Henry Shephard. To the Origin of the Cult of Dionysus

7/29/2019 Henry Shephard. To the Origin of the Cult of Dionysus

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Henry Shephard

To the origin of the cul t of Dionysus

Philadelphia 2008


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The argument presented in this study1 is concerning the new way to view origins of wine god Dionysus,

solely relying not on the basis of religious and cultural constructions but also on the latest archaeological

findings and data from the study of linguistic parallels. It will set good example on how mythological

theme, originally confined to its own internal structure, while being de-semantized and reduced its

ambiguity, begins to materialize in its external relations and connotations of logical ties. This study is not

intended to be the final word on these topics but, rather, as a contribution based on the currently availableevidences.

In earliest pre-literate times proto-Thracians had an impact on the ancient mythology formation of vast

number of western civilization nations, accelerating technological advances which lead to emergence of

one of the earliest industrial wine-making centers. Wild grapes naturally grow widely in areas where the

earliest centers of human civilization were emerged and since there were a few in numbers, cultivation of

grapes had likely originated in several places independently2. First grape cultivation attempts had to meet

certain conditions: situated within the zone of wild grapes natural habitat, meet specific climatic and

weather conditions, had to have large fertile area for selection, prove emergence and use of certain words

in linguistic system of given territory, indicating to the production and consumption of wine. Since what

causes a plant to be noticed and cultivated is its religious value3and because all of the plants that are incultivation today were originally regarded as sacred plants, the key to such search would be the degree of

religious and spiritual life of an ancient society with early differentiation of the deities, in which wine

becomes a separate and important ritual component. If we stipulate the premise that the better wine-

making is developed, the greater is the likelihood of inclusion in the pantheon a deity with special affinity

to wine and wine-making, one should seek the territory where god of wine appeared for the first time. In

this situation it is possible to assert with the defined confidence that the earliest religious belief associated

specifically with wine was the cult of Dionysus4, commonly known in archaic Aegean world and Balkans.

However, according to Herodotus5 and other ancient Greek writers6, demigod Dionysus was of Thracian

origin7, being the son of the god Zeus and earthly woman Semele. Various written ancient Greek

documents tell a story of the legendary mythical demigod 8 but at the same time in the image of Dionysus

one can see traces of a real historical figure.

Several explanations have been put forward to explain the origin of this god and the meaning of his name.

Russian prominent linguist Vadim Tsymbursky proposed interpretation of the name Dionysus on the basis

1English version from original publication: 2010: ,

// : , (.), 2010, 297-310 (ISBN 978-5-7017-1653-5).2 McGovern 2003: P. McGovern, Ancient Wine: The Search for the Origins of Viniculture, Princeton University

Press (Princeton 2003), 152-171.3

A.G.Haudricourt & L.Hdin, Lhomme et les plantes cultives, Paris, 1946, p.90. In: M.Eliade. The Secred &Profane: The Nature of Religion, 1956, 149- 150.4 Hesiod, Works and Days, 609; Euripides, Bacchae, 535, 650, 705-10, 770; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History

4.2.3; Nonnus, Dionysiaca 12.330;12.394; Aelian, Historical Miscellany 3. 415 Herodotus, History, 2:49, 52, 143-146.6 Euripides, Bacchae230ff,350ff; Apollodorus, The Library 2.191; Suidas "Saboi"(Harpocration s.v., quoting

Demosthenes 18.260.7 Herodotus, Histories 5. 7; Diodorus Siculus, Library of History, 4.81.1; Hesychii Alexandrini Lexicon, ed. K.

Latte; Codex Venetus Graec. 851, formerly Marcianus Graec, 622.8 Herodotus, Histories 2. 52; Hyginus, Fabulae, 224.


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of Thracian onomastics: "OurGod, that is, a God of Middle Earth - between Earth and Sky9. Thus it is,in essence, some scholars see it as an expression of immortality10 worship. External attributes of the

Dionysian cult such as the retinue of Dionysus - Silenus, who taught him winemaking, Sileni (river

demons), Satyrs (demons of forests and foothills), Maenads and especially its main attribute - sacred

wand Thyrsus 11 point at the specific region - Lower Dniester (and this implication does not originate

merely because of the semantic and phonetic attraction to the ancient river Dniester name Tyras/ ). During the prehistoric Neolithic Era, the Dniester River was the center of one of the mostadvanced civilizations on earth at the time. This area is recognized as a part of ancient Thracian world12

and corresponds to the natural habitat of wild grapes13 as well as all above mentioned criteria. In this

situation, researchers have identified the early proto-Thracian group with a number of cultural and

chronological formations of the late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age14 including Usatovo culture of the

Lower Dniester River region, which actually has an archaeological foundation15.

There is no doubt that cultivation of grapes in the area situated between the rivers Prut and Dniester dates

as far as Aeneolithic/Chalcolithic age16. The most noteworthy evidence of winemaking early attempts is

from given epoch - IV-III millennium B.C., since excavations of archaeological sites of that era found

remnants of grape cultivation17. As during the period of Usatovo culture in the Lower Dniester and in itspredecessor Bug-Dniester and Cucuteni-Trypillian cultures in Northwestern Black Sea region, there are

some macrobotanical grape evidences of the cultivation of grapes18. Therefore in the Early Trypillian

settlements in Ruseshty - Noi (New Ruseshty) were attested grape seeds. However, they are the forms of

grape varieties that have underwent domestication and were deliberately planted around dwellings.

The appearance of the Usatovo type monuments in the Northwestern region of Black Sea is associated

with the westbound arrival of tribes of the Yamna/Pit-Grave culture, and their increased activity, which

resulted in gradually falling into decay of classical Cucuteni-Trypillian culture. During the same period in

the Lower Dniester region first appeared amphorae and goblets of Early Bronze Age cultures from Volyn

9 2002: .. , . Colloquia classica et indogermanica III. , , 200210 Rohde 1890-1894, 257-272; Rohde 1925, 2: 27 ff. ; Hyginus, Fabulae 224; Eliade 1956: .Eliade, The Sacred &Profane: The Nature of Religion, (San Diego New York London: A Harvest/HBJ Book 1957), 101-150.11 Euripides, Bacchae 705-10 expressed it in a word narthex; for the first time the word thyrsus witnessed in the

Cratinus comedy "Dionysus -Alexander\" (430 BC. er.); Diodorus Siculus. The Library, Book 4-7, St. Petersburg,

2005, 299.12Morintz 1977: S.Morintz, Probleme privind originea tracilor in lumina cercetrilor arheologice, Revista de istorie18. t. 30. (Bucureti 1977), 1465-1488; also see reference #8 - Eliade 1982, 170-171.13 Markevich/ 1981: .., (1981) 193.14Eliade 1982: .Eliade, A History of Religious Ideas. The University ofChicago Press, (Chicago and London1982). Vol. 2, 170-179.15

Morintz S., Probleme privind originea tracilor in lumina cercetrilor arheologice, Revista de istorie 18. t. 30.(Bucureti 1977),1465-1488.16 Janushevich, Markevich/ , 1969: .., .. , - , ( 1969),74-75.17 Janushevish/ 1976: .. , - (Cultivated Plants of South-West of the USSR in paleobotanical research)( 1976),143 .18 Markevich / 1981: .. , (1981) 136.


