DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0903
822
Zeus Zbelsourdos
increase our knowledge of the Thracian god. But the inscriptions1
contribute other spellings of his name: Zeus Zbelsoitrdos"2, Zeus
Zlethoiirdos*, the god Zberturdus*.
The name is presumably a compound. But attempts to fix its
meaning are precarious. Tomaschek5 thought that the first element
was akin to the Lithuanian zatbas, 'lightning,' ziburys, 'light, torch,'
etc. and might denote either ' brilliance' or ' lightning.' For the
second he suggested some connexion, near or remote, with the
Slavonic sver-d-, 'to twist, to bore.' On this showing we should,
I suppose, obtain a Thracian equivalent of terpikeraunos*. Baron
Nopcsa believes that Zibel- Thiurdos lives on in Sn Surdh, 'Saint
Deaf (surdus), whom he describes as the storm-god of the modern
Albanians7. G. Seure8, with far greater circumspection, argues that
the original form of the Thracian name was *Zibelesourdos, which
by a double syncopation became Zbelsottrdos. He finds the same
first element in Zibeletzis, a well-attested variant9 of the Getic
Gebelefzis™, and urges that *ZibelesoArdos, Zibeleizis, and Zalmoxis
were three of the epithets attached to the great national god of
Thrace, a Zeus-like deity whose name is unknown11. The second
element Sourdos he regards as the patronymic of Souras {Souris,
Surus, Surio), pointing out that on one of the reliefs already men-
tioned (fig. 782) the name Soura may possibly be that of the god12,
and emending a disputed sentence of Cicero's accordingly13.
1 G. Seure in the Rev. Et. Gr. 1913 xxvi. 242 f.
2 A statue of Domitian erected by a trierarcb of the Perinthian fleet was dedicated Ad
Z/3eX<7oiV»5w (A. Dumont—T. Homolle Inscriptions et monuments figure's de la Thrace
Paris 1876 p. 381 no. 72 a). But the Ashburnham MS. of Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (Cyriacus of
Ancona), to whom we owe the preservation of this title, reads Al I Zl BEACOYPAC01
(Th. Mommsen in the Ephem. epigr. 1877 iii- 236 no. 8).
3 A votive column, found at Chaprovo near Doubnitza, is inscribed in coarsely cut
letters A I I Z AC | 00 Y PACO ( tuj Kvpiw | BoX^a^pil^voi Kw'jxrjTai dvedrj \kclv (G. Seure in
the Rev. Et. Gr. 1913 xxvi. 242, 247).
4 A Latin dedication, found at Ljubanze near Uskub in Makedonia, -reads : [d]eo
Zbi[er]turd[[o sacr.]j[S]ex. Fl. F[la]jmina[lis]![v.] 1. [p.] (Corp. inscr. Lat. iii no. 8191
with correction on p. 2250, Dessau Inscr. Lat. set. no. 4077 with correction ib. iii. 2
p. clxxxi).
5 W. Tomaschek in the Sitzungsber. d. kais. Akad. d. Wiss. in Wien Phil.-hist.
Classe 1894 cxxx. n, 60 ff. ■ e Supra p. 779.
7 F. Nopcsa in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie 191 r xliii. 918: ' Sn Surdh ist der
Gewittergott der heutigen Albaner, Zibel thiurdos ein thrakischer Gott. Die Verehrung
des Sn Surdh zeigt thrakische Ziige.'
8 G. Seure in the Rev. Et. Gr. 1913 xxvi. 247 ff.
9 So codd. A. B. C. (the older, 'Florentine,' family) in Hdt. 4. 94.
10 Supra p. 227 n. 4. 11 See, however, supra p. 276 f.
12 ?,ovpa, if nominative, is the dedicator ; if genitive, the dedicator's father; if dative,
the god to whom the dedication is made.
