religio-iapygiorum

[religio-iapygiorum]

!!! ok there’s a scholar called Camilla Norman who’s written several relevant works on Daunian women and costume. Here’s her academia.edu page, and these seem especially promising:

“Daunian women: Costume and actions commemorated in stone” (2016)

“Illyrian vestiges in Daunian costume: Tattoos, string aprons and a helmet” (2018)

Anyone know any good reference for the clothing/general depictions of indigenous Apulian tribes? Especially the ones farther from the Hellenic area of influence. Specifically interested in the Daunians, since their art is really abstract (very lovely tho) and we have some idea of what the other two Iapygian tribes would've worn (dancer fresco for the Peucetian women, for example)

Closest thing I have been able to find are these Greek vases depicting what the MET describes as Oscans, which were present in a large area of the South of Italy including northern Puglia, aka Daunia, so I assume the Daunians (particularly the men, the women in these vases are not identified as Oscans and might just be Messapians/ Apulian Greeks) may have worn something similar.

The second image is particularly interesting to me because the headdresses they're wearing are reminiscent of the ones featured on some Daunian stelae, so I wonder if that's what they're meant to depict and thus if this was assimilated by the Daunians from Oscan culture (though if I'm remembering correctly the stelae with this headress have all been identified as female (don't quote me on that lol), while the vases show this headress on male figures only). These vases are however from the 4th century BC, while the stelae date from the 8th to the 6th, so I'm not sure they can be trusted as accurate representations of Oscan clothing in the 8th and 6th centuries, much less for Daunian clothing, since the connection between the Oscans in these vases and the Daunians is merely speculation

Then of course we have the tattooed arms of Daunian women (really interesting subject btw), both from the stelae and this tomb fresco in Arpi:

As well as this really frequent hairstyle from the stelae, which has been interpreted by some as a long braid with a dried poppy plant tied to it, given the abundance of poppy imagery in Daunian art.

As far as clothing goes though, the actually Daunian-made representations are either really abstract like in the stelae or pottery, or fragmentary like the Arpi fresco, so any details on the shape, color, material and so on are really hard to interpret, so if you know any other, more complete depiction, or alternatively a paper on the subject feel free to drop it in the comments

[religio-iapygiorum]

I wish I had more information on this! Art history is a weak area for me (I’m not great at visual processing).

There could be something in the conference publications of the yearly Convegno Nationale sulla Preistoria - Protostoria - Storia della Daunia (fair warning, there’s a lot to scroll through and only some of it is relevant to the time period).

Anyone know any good reference for the clothing/general depictions of indigenous Apulian tribes? Especially the ones farther from the Hellenic area of influence. Specifically interested in the Daunians, since their art is really abstract (very lovely tho) and we have some idea of what the other two Iapygian tribes would've worn (dancer fresco for the Peucetian women, for example)

Closest thing I have been able to find are these Greek vases depicting what the MET describes as Oscans, which were present in a large area of the South of Italy including northern Puglia, aka Daunia, so I assume the Daunians (particularly the men, the women in these vases are not identified as Oscans and might just be Messapians/ Apulian Greeks) may have worn something similar.

The second image is particularly interesting to me because the headdresses they're wearing are reminiscent of the ones featured on some Daunian stelae, so I wonder if that's what they're meant to depict and thus if this was assimilated by the Daunians from Oscan culture (though if I'm remembering correctly the stelae with this headress have all been identified as female (don't quote me on that lol), while the vases show this headress on male figures only). These vases are however from the 4th century BC, while the stelae date from the 8th to the 6th, so I'm not sure they can be trusted as accurate representations of Oscan clothing in the 8th and 6th centuries, much less for Daunian clothing, since the connection between the Oscans in these vases and the Daunians is merely speculation

Then of course we have the tattooed arms of Daunian women (really interesting subject btw), both from the stelae and this tomb fresco in Arpi:

As well as this really frequent hairstyle from the stelae, which has been interpreted by some as a long braid with a dried poppy plant tied to it, given the abundance of poppy imagery in Daunian art.

As far as clothing goes though, the actually Daunian-made representations are either really abstract like in the stelae or pottery, or fragmentary like the Arpi fresco, so any details on the shape, color, material and so on are really hard to interpret, so if you know any other, more complete depiction, or alternatively a paper on the subject feel free to drop it in the comments

[religio-iapygiorum]

The contest between Apollo and Marsyas

Puglian red-figure krater

Magno-Grecian civilization, 4th cent. BCE

The contest takes place in the presence of a statue depicting Dionysos with thyrsus and kantharos. A female figure holding thyrsus and kettlerdrum stands by the statue. Apollo with a lyre and Marsyas with his aulos are separated by a laurel tree.