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region and Carpathian Mountains, whose corded ornamentation influenced culture of ornamental motifs

of the Usatovo archaeological culture19. Large kitchen and dining Usatovo-type vessels decorated with

ornaments of triangles, embellished with imprints of cords or painted with an oblique grid may well be

associated with the use and storage of wine. It should be noted that Usatovo-type amphorae and goblets

significantly differ typologically with the ceramics of the preceding phases of the Early and Middle

Cucuteni-Trypillian culture located between the lower areas of Prut and Dniester rivers20

. Later, duringthe Late Bronze Age (XIII-XII centuries BC) after a certain period of time in Northwestern Black Sea

region began developing this amphorae type utensils like pots, the leading origins from which is the Early

Hallstatt cultures of the Middle and Lower Danube21. The height of pots ranges from 30 to 90 cm22 with

volumes up to tens of liters. It is quite possible that this type of cookware extensively used for making

and storing wine. In addition, in the Late Bronze Age develops a new type of cookware such as large size

pithos (/) shaped pottery often buried to the neck unto the ground23. Fragments of such largepots and pithos shaped vessels were found in the excavation of eponymous Tudora and other settlements

in the Lower Dniester region24. In general, / type vessels with molded rollers ornamentation, aswell as the other pottery are genetically closely related to the later Sabatinovka (Noua-Sabatynovka-

Koslodzheni) and Belozerka cultures of Northwestern Black Sea region25.

Material remains suggest early signs of the emergence of the cult of wine in the Lower Dniester in

Usatovo archaeological material. Due to the fact that during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age in

ancient pastoralist society prevailed meat food, raw materials such as animal hide were in abundance.

Surpluses of animal hide were not only subject to export but were also used for storage and transportation

of wine. It is clear, from the evidence, the remnants of leather products, including bags and even

wineskins found in the inventory of burial barrows of Yamna /Pit-Grave culture in the Lower Dniester

region26. It is most likely evidenced here the wine-making origin, as its earliest cult was centered there.

The integration of textual and archaeological data has led to fruitful results to the knowledge that in the

early manufacture of the wine initially were used leather goatskin made vessels designed to make and

store wine. These were called "zalmos by Thracians. Hence, the name Zalmoxis - deity of Celtic tribes in

19 Zbenovich/ 1974: . . , Late Trypillian tribes of North Black Searegion/ . ( 1974), 141-147.20 Petrenco/ . 1989: . ., (50-125) . .., .., .., ... - . ( 1989) 110; 139 .21 Vanchugov/ 1982: .., - . - . (1982) 50.22 Ibid.:p4523

Cherneacov/ 1984: ., - : . : ( ): ( 1984), 37-39.24 Meliucova/ 1961: .. . 1958 . , (1961),113-134.25 1985: ., - II . . . (1985), 146,151.26 Subbotin/ 1980: .., ( ) - - ( 1980). 52-63.


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Northwestern Black Sea region most likely originates from it. W.K.C.Guthrie identified him with

authentic Thracian brothergod Dionysus27.

It is quite possible, however, as archaeological evidences points out, that pithos () shaped storagejars with molded rollers ornamentation were brought with migration ofthe "Sea Peoples from NorthernBlack Sea area to Asia Minor28which has yielded not only the various but the most continuous evidence

from the Neolithic age to the twilight of classical civilization. The most representative evidence explored

up to now is Sabatinovka type cookware (pithos () shaped jars) ornamented with molded rollerswere found in the Troy horizon VII A-B (1300 - 1260 years B.C.)29. Along with such dishes

archaeological materials of the Troy - VII horizon contain drinking cups made with two vertical loop-

handles, typical to the cultural block of Noua-Sabatinovka-Koslodzhen30 archaeological culture. Clearly,

as the discussion below indicates as well, the reevaluation of these notions is needed.

Almost simultaneously in the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea a similar type of

pottery in the form of large vessels for storing liquid and bulk products have come to light as Cretan-

Mycenaeans called them a-po-re-we. Although actual term amphora became known much later - since IX

century B.C. (Greek ; Ugaritic qtn). We can point to some verbal forms, characteristic to theterritory of the Lower Dniester with authentic ancient Mediterranean and Asia Minor parallels. Forexample, modern Romanian word cad (barrel) used in Lower Dniester region of Moldova to denote acontainer for the fermentation of wine, which some scholars see as phonetically similar to the ka-to-se

(Mycenaean Linear B script)31

and to the Latin cadus32

. Russian kadushka originates from the same root,

likely before the separation of the Indo-European branches; in Lithuanian kede = barrel. The Greeks often

called amphoras such barrels that would be called in archaic dialects . Round containers used inproduction of wine in the Lower Dniester calledgaleat (Rom.- bucket) provide a phonological parallelfor the Greek/gauloi, Latingaulus, Ugaritic galu , Akkadiangullatu33. The word vino/ - winein Slavic language is similar to Romanian word of Lower Dniester vin, Mycenaean wo-i-no, Pylosian

dialect we-je-we, Latin vinum, Ugariticyna, Hittite wi--ya-na-a/wa--na-as, Luwian wintar / winiyanda,and Cretan dialect genitive foino, i.e.34.

27 Eliade 1971: Eliade, Mircea. Zalmoxis, The Vanishing God, The University of Chicago Press,(1972), vol.2;

Orpheus and Greek Religion by W.K.C. Guthrie, 1952, 1993.28 Cherneacov / 1984: ., - : . : ( ): ( 1984), 3442.29 Blegen 1963: Carl Blegen, Troy and the Trojans. New York: Praeger, 174.30 1984: ., - : . : ( ):

( 1984), 36-37, .1,3.31 Brown 1969: J. Brown, The Mediterranean Vocabulary of the Vine. Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 19, Berkeley 1969,Fasc. 2, 146-170; Brown 1995: J. Brown, Israel and Hellas. The Mediterranean Vocabulary of the Vine, Walter de

Gruyter Publishing, (Berlin-New York 1995), chapter 4, 149-168.32 Mallory& Adams 2006: J. Mallory& D. Adams, The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-

Indo-European world, Oxford University Press (Oxford 2006), 262.33 Mallory& Adams 2006: J. Mallory& D. Adams, The Oxford introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-

Indo-European world, Oxford University Press (Oxford 2006), 158-159.34 Brown 1969: J. Brown, The Mediterranean Vocabulary of the Vine. Vetus Testamentum, Vol. 19, Berkeley 1969,

Fasc. 2, 146-170; Gorny 1997: R. Gorny, Viniculture and ancient Anatolia, Wine in the Hittite texts. In: The


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In the Homeric period, the archaic Greek word (wine)35, the synonym for Proto-Indo-European*mdhu (honey; mead)36 stands for strong intoxicating drink made from honey, product of honeyfermentation - or drunken honey (honey wine) so-called hydromeli. In the beginning honey drink and

grape wine were inseparable37

until the selection of wild grapes led to cultivation of varieties that

produced higher sugar content, requiring no additional ingredients to create higher alcohol concentration

in the fermented product.