13 In Cic. in Pis. 85 a te Iovis Velsuri fanum antiquissimum barbarorum Sanctis-
Zeus Zbelsourdos
increase our knowledge of the Thracian god. But the inscriptions1
contribute other spellings of his name: Zeus Zbelsoitrdos"2, Zeus
Zlethoiirdos*, the god Zberturdus*.
The name is presumably a compound. But attempts to fix its
meaning are precarious. Tomaschek5 thought that the first element
was akin to the Lithuanian zatbas, 'lightning,' ziburys, 'light, torch,'
etc. and might denote either ' brilliance' or ' lightning.' For the
second he suggested some connexion, near or remote, with the
Slavonic sver-d-, 'to twist, to bore.' On this showing we should,
I suppose, obtain a Thracian equivalent of terpikeraunos*. Baron
Nopcsa believes that Zibel- Thiurdos lives on in Sn Surdh, 'Saint
Deaf (surdus), whom he describes as the storm-god of the modern
Albanians7. G. Seure8, with far greater circumspection, argues that
the original form of the Thracian name was *Zibelesourdos, which
by a double syncopation became Zbelsottrdos. He finds the same
first element in Zibeletzis, a well-attested variant9 of the Getic
Gebelefzis™, and urges that *ZibelesoArdos, Zibeleizis, and Zalmoxis
were three of the epithets attached to the great national god of
Thrace, a Zeus-like deity whose name is unknown11. The second
element Sourdos he regards as the patronymic of Souras {Souris,
Surus, Surio), pointing out that on one of the reliefs already men-
tioned (fig. 782) the name Soura may possibly be that of the god12,
and emending a disputed sentence of Cicero's accordingly13.
1 G. Seure in the Rev. Et. Gr. 1913 xxvi. 242 f.
2 A statue of Domitian erected by a trierarcb of the Perinthian fleet was dedicated Ad
Z/3eX<7oiV»5w (A. Dumont—T. Homolle Inscriptions et monuments figure's de la Thrace
Paris 1876 p. 381 no. 72 a). But the Ashburnham MS. of Ciriaco de' Pizzicolli (Cyriacus of
Ancona), to whom we owe the preservation of this title, reads Al I Zl BEACOYPAC01
(Th. Mommsen in the Ephem. epigr. 1877 iii- 236 no. 8).
3 A votive column, found at Chaprovo near Doubnitza, is inscribed in coarsely cut
letters A I I Z AC | 00 Y PACO ( tuj Kvpiw | BoX^a^pil^voi Kw'jxrjTai dvedrj \kclv (G. Seure in
the Rev. Et. Gr. 1913 xxvi. 242, 247).
4 A Latin dedication, found at Ljubanze near Uskub in Makedonia, -reads : [d]eo
Zbi[er]turd[[o sacr.]j[S]ex. Fl. F[la]jmina[lis]![v.] 1. [p.] (Corp. inscr. Lat. iii no. 8191
with correction on p. 2250, Dessau Inscr. Lat. set. no. 4077 with correction ib. iii. 2
p. clxxxi).
5 W. Tomaschek in the Sitzungsber. d. kais. Akad. d. Wiss. in Wien Phil.-hist.
Classe 1894 cxxx. n, 60 ff. ■ e Supra p. 779.
7 F. Nopcsa in the Zeitschrift fiir Ethnologie 191 r xliii. 918: ' Sn Surdh ist der
Gewittergott der heutigen Albaner, Zibel thiurdos ein thrakischer Gott. Die Verehrung
des Sn Surdh zeigt thrakische Ziige.'
8 G. Seure in the Rev. Et. Gr. 1913 xxvi. 247 ff.
9 So codd. A. B. C. (the older, 'Florentine,' family) in Hdt. 4. 94.
10 Supra p. 227 n. 4. 11 See, however, supra p. 276 f.
12 ?,ovpa, if nominative, is the dedicator ; if genitive, the dedicator's father; if dative,
the god to whom the dedication is made.
13 In Cic. in Pis. 85 a te Iovis Velsuri fanum antiquissimum barbarorum Sanctis-