[religio-iapygiorum]

TAOTOR

.: major iapygian deity, possibly a chthonic protector :.

[IMG TRANSCRIPTION: Daxtas Ψaotorrihi. SOURCE: S. Marchesini, “Epigraphe messapiche del Salento," 78.]

.: :.

The sanctuary at Grotta della Poesia ("Cave of Poetry"), pictured below, was dedicated to Taotor. The sanctuary clearly attracted visitors from all over the Mediterranean, based on votive inscriptions found in a number of languages; however, Taotor doesn't appear to have been syncretized with any Roman or Greek deities.

[IMG DESCRIPTION: photo of a natural sinkhole cave along the Salentine coast. SOURCE: Lino M on Flickr]

Grotta della Poesia is a difficult place to get to: Lomas (see below) suggests it might have only been accessible by boat until more recently. The fact that so many people journeyed there despite the difficulty suggests this sanctuary, and therefore worship of Taotor, was clearly significant. Taotor is also placed particularly prominently among a series of three deities on an altar at Rudiae.

Analysis of certain Messapic inscriptions suggests an association of Taotor with the infernal, and Lamboley (cited below) suggests that perhaps Taotor signifies “protector” or “savior”—appropriate names for a chthonic deity being petitioned for aid. Santoro, on the other hand, suggests a relationship with the Indo-European root *teutā, meaning “community” or “civilization.” Taotor is given the epithet Andirahas in inscriptions at Grotta della Poesia.

.: :.

Sources:

Auriemma, Rita, and Flavia Frisone. “I Santuari Costieri Del Salento.” In Nel Mare Dell’intimità. L’archeologia Subacquea Racconta l’Adriatico. 284–285. Roma: Gangemi Editore, 2017.

Lamboley, J.-L. Recherches sur les Messapiens. Roma: École Française de Rome, 1996, 434-5.

Kathryn Lomas. “Crossing Boundaries: The Inscribed Votives of Southeast Italy.” Pallas, no. 86 (October 30, 2011): 311–29. https://doi.org/10.4000/pallas.2208.

Marchesini, Simona. 2015. “Epigrafi messapiche del Salento.” l’Idomeneo 19: 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1285/I20380313V19P69.

Santoro, Ciro. “Il Lessico Del ‘Divino’ e Della Religione Messapica.” In Atti Del IX Convegno Dei Comuni Messapici, Peuceti e Dauni. Societa di Storia per la Puglia, 1989, 72-3.

[religio-iapygiorum]

TAOTOR

.: major iapygian deity, possibly a chthonic protector :.

[IMG TRANSCRIPTION: Daxtas Ψaotorrihi. SOURCE: S. Marchesini, “Epigraphe messapiche del Salento," 78.]

.: :.

The sanctuary at Grotta della Poesia ("Cave of Poetry"), pictured below, was dedicated to Taotor. The sanctuary clearly attracted visitors from all over the Mediterranean, based on votive inscriptions found in a number of languages; however, Taotor doesn't appear to have been syncretized with any Roman or Greek deities.

[IMG DESCRIPTION: photo of a natural sinkhole cave along the Salentine coast. SOURCE: Lino M on Flickr]

Grotta della Poesia is a difficult place to get to: Lomas (see below) suggests it might have only been accessible by boat until more recently. The fact that so many people journeyed there despite the difficulty suggests this sanctuary, and therefore worship of Taotor, was clearly significant. Taotor is also placed particularly prominently among a series of three deities on an altar at Rudiae.

Analysis of certain Messapic inscriptions suggests an association of Taotor with the infernal, and Lamboley (cited below) suggests that perhaps Taotor signifies “protector” or “savior”—appropriate names for a chthonic deity being petitioned for aid. Santoro, on the other hand, suggests a relationship with the Indo-European root *teutā, meaning “community” or “civilization.” Taotor is given the epithet Andirahas in inscriptions at Grotta della Poesia.

.: :.

Sources:

Auriemma, Rita, and Flavia Frisone. “I Santuari Costieri Del Salento.” In Nel Mare Dell’intimità. L’archeologia Subacquea Racconta l’Adriatico. 284–285. Roma: Gangemi Editore, 2017.

Lamboley, J.-L. Recherches sur les Messapiens. Roma: École Française de Rome, 1996, 434-5.

Kathryn Lomas. “Crossing Boundaries: The Inscribed Votives of Southeast Italy.” Pallas, no. 86 (October 30, 2011): 311–29. https://doi.org/10.4000/pallas.2208.