Other traces of this are to be found in the modern Romanian language, which has Thracian roots, words

zeam ntr-un strugure (juice from grapes) is concordant with Knossos zo-a/zo broth38 (in thepreparation of potions), /zeo of the classical Greek "boil" and /Zeus - "god". In ancient times inthe process of making number of intoxicating beverages used to combine boiled juice, honey, herbs andgoat cheese in goatskin leather bags tied to the neck called askos or korykos. Remains of such wine

containers, as noted above, found in the Lower Dniester archaeological sites.

If the goal is to understand past societies, the human factor needs to be part of the analysis. Even the

seemingly natural process of fermentation to an average observer looks similar to boiling. This establishes

the parallel between the deity of grapes Dionysus and Zeus39

, viewed as an expression of this word, whichto us is not unfounded. Both deities share similar epithets -Eleuther40, Sabazios andMelanegis. The close

relationship between Thracian Dionysus - Sabazios and Zeus, a jointly worshiped cults in Crete41 is not

limited to just name and mythological kinship but also manifests itself in particular Proto-Thracian

symbolic attributes identified with the two symbols - bull and oak. In light of the present argument one

should note that the above symbols were the leading semantic component in the process of building

ancient temples - sanctuaries in the tumuli of the Lower Dniester42. Thus, the most famous Aeneolithic

sacred burial structure consisting of oak logs placed into the ground in certain order was uncovered in the

burial tomb of the tumulus near village Krasnoe (Grigoriopol County) in the Lower Dniester region. Oak

logs, despite the abundance in the Dniester river area alluvial plains of other tree species, were

specifically used to cover burial chambers in Usatovo and Late Yamna/Pit-Grave archaeological sites.

Interestingly, though, in the cited Grigoriopol tumulus, in addition to the wooden cult structure, several

stones with zoomorphic shape images so-called bucranion (stylized bull's head) were found, likely

symbols of fertility43 and affiliated to cult of Dionysus.

The Thracian language belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. Previously thought that

together with the Phrygian and other extinct languages of the group, to belong to the Iranian branch of

Origins and Ancient History of Wine by P. McGovern, S. Fleming, S. Katz (London-New York 2000), part III, 11,

136-150.35 Hesiod W.D. 57236 4.746; 1.84.10 ab; Mallory&Adams 2006, 262; Brown 1995, 139.37

Kernyi 1976: K.Kernyi & R.Manheim, Dionysos: Archetypal Image of Indestructible Life. Princeton UniversityPress (Princeton 1996),42.38 linear B clay tablet from Knossos KN Fh 343.39Bloedow 1991: E. Bloedow, Evidence for an Early Date for the Cult of Cretan Zeus, In: Kernos Vol. 4 (1991),

13977.40Plutarch, Sylmpos. vii. in fin.; Pindr, Ol. xii. 1; Strab, ix. p. 412; Tacitus, Ann. xv. 64. 41 linear B tablet KH Gh3 from Khania, Crete; Godart & Tzedakis 1991, 12949; Trzaskoma & Smith 2004, 448.42, 1987: .., .., . ( 1987). .31,1,152.43 Ibid.:p.79


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Indo-European languages. Most likely the ancient Indo-Europeans (or one of branches) can be considered

to be the candidate for the identity of the Corded Wire people of Yamna/Pit-Grave archaeological culture,

which supports the view that these people inhabited in the III millennium BC modern Moldova, east of

the modern Ukraine and southern area of Russia44. On the basis of the physical evidence it is likely that

the Corded people came from somewhere north or east of the Black Sea.

Tsymbursky in reply to Dechev put forward the earlier proposed argument of "pre-Indo-European

linguistic substrate in the whole Baltic-Balkan zone where, in his opinion, the Indo-European Satem typelanguages were resulted in creolization between Indo-European and non-Indo-European language

substrate45. That the elements of the common Germanic vocabulary and syntactical forms which do not

seem to have Indo-European origin show Proto-Germanic to be the creole language: a contact languagesynthesis between Indo-European speakers and non-Indo-European substrate language used by the

ancestors of speakers of the Proto-Germanic language. Hawkins argues that the proto-Germans

(protoindogermanische Schicht) encountered non-Indo-European speaking people and borrowed many

features from their language46. He hypothesizes that the first sound shift of Grimm's Law was the result of

non-native speakers attempting to pronounce Indo-European sounds, and that they resorted to the closest

sounds in their own language in their attempt to pronounce them. The culture and tribes from which thesubstrate material originated continues to be the subject of academic debate and study. Notable candidates

for possible substrate culture(s) are the Erteblle culture, Funnelbeaker culture, Pitted Ware and CordedWare culture. The Battle-axe people are the ancient culture identified by archaeologists and has been

proposed to be candidates for the people who influenced Germanic speakers with their non-Indo-

European speech. Alternatively, in the framework of the Kurgan hypothesis, the Battle-axe people may be

seen as already "kurganized" culture built on the substrate of the earlier Funnelbeaker culture. Thracian

place names borrows correspondent place names from the Baltic counterparts, and they are amply

supplemented by archaeological schematics of Gimbutas school to certain Thracian semantic and

morphological characteristics that distinguish these cases against dialectal reflexes of the same framework

for other branches of the Indo-European language family.

New insight on the pre-Germanic substrate hypothesis is offered by genetic genealogy. Among the

majority of Indo-European population from the male line the genetic makeup is dominated by various

subclades of the Y-chromosome haplogroup R, while the speakers of Germanic languages present with an

exceptionally high percentage of haplogroups I1 and I2b, presumably used to prevail among the pre-Indo-

European population of Europe.

How to interpret these parsed linguistic facts? Do they give rise to hypothesis about Proto-Thracians

moved in the historical time to the civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea and settled nearly all its

major cities? Alternatively, are these given names to be regarded as drawn by early pre-Greek civilization

around the Aegean Sea in the preliterate period of their history from their ancestors, the historic Proto-

Thracians?

44London Quarterly Review X/2 1813; cf. Szemernyi 1999:12, footnote 6.45 2003: . . . In: : . . 2003.., 1; 1952: . . , 55-56.46 John A. Hawkins (1990), Germanic Languages, in The Major Languages of Western Europe, Bernard Comrie, ed.

(Routledge); Marlies Philippa et al. (a cura di), Etymologisch woordenboek van het Nederlands, Amsterdam

University press, vol. 1, 2003.


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Thus, the idea of Proto-Thracian homeland in the coastal zone of the Lower Dniester river could be

strongly supported by the observation that in this ancestral home they borrowed names from the early

Indo-European terminology, going back - with the Thracian rearrangement - to the characteristic terms of

Indo-European cultural vocabulary, including the notions of a "sacred king", "libation priest", "horse",

"ternary and quaternary, that correlated with the semantic complex hill/tumulus/mound - mountain

forest - thunder-god. This hypothetical pre-Indo-European linguistic substrate is the source thatinfluenced the Proto-Germanic language, and later the Upper High German and Old English, belongs to a

very peculiar linguistic role in the whole Indo-European language family.

We will revisit these issues, but now we will present the case of what we mean by that, defining the

situation on the example of a word characteristic to the Dionysian cult - Thyrsus wand/stuff, thecharacteristic attribute of all characters of the Dionysian myth. Explication of the word Thyrsus directly

affects the interpretation of the processes that occurred at that time on the northern coast of the Black Sea.

