrum)
- [Bi]ndi
- Bi[ndo].
Out of the available epigraphy, four were dedicated by indigenous Romanized elites (praepositus), dated to Flavian times, and two offered by soldiers (dated to 3rd century).[6]
A personal name Bindho was also found in a Noricum holy spring.[7]
Name and etymology
Linguists have connected the theonym to Old Cornish banne, Middle Cornish banna and Breton banne (all meaning 'drop'); Middle Irish buine 'water, stream' and Old Indic bindú- 'drop'.[8] [9]
Polish linguist Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak also sees some possible cognate relationship between the Illyrian deity and the Lusitanian Bandua.[10]
Etymological connections have also been proposed between the deity's name and a place named fons Bandusiae, mentioned by Horatio in one of his Odes.[11]
Interpretations
Bindus is interpreted as the name of a deity of seas and waters,[12] [13] or a deity of sources.[14] In addition, an altar dedicated to Bindus shows its possible symbols: a figure is depicted with an oar and a dolphin on one side, and a triton with an oar on the other side.[15] [13]
See also
Bibliography
- Dzino . Danijel . Bindus Neptunus: Hybridity, acculturation and the display of power in the hinterland of Roman Dalmatia . Histria Antiqua . 2009 . 18 . 1 . 355–362 .
- Vjerovanja i štovanje bogova u predkršćanskoj Dardaniji . Cults and Beliefs in Pre-Christian Dardania . Naser . Ferri . Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 2012 . 41 . 135–158 . 10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH-40.8 . Bosnian .
- The valley of the Una river, the land of the "Illyrian" Iapodes . Edin . Huseinović . Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS "Acta Illyrica" . 6 . 2022 . 157–189 . 10.54524/2490-3930.2022.157. free .
- Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra . Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras . Radoslav Katičić . Radoslav . Katičić . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 1972 . 9 . 126–127 . DE.
Further reading
Notes and References
- Book: Wilkes, John J.. J. J. Wilkes. The Illyrians. Oxford, United Kingdom. Blackwell Publishing. 1992 . 246 . 0-631-19807-5.
- Vjerovanja i štovanje bogova u predkršćanskoj Dardaniji . Cults and Beliefs in Pre-Christian Dardania . Naser . Ferri . Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 2012 . 41 . 143 . Bosnian .
- Book: Wilkes, John J.. J. J. Wilkes. The Illyrians. Oxford, United Kingdom. Blackwell Publishing. 1992 . 238 . 0-631-19807-5. Among the Japodes (sic) around Bihać, altars were dedicated by leaders of the tribe to Bindus Neptunus, deity of the local spring (...).
- The valley of the Una river, the land of the "Illyrian" Iapodes . Edin . Huseinović . Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS "Acta Illyrica" . 6 . 2022 . 174–175 . 10.54524/2490-3930.2022.157. free .
- Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra . Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras . Radoslav Katičić . Radoslav . Katičić . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 1972 . 9 . 126 . DE.
- Dzino . Danijel . Bindus Neptunus: Hybridity, acculturation and the display of power in the hinterland of Roman Dalmatia . Histria Antiqua . 2009 . 18 . 1 . 356 .
- Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra . Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras . Radoslav Katičić . Radoslav . Katičić . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 1972 . 9 . 126 . DE.
- Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra . Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras . Radoslav Katičić . Radoslav . Katičić . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 1972 . 9 . 126–127 . DE.
- Witczak, K. T. (2006). "Two Phonological Curiosities of the Thracian Language". In: Linguistique Balkanique 45(3), p. 491.
- Witczak, K. T. (2006). "Two Phonological Curiosities of the Thracian Language". In: Linguistique Balkanique 45(3), p. 491.
- Mayer . Anton . O Fons Bandusiae... . Glotta . 25 . 3/4 . 1936 . 180, 182 . 40265469 . DE. Accessed 3 June 2023.
- Vjerovanja i štovanje bogova u predkršćanskoj Dardaniji . Cults and Beliefs in Pre-Christian Dardania . Naser . Ferri . Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine . Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja . 2012 . 41 . 135, 143 . 10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH-40.8 . Bosnian .
- Book: Kurilić, Anamarija . Acceptance, Imitation and Adaptation: How did the Natives of Roman Dalmatia Respond to Roman Cultural Presence? . Kultureller Transfer und religiöse Landschaften: Zur Begegnung zwischen Imperium und Barbaricum in der römischen Kaiserzeit . Kresimir Matijevic . Rainer Wiegels . Berlin, Boston . De Gruyter Akademie Forschung . 2022 . 157 . 10.1515/9783110716580-007 . 244565777 . Both Bindus’s connection with Neptune and iconographic features present in several figural images carved on some altars (such as a deity with Neptune’s attributes – fish and a scepter, a Triton, a male goat) clearly testify to him being the god of waters..
- Witczak, K. T. (2006). "Two Phonological Curiosities of the Thracian Language". In: Linguistique Balkanique 45(3), p. 491.
- The valley of the Una river, the land of the "Illyrian" Iapodes . Edin . Huseinović . Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS "Acta Illyrica" . 6 . 2022 . 175–176 . 10.54524/2490-3930.2022.157. free .