Bindus (Illyrian god)

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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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Wilkes, John J. (1992). The Illyrians. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. p. 246. ISBN 0-631-19807-5.
  2. ^ 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: 143.
  3. ^ Wilkes, John J. (1992). The Illyrians. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. p. 238. ISBN 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 (...)
  4. ^ Huseinović, Edin (2022). "The valley of the Una river, the land of the "Illyrian" Iapodes". Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS "Acta Illyrica". 6: 174–175. doi:10.54524/2490-3930.2022.157.
  5. ^ Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras]. Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9): 126.
  6. ^ Dzino, Danijel (2009). "Bindus Neptunus: Hybridity, acculturation and the display of power in the hinterland of Roman Dalmatia". Histria Antiqua. 18 (1): 356.
  7. ^ Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras]. Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9): 126.
  8. ^ Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras]. Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9): 126–127.
  9. ^ Witczak, K. T. (2006). "Two Phonological Curiosities of the Thracian Language". In: Linguistique Balkanique 45(3), p. 491.
  10. ^ Witczak, K. T. (2006). "Two Phonological Curiosities of the Thracian Language". In: Linguistique Balkanique 45(3), p. 491.
  11. ^ Mayer, Anton (1936). "O Fons Bandusiae...". Glotta (in German). 25 (3/4): 180, 182. JSTOR 40265469. Accessed 3 June 2023.
  12. ^ 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: 135, 143. doi:10.5644/Godisnjak.CBI.ANUBiH-40.8.
  13. ^ a b Kurilić, Anamarija (2022). "Acceptance, Imitation and Adaptation: How did the Natives of Roman Dalmatia Respond to Roman Cultural Presence?". In Kresimir Matijevic; Rainer Wiegels (eds.). Kultureller Transfer und religiöse Landschaften: Zur Begegnung zwischen Imperium und Barbaricum in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Akademie Forschung. p. 157. doi:10.1515/9783110716580-007. S2CID 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.
  14. ^ Witczak, K. T. (2006). "Two Phonological Curiosities of the Thracian Language". In: Linguistique Balkanique 45(3), p. 491.
  15. ^ Huseinović, Edin (2022). "The valley of the Una river, the land of the "Illyrian" Iapodes". Godišnjak Udruženja BATHINVS "Acta Illyrica". 6: 175–176. doi:10.54524/2490-3930.2022.157.

Bibliography[edit]

Further reading[edit]

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