Etymology (origin) of this word thyrs/yrs/yrs is based on its reference in the language which, to bebelieved, formed the Indo-European language group in a territory through which flowed river Tyras/

Dniester. This word means "giant, wizard, sorcerer, and ogre"47, preserved as a relic in Old High German

(duris-es) and Old English (yrs), with an unclear etymology, and borrowed from pre-Indo-Europeanlanguage substrate of the northern Black Sea area.

There has been, however, a good deal of other evidence available. Importantly, certain number of

evidences shows that the Lower Dniester River was the cradle-area praised as legendary mythological

Okeanos48

potamos ( )regarded as country of giantspeloros ()49, situated to

the north of the Lower Danube River. For Diodorus Siculus and for others it is the Holy Land (

)50, for Hesiod and Homer - the Holy River ()51. In other words bull-headed () Ocean52 belongs to the religious history of

primitive times, seen as river flowing through the fertile land of Gaia (Terra)53

, which produces

everything, without seed and tilling, wheat, oats and grapevines54, egresses from the Carpathian

Mountains55

, flowing through the land of Agathyrsi ()56 (picti agathyrsi) where is the land and

47 Wentersdorf 1981: Wentersdorf Karl P., Speculum, Vol. 56, No. 3 (Jul., 1981), pp. 492-516; ./ Petrov V.P., Skify (InUkrainian)Scythians (Kyiv 1968), 24, 115-117.48Homer. Iliad. XIV, v.193, 200-201,244,300-305. In: Homer. The Iliad with an English Translation by A.T. Murray,Cambridge, MA., Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann, Ltd. 1924.49 Hesiod, Theog. v. 159,731; Homer, Odyss. XI. 157-8; The Suda identifies Oceanus and Tethys as the parents of the twoKerkopes, whom Heracles also bested.50 The earth.[1] [So called] from being a nurse [tiqh/nh] and one who rears. Homer [writes]: "Oceanus, the origin of the gods, and

mother Tethys."[1] That is, wet nature and dry nature; A headland of Thrace. Crates [calls it] the large one.[1] And [someone elsecalls it?] an island near Okeanos, on which the Gorgons [live]; Diodorus Siculus, Lib. III.56; Pindar, Olympian Ode 2. 70 ff

(trans. Conway); Posidonius fragm. 69 in Fragm. Hist. gr. III. 282; Dionysius, Orb. Descr. 7;Homer, Odyssey. XII. 1 ff; Homer,Iliad, XIV, v.308,XVIII, v. 541 seqq;Aristophanes, Clouds 264 ff (trans. O'Neill).51 Hesiod.Works and Days, v.564-570; Hesiod. Theogony,v.787 ff; Homer. Iliad, XIV, v.308, XVIII. v.402; Odyss. XI. 21. 639;XII. 1;Quintus Smyrnaeus, Fall of Troy 2. 115 ff ,12. 159 ff:52Euripides, Orestes E. P. Coleridge, Ed., v.1375.53 Homer. Iliad. XIV.193,200-201; Hesiod. Theog. v.159, 517-8; Diod. Siculus, lib III. 60.54 Homer. Odyss. IX. 109; Homer. Iliad, XVIII. 540-550 seqq; Hesiod. Works and Days, v. 169; Diodorus Sicilus, II. 47;Chronicon Dubnicense, Ed. Florianus, c. 2855 Aeschylus. Prometheus Bound, v. 284, fragm.73.56 Postumius Rufus Festus Avienus, Descriptio orbis terrae, v. 455; The Thracians 700 BC-AD 46 by Christopher Webber andAngus Mcbride,2001 ,p. 16; Ptolemy iii. 5. 17, 8. 1, &c.


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city of the Cimmerians57, and splendid heroes who were fallen defending the walls of Troy58, country of

the first deified ancient kings (/ )59, father of gods (theon genesis/ )60 andPelasgians61. With Hesiodus though, the genealogy of these kings is reduced to Gaea, the

blessed country near Oceanos potamos. Interestingly, though, there is substantially different semantic

development of the same base root observed in the parallel: a giantThyrs in form of - Tr na ng62

The land of perpetual youth, a realm in the Celtic mythology, indicating the source of unity of the Indo-European mythological tradition.

In preliterate times, by the time of Homer, word Thyrsus and its original meaning was nearly lost.

However he gives us the (pre)- or (non)- Greek substitute word - Aigaion (A)63, using folketymology and interpreted it as "stronger than others, while others just equate it with giant"64.Radermacher considered him to be a pre-Greek deity65, and thatconfirmed by the archaeological findings

given to your attention below. The other evidence for legendary human existence with such name related

to the findings in the Lower Dniester region is the inscription in Linear B script translated as ti-ri-se-ro-

e/Thiris-eroe - "Thyrsus - hero ancestor"66

- a generic Mycenaean clan ancestral deity, Cultural Hero

found in the same palatial Linear B tablets of the Late Minoan LM and Late Helladic LH periods, where it

appeared alongside with Dionysus and Zeus67. After all, as appear to be reinvention in later classicalGreece - word Dionysus at the Mycenaean period may has been denoted merely as one of the gods of

fertility, which could be inherent to his image in the pre-historical stage of its genesis. Confirmation of

this could be found in the legendary remaining of Troy (Troy-VI horizon) in Asia Minor, which

Mycenaean stratum contain the curious inscription68Patori Turi (pa-to-ri Tu-ri) - the father Tyris, as

described by the Cambridge Classics researcher A. Sayce69.

There is one suggestive piece of evidence favoring the identification of these forms. The Mesopotamian

bird matron goddess Siris/Sirish70

(known in Akkadian as goddess Ninkasi), who was semantically

associated with intoxicating beverages, being the goddess of beer, shows suggestive phonological

57Homer, Odyssey, XI. 13; also in Strabo.Geography.Chapter I.7-8, 13-14.58 Hesiodus, Works And Days, v. 171.59 Homer, Iliad, XIV.v.193,199-205,244ff,300-305; Aeschylus, Prometheus Bound, v. 347 seqq; Diodorus Siculus, lib.III. 60;Fragm Hist. Gr. III. 567.14; Hesiodus, Theog. v. 509-510; Pherekydes. Syr.Fr.2.D;.60 Plutarch. The Face in the Moon, Elegy and Iambus, Volume II, J. M. Edmonds, Ed., Crates, 2.15.3; Homer, Iliad, XIV, v.

193,200-201, 244; Orphic Hymn 83 to Oceanus (trans. Taylor); Plato.Theaetetus, 180d;Nonnus. Dionysiaca, 23. 236 ff.61 Hesiodus, Theog. v. 517-8; Diod. Siculus, lib III. 60;Strabo. Geogr. I. 3. 4.62There with wild honey drip the forest trees; The stores of wine and mead shall never fail. Celtic Myths and Legends, by T.W. Rolletson (Senate, 1994).63Fowler 1988: R. L. Fowler , - in Early Greek Language and Myth, Phoenix, Vol. 42, No. 2, 95-113.64 Lykillos of Tarrha in 1 Ap. Rhod. 1.1165d.; Gudemann :1907 Alfred Gudemann, Grundriss der Geschichte der Klassischen

philologie, 85.