Marchesini, Simona. 2015. “Epigrafi messapiche del Salento.” l’Idomeneo 19: 69–78. https://doi.org/10.1285/I20380313V19P69.

Santoro, Ciro. “Il Lessico Del ‘Divino’ e Della Religione Messapica.” In Atti Del IX Convegno Dei Comuni Messapici, Peuceti e Dauni. Societa di Storia per la Puglia, 1989, 72-3.

[religio-iapygiorum]

Etruscan Polytheism Server

". . .genetrix et mater superstitionis Etruria . . . Etruria, the begetter and mother of superstition." Arnobius, Adv. nat. 7.26

Rasenna Polytheism is a 16+ Etruscan/Rasenna polytheism community server, run by I and my dear friend Shura/Melisphae, seeking to reconstruct and revive the religious practices of the Etruscans, along with spaces for reconstructing the religious life related groups such as the Raetians.

We have many ongoing projects anyone may contribute to, such as the Etruscan polytheism 101 website, the ever-growing carrd, and divination methods. We also have a library and fully accept witchcraft or any other magical practices! Anyone is welcome, even people who do not plan on interacting with the aiser.

➼ invite link

[religio-iapygiorum]

well, my ILL books finally came in *checks notes* two months ago, so new deity post incoming in the next few days!!! we will meet a god worshiped at one of the most beautiful sanctuary sites in southern Italy ✨

[religio-iapygiorum]

Ares was not a Thracian or Scythian interloper who came to the Greek Pantheon at a relatively late date, for the names Ares and Enyalios both appear in the Linear B Archives of the Late Bronze Age. Moreover, even at that early date, they appear to be distinct deities, an impression reinforced by the later epigraphic record, in which they are clearly and consistently worshipped as separate deities. Enyalios was worshipped as the god of the Greek war-shout, a martial fury that imbued the Greek warrior with the strength and spirit to meet his enemy head-on. Ares, by contrast, seems to have been closely associated with the land of the city and was its vengeful and violent protector, an Olympian projection of the yeoman-hoplite.

Cults and sanctuaries of Ares and Enyalios: A survey of the literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, by Gonzales, Matthew Paul

[religio-iapygiorum]

MENZANAS

.: iapygian deity associated with horses :.

[IMG TRANSCRIPTION: H Y Z I H … Δ Ε Λ Ε Μ Ε Ζ Η Ν Α Ι | DESCRIPTION: a ring found in the village of Duvanli, Bulgaria, depicting a horse with a rider. | SOURCE: Ivan Duridanov, The Language of the Thracians, VI: The Thracian inscriptions.]

.: :.

While Menzanas is also considered an epithet of Zis (Zeus), and the Roman grammarian Festus calls him Iuppiter Menzana, Menzanas may well have originally been a deity of his own. Just as Iuppiter and Zeus are kings among gods, Menzanas seems to have been super important in Messapia, so it’s….. plausible that your average Roman travel writer was like “oh so he’s Jupiter then, got it.” After Roman conquest, however, inscriptions in sanctuaries show that Jupiter and Menzanas truly were syncretized by worshipers.

“Menzanas” basically means “horse guy” in Messapic. Various Greek/Roman writers mention that a horse was sacrificed each year to Menzanas in Messapia. Even Messapus, the friend of Aeneas who Messapia is named for (by outsiders), was a horse-tamer in the Aeneid.

I’ve seen multiple scholars refer to Menzanas as “la somma divinità”—the supreme divinity of the Messapians. Greek- and Latin-speaking authors describe a yearly ritual among Messapians in which a horse is burned in sacrifice to Menzanas. This is one of the only etic descriptions we have of Iapygian ritual—the rest of our understanding of Iapygian religious practices comes almost entirely from archaeological evidence.

.: :.

Sources:

Ciro Santoro, “Il lessico del ‘divino’ e della religione messapica,” in Atti del IX Convegno dei Comuni Messapici, Peuceti e Dauni, Oria 24-25 novembre 1984 (Bari: Societa di Storia per la Puglia, 1989), 139-80.

J.-L. Lamboley, Recherches sur les messapiens (Roma: École Française de Rome, 1996), 434-435.

Ivan Duridanov, The Language of the Thracians (Sofia: Nauka i izkustvo, 1976). Abridged English translation referenced here: https://groznijat.tripod.com/thrac/index.html]

[religio-iapygiorum]

THANA

.: iapygian deity associated with deer :.

