Bindus is a

theonym A theonym (from Greek (), 'god', attached to (), ) is a proper name of a deity. Theonymy, the study of divine proper names, is a branch of onomastics, the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. Theonymy helps develop an und ...

attested in the territory of the Iapodes tribe. According to scholars, the name refers to a

water deity A water deity is a deity in mythology associated with water or various bodies of water. Water deities are common in mythology and were usually more important among civilizations in which the sea or ocean, or a great river was more important. Anoth ...

worshipped by the Iapodes, since its name is attested next to Roman deity

Neptune Neptune is the eighth and farthest known planet from the Sun. It is the List of Solar System objects by size, fourth-largest planet in the Solar System by diameter, the third-most-massive planet, and the densest giant planet. It is 17 t ...

Epigraphy

The name is attested in epigraphic monuments found in

Dardani The Dardani (; ; ) or Dardanians were a Paleo-Balkan languages, Paleo-Balkan people, who lived in a region that was named Kingdom of Dardania, Dardania after their settlement there. They were among the oldest Balkan peoples, and their society wa ...

an territory, dated to the 2nd century, near the rivers Ibër and Drin. At least 11 votive documents dedicated to the deity were found in Privilica, Bihac: * ''Bindo Neptuno sacrum'' * ''B do Neptuno sacr m' * ''(Bindo Nep)tuno'' * ''Bindo N tuno sa (um)'' * ''Bindo N(eptuno) s(acrum)'' * '' idi'' * ''Bi do'. 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). A personal name ''Bindho'' was also found in a

Noricum Noricum () is the Latin name for the kingdom or federation of tribes that included most of modern Austria and part of Slovenia. In the first century AD, it became a province of the Roman Empire. Its borders were the Danube to the north, R ...

holy spring.

Name and etymology

Linguists have connected the theonym to

Old Cornish Cornish ( Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh and Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, a language once spoken widely across Great Britain. For much o ...

''banne'',

Middle Cornish Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh and Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, a language once spoken widely across Great Britain. For much of ...

''banna'' and

Breton Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

''banne'' (all meaning 'drop');

Middle Irish Middle Irish, also called Middle Gaelic (, , ), is the Goidelic language which was spoken in Ireland, most of Scotland and the Isle of Man from AD; it is therefore a contemporary of Late Old English and Early Middle English. The modern Goideli ...

''buine'' 'water, stream' and

Old Indic The Indo-Aryan languages, or sometimes Indic languages, are a branch of the Indo-Iranian languages in the Indo-European language family. As of 2024, there are more than 1.5 billion speakers, primarily concentrated east of the Indus river in Ban ...

''bindú-'' 'drop'. Polish linguist Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak also sees some possible cognate relationship between the Illyrian deity and the Lusitanian '' Bandua''. 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.

Interpretations

Bindus is interpreted as the name of a deity of seas and waters, or a deity of sources. In this regard, according to Croatian historian

Aleksandar Stipčević Aleksandar Stipčević (October 10, 1930 – September 1, 2015) was an Arbanas Croatian archeologist, bibliographer, librarian and historian of Albanian origin who specialized in the study of the Illyrians. He was born in the village of Arbanas ...

, this interpretation is supported by the location of their altars at the source of a river in Privilica.

Iconography

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.

References

Bibliography

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