65 L. Radermacher, Mythos und Sage bei den Griechen (Munich etc. 1938) 266 ff.66 Antonaccio C., The Thrice Hero and ancestor cult, In: Ancient Greece: from the Mycenaean palaces to the age of Homer bySigrid Deger-Jalkotzy, Irene S. Lemos, Edinburgh Leventis Studies 3, 384; Douglas Young, Is Linear B Deciphered? * Arion,Vol. 4, No. 3 (Autumn, 1965), p.528.67 Linear B tablet (Tn 316.5, PY 1204, Kn 02); Bennet Jr., The Olive Oil tablets of Pylos (Minos Suppl.2), Salamanca:

Universidad de Salamanca, 43-4.68Hugo Schuchardt: ' Schlienmanns Discoveries,' pp. 334-5.69 Sayce 1932: A. H. Sayce, The Phrygian Hero Tyris //The Classical Review, Vol. 46, No. 1 (Feb., 1932) Cambridge UniversityPress, p.11.70 Fossey 1902: Charles Fossey, La Magie assyrienne (These) (Biblioth. de l E. des Hautes Et. Sect, des Sc. relig. Vol. XV),Paris, 1902 , 2., II R 51 b. 1-29 = ZK.


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parallels, under the analysis proposed here, for base root Thyrs seems to beoriginated from proposed pre-

Indo-European linguistic substrate.

In the process of study of the Dionysus phenomenon became apparent that the word God and the

associated concept underwent certain evolution. This Indo-European term classic Greeks had already lost

in Mycenaean times, yet they retained some traces of it in the relic derivatives. Mycenaean word di-wo-

nu-so-jo is a classic Greek reinvention that arose due to marginalization and subsequent obscurity of the

old term, although originally was part of the theonym (name of god). As Tsymbursky perceptively noted

and better than him no one would better articulate: "repression [of the concept of God], apparently in pre-

Mycenaean time a continuation from Indo-European base form deiwos to theos (),Mycenaean Greekte-o [Thracian - desa (s), disa (s)] may indicate a substantial change in the concept of divinity by the time

when pre-Greeks resided in the Balkans, who, at some point of time have started to regard him not as an

affective visual phenomenon, diva (Indo-European * dei- (to shine, shine, etc.; Vedic Sanskritdidy-ati ,etc.)), but in the sense of inspiration, obsession, trends (qeov


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accompaniment, is a proper illustration of presence of the signs of early Dionysian tradition in the area of

Lower Dniester River. From the works of ancient poets78 in the scope of the dithyrambic vocabulary fDionysian cult were used such figures of speech as , , 79referring to death by stoning with subsequent dismemberment clearly proven by archaeological finds inLower Dniester80River region. Another word used in these poetic works: 81referred to as being

hit by solid object, is intricately connected with the dithyramb as a literary form, as well as with bothDionysiac mythology and cult practices. These elements of worship were present in the Lower Dniester as

indicated by the finds of pieces of stone axes, since the ritual killings were carried out to resemble a

lightning strike, i.e., the thunder of Zeus. Importantly, the word God at that point of time denoted asbeing able to shine like lightning. These factors make the Thracian-Dionysian theme significant and

definitely not apriori meaningless - but they also bring into focus questions about the criteria of credibility

that are to be applied to such conjectures, as well as the interpretation of these parallels in cases where

they could be interpreted as real isoglosses. The cultic Dionysiac dancers were given to wine drinking,

vigorous dancing, boisterousness, and obscenity, and were likely to sung dithyramb in a state of

emotional rapture and, characteristically, dancing in circular formation identified as ,turbasia82[tyrbasia; surb, turb]. As one of the latest forms of the earliest choral hymn to Dionysus the returningmovements of this dance resembles to its originally antistrophic character of dithyramb. From a

phonological standpoint, there is reason to believe that modern fast-paced dance srba (one of thetraditional dances preserved by descendants of Thracians - Moldovans, Romanians, Bulgarians,

Macedonians, Ukrainians, Hungarians, and by Greeks) is the survival of this earliest dithyrambic dance

and music.

In an attempt of a certain historical reconstruction, we would like to point out to particular archaeological

evidence from the excavations of burial mounds of Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age period in the Lower

Dniester River region. The image of the legendary king of Nysa (), Silenus could have been molded

after the leader and high priest of Chalcolithic - Early Bronze Age burial excavated in 1980 in a tumulus

near the village of Purcari83. Burial number 21 is the base for the 1st, the original mound of this tumulus 1,

which was 5 meters in height and 60 meters in diameter84. Associated with the original mound of that

tumulus, there were 2 accompanying overlapping burials from Usatovo culture ( 9, 30) that werecharacterized by smaller burial chambers and much less extravagance in burial inventory. Further

additions to the mound were of Early Bronze Age Pit-Grave origin.

The man, buried in grave 1, burial 21 near the village of Purcari had gigantic height, and judging by the

unusually large skeleton, possessed uncommon physical strength. This immediately made this discovery

to be the center of attention in that dig. According to anthropologists (S.Segeda, Ukraine), the height of

that man was 2.15 m, which is rarely seen even in the modern men 85.

78R.Seaford,The Hyporchema of Pratinas,Maya 29-30(1977-1978),88,92.79Arkhilokhos fr. 77B (= 120W); Kratinos fr. 187K (= 199 K-A); and Bakkhai, 1103.80 2010: .., 3 .. , . 2010, .134-138.81 Pickard-Cambridge: Dithyramb, Tragedy and Comedy (Oxford, 1927, rev. 2/1962 by T.B.L. Webster), 15982Pollux, Onomasticon, iv, 104; Hesychius, see under tyrbasia83 2005: .. , . : , ( 2005)., 87-96.84 1990: . , - . ( 1990),6385 the measurements made by Ukrainian anthropologist S.P.Segeda, Kiev


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In the inventory of the burial were present all three insignia of power: (1)priesthood, signified by the find

of a small and elegant vessel, decorated with complex ornamentation (for the detailed analysis of

semantics of decoration of the vessel, see below) and eight ritual vessels refined shapes with symbolic

ocher-colored painted and decorated with cord impressions were uncovered, (2) military authority,

signified by the find of a bronze dagger and an ax, and (3) civilauthority, signified by the find of carved

wooden scepter (presumably oak-stuff), horn hoe and eleven flint composite liner sickle.

Under the large vessel (amphora) was found the bronze awl, and the short knife with half-worn blade. In

front of the skull were placed bronze chisels, adzes and other tools. All these items are ancient

instruments of production, and their significance in the burial inventory as they point to the position of

civil authority of the buried. Although the exact determination of their status is uncertain and awaits full

reevaluation, there is one suggestive piece of evidence favoring the identification of these forms. Ritual

accessories, laid under the amphora suggest a cult of a deity symbolized by the contents of the vessel. The

shape and size of ritual vessels suggests that they could be used to perform religious ceremonies with use

of wine. In this case the skeleton of goat (lamb?) was found directly in the burial chamber among the

sacrificial vessels. It recalls obscure and ancient figure of Zagreus (Greek: ) as an emanation of

archaic Dionysiac rites86, who was considered to be god of goats, which was torn and eaten in his honor.His oldest epithet - Melanaegis87, meaning "wearing skin of the black goat, and with this particularepithet, he appeared in Greece for the first time. To some extent, the ratio of funeral goods in this burial

21 (large amphorae pottery, the cup, painted amphora and the bones of sacrificial goat) and its semantics,

serves as to be the prototype of constituent elements of the future Dionysian cult.