[IMG TRANSCRIPTION (mirrored): Ψana. IMG SOURCE: F.G. D’Andria, Archeologia dei Messapi (Bari: Edipuglia, 1990), 232.]

.: :.

Inscriptions dedicated to Thana are found in several locations across Messapia. One inscription is on a pottery sherd found at the sanctuary of Scala di Furno, where deer bones were also found, and surrounding sherds can be reconstructed to form part of the image of a fawn.

A few scholars suggest that since she is clearly associated with deer, Thana was thus syncretized with Artemis. However, plenty of inscriptions devoted to Artemis (spelled Artamis in Messapic) are also found across Iapygia, so they seem to have been two separate deities in this time and place.

Thana is also the name of a goddess found in Illyria (nearby in the modern-day Western Balkans), where she is a goddess of forestry and hunting. Thana is often portrayed with different iconography from Roman Diana or Greek Artemis; in Illyria, she’s nearly always paired with the deity Vidasus, another woodlands god.

.: :.

Sources:

J.-L. Lamboley, Recherches sur les messapiens (Roma: École Française de Rome, 1996), 431-432.

Maria Teresa Laporta, “Divinità femminili e titoli sacerdotali nel Pantheon messapico,” in Studia di antichità linguistiche in memoria di Ciro Santoro (Bari: Cacucci, 2006), 217-242.

Ciro Santoro, “Il lessico del ‘divino’ e della religione messapica,” in Atti del IX Convegno dei Comuni Messapici, Peuceti e Dauni, Oria 24-25 novembre 1984 (Bari: Societa di Storia per la Puglia, 1989), 139-80.

[religio-iapygiorum]

THANA

.: iapygian deity associated with deer :.

[IMG TRANSCRIPTION (mirrored): Ψana. IMG SOURCE: F.G. D’Andria, Archeologia dei Messapi (Bari: Edipuglia, 1990), 232.]

.: :.

Inscriptions dedicated to Thana are found in several locations across Messapia. One inscription is on a pottery sherd found at the sanctuary of Scala di Furno, where deer bones were also found, and surrounding sherds can be reconstructed to form part of the image of a fawn.

A few scholars suggest that since she is clearly associated with deer, Thana was thus syncretized with Artemis. However, plenty of inscriptions devoted to Artemis (spelled Artamis in Messapic) are also found across Iapygia, so they seem to have been two separate deities in this time and place.

Thana is also the name of a goddess found in Illyria (nearby in the modern-day Western Balkans), where she is a goddess of forestry and hunting. Thana is often portrayed with different iconography from Roman Diana or Greek Artemis; in Illyria, she’s nearly always paired with the deity Vidasus, another woodlands god.

.: :.

Sources:

J.-L. Lamboley, Recherches sur les messapiens (Roma: École Française de Rome, 1996), 431-432.

Maria Teresa Laporta, “Divinità femminili e titoli sacerdotali nel Pantheon messapico,” in Studia di antichità linguistiche in memoria di Ciro Santoro (Bari: Cacucci, 2006), 217-242.

Ciro Santoro, “Il lessico del ‘divino’ e della religione messapica,” in Atti del IX Convegno dei Comuni Messapici, Peuceti e Dauni, Oria 24-25 novembre 1984 (Bari: Societa di Storia per la Puglia, 1989), 139-80.

[religio-iapygiorum]

just a quick note while i’m preparing the first deity posts: Messapic is the name scholars have given to the language spoken across Iapygia. this is a bit confusing, because Messapia (the place) only refers to the southern chunk of Iapygia, but Messapic (the language) was spoken in all of Iapygia.

why? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ maybe because these ethnonyms aren’t always consistent anyway, or because Messapia is where most of the Messapic inscriptions are found. probably both

anyway. Messapic is the language of most of the inscriptions we’re gonna see. it pretty much only survives in fragments—no literature, no long-form anything—so a lot of the linguistic analysis of it is pretty speculative. but i find the bits we do know kinda…. charming? i just like the sounds of it.

here’s a link with a few fragments of Messapic writing; we’ll be seeing more inscriptions like these very soon.

[religio-iapygiorum]

Hades & Persephone worshippers: Research boost

[I'm sharing this call for survey participant with permission.]

Transcript

Are you a Hellenic polytheist who worships Persephone and/or Hades? If so, I’d like to invite you to participate in a research project that will look at how Hellenic Polytheists engage with ancient evidence. Participation will be via an online survey that will take 15-30 minutes and include a series of questions about your interests and your religious practice and ask you to undertake three interpretation tasks. Participation in voluntary, and you can contact me for more information at ellie.mackinroberts(@)bristol.ac.uk. Link: https://arts.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/dread-persephone-and-lord-hades Why am I doing this study? I’m doing this study to try and understand how modern Hellenic Polytheists interpret and engage with ancient source material, and how their understanding of the ancient contexts adds to this interpretation. My hope is to draw some conclusions about how professional ancient historians may be able to assist in the informed research of Hellenic polytheists.