Headwear of the buried was richly decorated with dense set of beads made of dozens of small bone

fragments; while next to the skull found four rings made of silver. The total inventory is very impressive.

In the burial denoted as 1/21 Purcari several hundred various finds were found as well, including sixarticles (tools) made of copper, and four ornaments made of silver, metals that were rare and expensive at

that time in Europe. Of interest is the unusually large size of amphorae from the three major Usatovo

culture burials 11, 21, 30 in the same Purcarian tumulus number1. Their height varies from 29 to 54 cm

and the diameter of the widest part of the vessel ranges from 28 to 63 cm, which makes them stand out

from the typical Usatovo ceramics, normally dominated by dishes of medium size, with the typical

heights of the largest vessels not exceeding 17-27 cm88

. The general context of this burial as having great

cult-significance was supported by the thin-walled cup found near the scull, as well as special ceremonial

vessel for certain rituals and ceremonies. Interestingly, though, there is also the fluidly painted ornaments

and paintings, executed in dark brown and red pigment (ocher) on the miniature amphora from burial 1/21

(vessel #3)89. At the top of the lid of the vessel and the sides of amphorae were grab handles in the form

of a stylized bull horns (bukranii), while the lid and the body of the vessel were decorated with

86

Linear B tablet PY Ea 75 PY Gn 431 sa kareu, Linear B tablet PY An 218 daijakereu(Mantero T. Radiographia di un dio. Dioniso, dio della vegetazione, kouros e paredros. Genes, 1975. P. 21 22).87Pausnius. i. 38. 8; ii. 35. 1; Aeschylus. Sept. 700.; Suida. s. v. Eleutheros, s. v. Apatouria; Ridgeway1966:W. Ridgeway, The origin of tragedy: with special reference to the Greek tragedians,75-76,83 .88 . 1989: . ., (50-125) . .., .., .., ... - . ( 1989), 76.89 1990: . , - . (1990),69, . 30.


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meandering ornament in the background in form of crossed strips and wave-like shaped lines, allowing

for the possible interpretation as the picture of river (Tyras/Dniester). This type of ornament is not

coincidental here; however, it was painted only on this particular vessel. From the

Aeneolithic/Chalcolithic age of the Northwestern Black Sea region rarely found funeral rites of such

pomposity, as evident by the the grave itself, as well as by the associated with this particular sanctuary the

cultic sacrificial pit - bothros () (cultic pit 1). It should be viewed together with the confirmed sizeof the funeral feast, and the number of animal sacrifices in honor of the buried. This important detail

supports our hypothesis, since Dionysus is regarded as the god of feasting. Just within the sacrificial

burial complex found bones from fifteen sheep, two oxen and three deer.

In fact, unusual and rich collection of artifacts uncovered in one grave, ancient burial mound and the

extensive (about 2 meter height) stone wall (cromlech/dolmen) of the tomb chamber, well underscore the

high social status of the buried, given the amount of labor would take to construct the barrow complex,

and the expense of such funeral. It should be noted that the mounds of Usatovo culture, studied in 1980

near village of Purcari, were compact burial complex consisting of 5 burial mounds, which in total

contained 23 Late Cucuteni-Trypillian tombs, with fairly extensive inventory. These graves have also

been linked with a set of complex places of worship with stone walls, bridge-like structures and shrines,filled with animal bones and pottery fragments. Against this background the burial number 1 /21Purcari stands out by the virtues of the size of the burial chamber, complicated two-layer ceilingassembled of oak logs, and more than just rich set of burial items. Most importantly is the giant height of

the buried. This burial complex, without a doubt, was built for member of the tribal elite or the priestly

class of the Usatovo society. The burial inventory and uncovered details of burial rites convincingly

demonstrate the presence of those elements, which in the future will become central to the cults

associated with worship of Dionysus.

A set of ritual objects and the obvious high social status of the buried in the Purcari mound can be, with a

high degree of confidence, associated with the mythical character, which in the Classical era came to be

known as Silenus, the mentor of Dionysus, from whom the god learned winemaking and to be known

latter as Agathyrsus90

. The whole history of socio-historical reconstruction repeatedly proves that various

legendary characters often correspond to very much real, existing people. Theoretically, the deity whom

the high priest of the Purcari tomb worshiped could be Sabazios, or rather his prehistoric prototype.

Proto-Thracians and other tribes, known only by their archaeological names, as well as Indo-European

peoples of the Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age worship Sabazios in the form of bull or horned man. This

worship is clearly traceable in the form of a bull cult specific to a number of Indo-European cultures far

beyond the territory of the Lower Dniester River. Whether this cult was originally associated with purely

pastoral-agricultural immortality character, later, with invention of wine (as originally mixture of several

ingredients) as well as other trance-inducing techniques (like dance and music) developed into religious

rituals correspondingly transformed into the elements of future Dionysian cult.

It should be noted however, that the collective memory has difficulty to restrain "individual" events and

"real" persons. In its operation, it relies on other than history structures: instead it uses categories rather

than events, archetypes rather than historical figures. Historical person assimilates with its mythical

model (hero, forefather etc.) and even with his mythological embodiment (such as the staff-thyrsus).

90Herodotus. History, Book IV, 8-10.


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Historical event integrates into the category of mythical action (the fight with the monster Grendel91, the

clash with the Titans, etc.). Thyrsus (Agathyrsus) - as a historical person - survived in the memory of his

progeny for two, at the most three generations, despite his remarkable nature, physical qualities and

extraordinary abilities. Another important contributing factor was the pre-literate nature of their culture.

The appearance of his name in the generated words for material objects with the intent of immortalization

of him as a hero and a forefather in the languages of the ancient nations reflects the most importantphysical and social characteristics of this prehistoric hero. It should be noted that the word "magician" has

come in Greek language and other European languages from the ancient proto-Indo Iranian language (and

in fact Northern Black Sea does not contradict archaeologically the reconstruction of the origin of pre-

Hittite/Luwian in most recent pre-Anatolian period of their history as laying between the pre-Indo-Iranian

and the pre-Indo-European family92). From the age of Athenian polis, the Greeks referred to Zoroastrians

as this kind of tribes/peoples (ethnous), while later the word "magician" had lost its ethno-confessional

tone, and came to meaning ofany priest, astrologer and magician of non-Greek origin. In fact, in Indo-European languages exists base root word magh - tall, big, from which the Russian power, strength,help and I might (i.e. I am capable), and the English might, may, the German Macht, mogen(same meaning). The Persian word mogh- priest93 might have originated from the same common

base root, and if so, then the derivation of the word "magician" is clear: a person having power to perform

an action, who is able to do something, or, which is relevant, a man endowed with uncommon physical

strength in general. Such man seemingly was buried in the mound 1/21 near Moldovian village Purcari.

It is also would seem desirable to at least consider other supporting evidences. There are thus evidences

that there was indeed at least a linguistic relationship between toponym Purcari, as area located at the very

heart of Lower Dniester River area and some deciphered Bronze Age Aegean inscriptions. The earliest

instances could be found in Mycenaean palatial Linear B tablets as follows: pu-ka-wo/purkawoi94 - fireigniter; fire-kindlers; keepers of the sacred fire; rowers;95wearers of skins (/diphtherphoroi/); oru-

pa-ra-ki- ri-ja96 andpu2-ra2-a-ke-re-u97 - translated as "faraway province; remote region/border; suburbs;

outskirts

98

- outskirts of Pylos, named after migrant foreigners

99

. It is well known that in the lexicon ofAkkad and Babylon there has been attested the phonetically similar and semantically related term

parakku/pa-rak-ki, BARA2-ME - Room of the gods, altar, Holy of Holies, platform for the holy

91 Facsimile (1882) of the 18th century autotypes of the cotton MS Vitellius A XV ; Breeden, David. The

Adventures of Beowulf: an Adaptation from the Old English.92 Gusmani 1968: R. Gusmani , Il lessico ittito. Napoli, 1968,p.79; .. ..,1993; In: .. - // , 2003, 393Avestan mou-, Old Persian/Median magu-.

94

Linear B tablets: PY An 39 v.4; Fn 837; Fn 50; Olivier 1960, 114-119; , J.T. Killen, 1999. Some observations onthe new Thebes tablets. Mycenaean Seminar in January 1999. BICS. London. University of Cambridge 2001, 437.95 Palmer 1962: L. R. Palmer. Reviewed work(s): A propos d'un 'liste' de desservants de sanctuarie dans les

documents en linaire B de Pylos by J. -P. Olivier, Gnomon, 34. Bd., H. 7 (Dec., 1962), pp. 707-711.96 Linear B tablets: PY An 298.1, H3; PY Cn 45.4.5.6.7.11;97 Linear B tablets: Nn 228.3.98 Hajnal 1997: Ivo Hajnal , Sprachschichten des mykenischen Griechisch. Salamanca, 1997, 33; Lane 2008, 102-

106.99 Nikoloudis 2006: S.Nikoloudis, The ra-wa-ke-ta, Ministerial Authority and Mycenaean Cultural Identity.

Dissertation. The University of Texas at Austin (Austin 2006); Jean Louis Perpillou, (1968) p.209.


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throne, throne base (cult dais)" 100(syn. ibratu - sanctuary in the open air101; also chieftain; or perhapsking; the first in rank; gods and goddesses who is dwelling within it;102 the great leader. Adaptation bythe linguistic phonetic laws corresponds to the meaning of this word in Russian language translates as

Great/Giant Chieftain103.

Was this is the wine-producing region in ancient times and was it semantically connected to religious

activity with usage of wine? Judging by the some Mycenaean inscribed tablets this can be answered in the

affirmative. Wo-no-wa-ti-si 104 - area ofOinoa () orOine () carries meaning of "wine area"105.Word Oium/Oem106 in later times (II-IV A.D.) also meant Sacred Land and points to the area betweenLower Danube and Lower Dniester rivers107 was perceived by the Greeks as Okeanos [] pelore.This territory self identified by Proto-Thracians as /Perke108 - the holy land, the land of thesacred fire, and if you remove consonant - as a binder, you can see a clear semantic and phonetic

attraction toPurca109, or Purcari - a derivative that miraculously survived in this place name. isthe toponym that is also attested in Trojan coast of Thrace110, as there are well-known Thracian votives to

the horsemen deity and formed as belonging to the Indo-European series ofderivatives of the root *perkwo-,*perkwu, which meant hill (mound) rock, mountain forest, oak(!) or

pine, as well as the storm god who dwellson the mountains (mounds), such as Dionysus, Zeus orHittite god Tarhun.

100Sayce 1901: . Sayce, The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, Part 2, lecture 9, (1901). The GiffordLectures (1900-1902) Oxford University, (Edinburgh 1903).; Kilmer 1963: A. Kilmer, Journal of Archaeology and

Oriental Studies (JAOS), vol.83, 1963,p. 429: 274-75, 443: 152-55; Horowitz 1998, p.12.101 George 1992: A. George, Babylonian Topographical Texts, BM 38602.col.iii (no.10), 1992, 369, 411;

(Babylonian manuscript) BM 38602.col.iii (no.10)p.101-102; Tintir V 86; A.Kilmer, JAOS 83 429:274-75,443:152-

55.102 Talbot 1870: H. Talbot, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Contributions towards

of the Assyrian Language, Vol IV, Art.1, Part II, (London1870), p.47.103 Talbot 1870: H. Talbot, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Contributions towards

of the Assyrian Language, Vol IV, Art.1, Part II, (London1870), p.63; A Concise Dictionary of the Assyrian

Language By William Muss-Arnolt vol.II Miqqu-Titurru (berlin-London-New York 1905), p.830.104 Linear B tablets from Pylos PY Vn 48.6 Pylos Xb 1419, PY Xa 1419; Palmer, 1963,p.414; Kyriatsoulis , 1996.105 Pylos Xb1519; Puhvel 1964: J. Puhvel, Eleuther and Oinoatis: Dionysiac Data from Mycenaean Greece. In:

Mycenaean Studies, ed. Emmett L. Bennett Jr. University of Wisconsin Press (Madison 1964), p.168.106

Oem: There are two demes in Attica, both with the neuter name Oem. Philochorus in his third book says thatthey were given this name because their territory had never been inhabited, but had been left deserted - for the

ancients used the word oem to mean "deserted", according to Diodorus. This evidence particularly interested sincethis territory at that age was indeed uninhabited, settlements free or simply deserted, however contain remains of

strictly sacred burials.107

Homer, dyss. XI . 2 ff , 11-13, 18 ff: where is the land and city of the Cimmerians ; Strabo,Geography.1.13-14 : the north extends to the furthest confines of Scythia,(Tartary) (G.Bell&Sons, London.1903)108 Stephani Byzantii Ethnica , by Margarethe Billerbeck (ed.). Vol. I: A-G. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter,

2006 (Corpus Fontium Historiae Byzantinae 43/1), Pp. x, 64*-441 ; De Simone C. Etruskischer Literaturbericht:

neuveroffentliche Inschriften 1970-1973//Glotta,53,1975, 152109 2003: .. , * : . . .,2003.110. II 835, XI 229, XV 547


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Another name closely connected to the Proto-Thracians preserved by Greeks in a sense of the roughly

analogous form Cretan Kouretes (/Pelasgians - wanderers, migrants111). Land ofKouretes/Curetes was marked with dedicated special script character (symbol) as early as the proto-

writing of Cretan Hieroglyphic Script112. Decipherment of Late Bronze Age pottery inscriptions fromCrete revealed that frequently occurring in texts term thrice (Tri-) represents amplifying grammatical

particle or adjective of quality, meaning - bigger, greater, utmost, and might had an original sense ofmeaning rather giant thenjust numerical three.