Further context

Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts has been active in academia for a while and some of you may know some of her work, the most notable and recent of which being Underworld Gods in Ancient Greek Religion: Death and Reciprocity, which was her PhD thesis. Others may also know her since she is active on TikTok.

If you are looking for information as to the context of this particular survey and how the information will be used, you can find some info on the survey itself: https://arts.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/dread-persephone-and-lord-hades as well as on her blogpost https://elliemackinroberts.net/2023/08/30/my-first-survey/ but the TL;DR is that she is currently writing a chapter for an upcoming book titled Persephone in Love: Persephone and Hades in Popular Culture in which she intends to study how modern worshippers of Persephone and Hades approach ancient sources.

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@micromeria you might already know about this, but thought I'd tag you in case this wasn't the case.

[religio-iapygiorum]

aaaand it’s a last-minute tie!!!

iapygian deities was solidly in the lead every time i checked on the poll, so maybe i’ll prioritize them? but i’ll focus my research on deities in general!

also: i will not have internet for a short bit, but will post when it returns 🥲

hey y’all, i was hoping to have some more posts up by now but this semester is kicking my ass already (entirely my fault, i signed up for too many classes). here are a few ideas i’ve been planning—what would you be interested in seeing first?

i figured i’d start with broader topics before narrowing in on specific regions/deities/etc, so most of these posts will be overviews!

[religio-iapygiorum]

a little summary for the non-Italian-speaking folks who'll run into this post:

a capitolium - a tripartite temple, that is - has been discovered in the city of Sarsina, province of Forlì-Cesena, Italy. it most likely dates back to the 1st century BCE. more studies will be done on the building, which will probably lead to a deeper understanding of ancient Roman religion.

[religio-iapygiorum]

hey y’all, i was hoping to have some more posts up by now but this semester is kicking my ass already (entirely my fault, i signed up for too many classes). here are a few ideas i’ve been planning—what would you be interested in seeing first?

i figured i’d start with broader topics before narrowing in on specific regions/deities/etc, so most of these posts will be overviews!

[religio-iapygiorum]

religio iapygiorum: some background

the name: religio iapygiorum is latin for “(the) religion* of the Iapygians.”

as far as i’m currently aware, this is not a term that’s ever used or discussed in surviving literature or inscriptions! i decided to name the blog this mostly as a parallel to the term religio romana. i’m still not sure i should be using a latin term when iapgyians didn’t start speaking latin until roman colonization, tbh, but it’s the best i’ve got for now.

*as religio romana folks will know, the word religio doesn’t map perfectly onto the concept of “religion.”

the location: “Iapygia” more or less corresponds to modern-day Apulia (Latin & English name) or Puglia (Italian name): the southeasternmost region of modern Italy. Apulia/Puglia are directly etymologically derived from Iapygia.

this area was (probably?) divided into three people groups: the Daunians in the northwest, the Messapians in the southeast, and the Peucetians in between. more on the uncertainty of this division & these names in a later post.

here’s a map taken from the book The Italic People of Ancient Apulia by T.H. Carpenter et al (which I will definitely refer to again—it’s the most comprehensive English-language resource I’ve found):

[ID: a map zoomed in on southeastern italy. from northwest to southeast along the coast, starting from just under the Gargano (the stirrup of italy’s boot) to the end of the peninsula, are labeled three people names: Daunians, Peucetians, and Messapians.]

the time period: pre-1st century BC, mostly. after this time, the area has been pretty thoroughly romanized.

the primary sources: almost entirely short inscriptions, pottery, & archaeological evidence. as i’ve mentioned in previous posts, this is Reconstructionism Hard Mode™! no one has laid out their practices and beliefs and rationales for us nosy moderns. all we get are outside perspectives, both from contemporaries and from modern scholars.

the secondary sources: we’ve got some big names from the ancient historians and encyclopedists, which is exciting! herodotus, pliny, and strabo talk about this area a bit, and plenty of others mention it in passing, often in the context of clashes with the cities of Magna Graecia. as you’re probably aware, these accounts shouldn’t be taken at face value, exactly—but they can tell us something nonetheless.

•

hopefully this should set the stage for next time, when we’ll start painting a picture of the religion in broad strokes: where, how, and whom are people worshiping?