Chalcolithic-Early Bronze Age tribes that dwelt north to Black Sea coast established relations with the

distant Mediterranean kingdoms113, where the appearances of the earliest manifestations of this cult were

attested. In a number of the cultural centers of the Aegean world, archaeologists excavated certain type of

molded barbaric typepottery, foreign to Achaean in shape and character, belonged to the age proceededto the fall of Mycenaean cities, which has attracted the attention of researchers114. Rutter was the first to

pay serious attention to this type of pottery, foreign to the Mycenaean culture. He proposed possible

center of its spread from broad geographic range: Danube, Asia Minor, Troy, North Italy, with strongest

evidences to the Thracian Hallstatt, stretching from Balkans to the Dniester River115 and further east as far

as the Bug River. These rough made jars, according to Rutter, has very close cultural and archaeologicalaffinity to pottery belonged to the Noua-Sabatinovka-Koslodzhen archaeological culture facing the Black

sea between the mouths of the Bug River and the Danube in present-day Romania, Moldavia, and

southern Ukraine in the XIV-XII centuries BC. Chernyakov ascribed "barbaric type pottery fromAchaean settlements and Troy to Sabatinovka culture116. Of great importance for this discussion are the

remains of bronze weapons discovered during the excavation of the archaeological sites believed to be

typologically similar to Mycenaean type117. Finds of spearheads and daggers of the Sabatinovka type have

been recorded also in the eastern Mediterranean Sea - Crete, Knossos, and Cyprus118.

111 1967: . , . . ., . 1967.112Decipherment of the script BXXIX=B02 on the Phaistos Disk, were in place of the name of city used a symbol

some scholars believe stands for (29-34-23-25 = KU - R. - TO - P2A) land of Kouretes (by Molchanov, 1980/1988).113 2003: ., XVV . . ., . XI , 31 5 2003 , (-- 2003).Internet publication: http://annals.xlegio.ru/life/mobcm11.htm114 Lewartowski 1989: K. Lewartowski, The Decline of the Mycenaean Civilization : An Archaeological Study of

events in the Greek mainland, Archiwum Filologiczne 43, (Wrocaw 1989), 64-182.115

Rutter 1975: J.Rutter, Ceramic evidence for northern intruders in Southern Greece at the beginning of the LateHelladic III period. // American Journal of Archaeology. Boston 1975, vol. 79. In: .. II . . ., . . 2 (150), 2000, 275-286.116 1984: ., - : . : ( 1984), 3442.117 Klochko 1993: V.I. Klochko, Weapons of the tribes of the Northern-Pontic zone in the 16TH-10TH centuries

B.C. Baltic-Pontic studies, vol.1 (Poznan 1993),74-76118Sandars 1978: N.K. Sandars, The Sea People. Warriors of ancient Mediterraninean 1250-1150 B.C. (London

1978) Times and Hudson, 93-94; Klochko 1993, 129, fig.39.


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Gindin referred to the irrefutable linguistic conformity of Homeric Troy with Proto-Thracians119. In

particular, (in north-eastern Troy) derived from Thracian glosses: , , meaning"wine"


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similar to the one observed in the Purcari 1/21, the so-called grave of Thyrsus/Agathyrsus, as well as

other burials from the Lower Dniester River region tumulies.

Interestingly, though, in works of the ancient mythographer Gaius Julius Hyginus, Fabulae most clearly

expressed name of the discoverer of wine - Cerasus131Therasus (Thyrsus) - linguistically actual formshown by later attestations reflecting the same basis as in term Thyrsus. Semantics of it - horn, horned.

Even Thyrsuss sacrificial vessels is molded in the shape of horned creature and contains images of theriver which stands for the wine mixing with water of the sacred river after whom most likely the Dniester

River was named. We would like to develop and supplement this conjecture by the following

considerations at this point because, apparently, some linguistic evidences. It make sense to compare

Greek word kraj132 meaning " horn that used for blowing, or by means to drink with it " withmetaphorical meaning - "an offshoot of the river bed"; Mycenaean dialect forms keraa / keraha /,

derivatives form keras-t j m. - "horned creature" is probably going back to the early base root of Thyrs,were the same word in origin. Geologically, it is proven that the Dniester River in ancient times before

merging with the Black Sea was divided into two branches, which now are swampy marshes of the

Dniester River estuary. The symbolical meaning of the Dionysian staff Thyrsus - both branches has

double mythological sense as branches of the vine, and as an allegorical form of the river Tyraschannels. Also, in the same etymological dictionary Greek word keraunj - thunder, thunder, lightningand terpi-kraunoj (s.v.), gcei-kraunoj -the one who throws lightning" (even in the epithet ofDionysos Sabazios one could see through a form of deity Zios - yielded the remains of Zeus ) or

derivative keraun ... aj,-n ... thj133- stone-lightning 'Zeus' - a verb - keraunomai,-w - struck by Zeusslightning, all semantically related in the context of the present argument. Thyrsus, as we noted earlier,

worshiped his father God of Thunder Zeus in the form of Sabazios. Only invention of wine gave him the

path to enlightenment and secrets of unconsciousness led him to create a coherent religious system.

Brought by small group of priests to the Aegean basin and Egypt with the waves of the Sea Peoples -

tursha, and described by Plato134

and Pythagoras, from Memphis priests and their mentorAmasis or

Sonchis and Assyrian sage namedZarat135, the name of the founder of the Hermetic sciences - astrology,

alchemy and all the ancient sciences -Hermes Trismegistus136

. Proliferated throughout Europe by Knights

Templars by the name Theut137 orThoth Hermes - Thrice Great138 is the Purcarian born Agathyrsus,whos Emerald Tablet of the Lost Knowledge so desperately searched by many secret societies today.One can easily imagine that after nearly three thousand years from the time of the these events in the

131 Hyginus. Review by Wilfred E. Major of P.K. Marshall, Hyginus: Fabulae. Editio altera. 2002, CCLXXIV.

Inventors and their inventions I.274; , , I.274.132 Beekes 2009: Robert Beekes with the assistance of Lucien van Beek , Greek etymological dictionary, p.337. In:

Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, #10.133 P.Holm., Clem.; Redard Les noms grecs enthj, 55.134

Plato, Philebus 18 b; Charmides ,156 d.135 Clement of Alexandria, Stromata. I 69, 670, 1;Clementis Alexandrini. Stromata// Patrologiae cursus completes.Series Graeca. P., 1857. T.VIII.136 L.R. Palmer, Interpretations, p. 263. In: Douglas Young ,Is Linear B Deciphered? Arion, Vol. 4, No. 3 (Autumn,

1965), p.528.137 Plato, The Dialogues of Plato, vol. 4, transl. by B. Jowett, M.A. in Five Volumes (Oxford University Press,

1892), 274c-275b, p.391-491.138 Etruscan - Turms, Uralic -En (Priest) (consonant with the Bible -Enoch andAenzu from Kamyana Mohyla,

Ukraine) Ossetian - Tutyr, West Semitic creator of script Taautos/Tauthos/- Master of Arts and Sciences,an expert in all Crafts, Scribe of the Gods, and Keeper of The Book of Life.


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period when the information about him survived all this time and passed to Hyginus as inventor of grape

wine, though in a somewhat distorted, but almost unchanged form about the legendary Thyrs/Thyrsus,

who lived and buried in the vicinity of the Moldovan village Purcari.

It seems that the impressive facts of this kind do exist, albeit in a small number. Yet this small number

could be explained in particular by the fact that the linguistic material - for the most part consists of

personal names, whereas the archaeological material allows only very limited conclusive

etymologization. Nevertheless, these few cases seem to be able to shed further light on the early stage of

ethnic and cultural genesis of the Proto-Thracians that happened north of the Black Sea, in the Lower

Dniester basin as part of the general process of formation of the Indo-European language and culture.


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