Arch. Uulgarica " 199R 2 52 - 5(, Sofia ZEUS BENNJOS: A FEW MORE NOTES MAYA VASSILEVA Dedications 10 Zeus Bennios. considered as a that is otherwise not attested (Haspcls 1971 , Phrygian deity. have been published and dis­ No 18; !?ahin 1978,78 1; Drew-Dear/ Naour 1990, cussed since the 1st century (Ramsay 1884.258­ 1960-1961). hence: {Jevve"'clv. Some authors 259, No II ; Ramsayl887. 5 11 - 512. No 97). His find a similar verb in a New-Ph rygian text: /11:1'­ cult was spread along the Upper Tembris valley VEl', explaining it as an imperat ive (Haas 1966, in Western Phrygia, and some recent finds tes­ Nos 83, 125, 150). tify to his presence in Bithynia as well (!?ahin Br.vl'Ioc;IBeVlo c; is a personal name, fou nd in 1978,771-790; :;;a hin 1986. 135. note 37). three epitaphs in Greek. considered as secon­ Twelve inscriptions read: Ali BC.VI'icp, (Ram­ dary. derived from the d ivi ne epithet (Calder say 1884, No 11; Ramsay 1887, No 95; Buckler 1956, Nos 2 14, 2733 - from Eastern Phrygia; el at. 1928, No 241; Drew-Bear 1976: No 11; Mitchell 1982. No 293; Zgusta 1964. § 161). It $ahin 1978, 774-778; ~ahin 1986, 135 , note has recentl y becn listed among the fcw certa in 37; Orew-Bcar/Naour 1990, Nos 13- 19; Le­ nati ve Phrygian names (lnnocen tc 1997.37). vick ct a I. 1988, No 49), while the rest of the Earlier parallels from the Ol d· Phrygian texts (the total number of the inscriptions in material can be suggested 10 111...: above record. po in t being llTOlJlld 20) contain other forms, Zeus' ep ithet has already bee n compared sim ilar 10 the cpil ht! t, which provoked a long­ phonet ica lly with ·the first pa rt of the 01<1­ lived discussion. The inscriptions are dated in Ph ryg ian Bell(l g ol/() .~, thought of as a COIll­ Roman Imperial time, e.g. from the 1st to the pound personal name (Brixhe/Le.ietllle 1984, 3rt! cent ury AD, 1/(; \11'11(:' ;mel flcI'l'u h;l\'c been G-116; Lejeune 1969, 294; Bri~hl! 1994, 175 : l)l()sl ortcn reviewed: t he la tter was inter­ baloll/OpeJl 1985. 197 198). preted as the Ph rygian form of the ep ithet of A~ it wa s seen, th e Illcalling oj" /1/:111'0; was Zc u~ in dative. A rccenl work on the divi m( ies compared 10 thai or I)O[J/III~. assl lIlwd \0 he of or Rnman Phrygia (Drcw-Bear/Naour 1990, Asianic/Phrygi an origin du e to ,I fr ,Ig1l1l!1l1 by 1952- 19 92) ha s re -examined the \vho le rc ­ IIlpponax (1l lpponax frg 30 (671).1); M:ISSlll) cord and has systemized the data, offering fur­ 196 2,124; Clwntra ille I 96l'S, 21) 5, ;l nd must re­ ther arguments in favour thaI ~ ~ VVt:l is the da­ cent ly Lu bolsky 1997, 124 - 125, who thinks tive form of B£vvo o:; (Drcw-Bear/Naour 1990, Ihat no s:lIisf:lctory etymology or or igin can 1989 ·- 19 90). /Jil'l'O'; is used in relat ion to a be suggested for the word). The IU!lcr oc­ toponYll1/deme or 10 another deity (13uckler et curred in Inscriptions from Serdic<lc and No­ al. 1928, No 241: [JCI!VCt I Or]vwv; Ramsay vae as well (MihaiJov 1966,41, No 1925; Ge­ 1884. No 10: Ilevllet Ecpeal'(ji; Sahin 1978,780: rov 1989, No 295; Vassilcva 1995. 29- 31). {ItVIIOC; .1cl KU AUYUIJ{cp; Orew-Bear/Naour The word designates a religiOUS association of 1990. No20: Tel {ltvvo,; .1U)C; Bpovrwroc;}. Be­ fema le followers of the Grca t Goddess. The sides. BevVI:tnu and {lcvvuPXr]C; are also men­ same meaning, "religious assembly", was pro­ tioned in some inscriptions, generally consid­ posed for the Old-Phrygian dllllla - (dumall in ered as t?riests or members of a cult association Acc.) preserved in an inscription from Bithynia (Cook 1925. 883; Sahin 1978, 777; discussion (Brixhc/Lejeune 1984, 8-01; 6,lIoll/0peJl 1988, in : Drew-Bcar/Naour 1990, 1988). The context 187). Some Gordian graffiti offer derivatives of suggests that thc 'mean ing of the word can be duma-; dumas(aeia and dumas(-v- (- an adjecti­ similar to that of OOVJlOC;. val deri vative?), understood as personal names O ne G reek epitaph from the "Midas City" (I3rixhe/Lejeune 1984, G-131, G-245; Brixhc (Yazlkaya) provided a fo rm which was finally 1994, 175). Dumeyay in dalive mighl be compared interpreted as a verb due to a new ~ord division: to other epithets of the Mother-Goddess found in Pt vv£lIE KII. instead of BEVVCUEK'I - a toponym the Old-Phrygian inscript ions. tJOllllO- in a New­ 52 Zeus Bennios: ,of Jew more nOles Phrygian in scription is being much discussed. It is worth noting that the name Boorr6gllo<; Although some scholars insist on interpreLing from the above inscription is common in the re~ the New·Phrygian word as a designation of a gion of Byzantium, whence in the metropolis tomb or ofa pari of a grave monumeL (Brixhe and in Mesambria Pontica, as well as in the 1990,93- 94), the context of the whole usage commercially related cities (Levick et al. 1993, record is a stronger argument. If the meaning 71; Masson 1994, 139; Mihailov 1970, Nos 324, "religious assembly/association" for duma­ 330ter, 284~285; 290-291). This could be an~ /oofjpo~ is further confirmed, then the occur­ other reference for the Constantinople chora, rence of a divine epithet, re lated to an asso­ whose ethnocultural context has already been dis ~ ciation, in the Roman times would be a sur­ cussed (<I>on 1994,70, 101 ,105, 179,208,222). vival of a much earlier praciice. As it has already been shown, the evidence Tbe independent use of pevvo~, as well as on Zeus Bennios and the other inscriptions in it s mentioning together with other divinities point are confined to the territory of Phrygia and with toponyms, pursued the authors of the and to the areas where Phrygian cultural pres­ above hypothesis to suggest that the verb ence was attested. The cult of Zeus Bron­ would designate the activities of the associa­ ton/Brontaios was attested practically in the tion (Drew-13ear/Naour 1990, 1991). At the same area - predominantly in Northwestern present state of the evidence, however, the Phrygia ( Doryleion/Eski~ehir), but in Bithy­ toponyms would probably point to cuH cen­ nia and along the southern coast of the PrO­ tres. Unlike other scholars who previously pontis as well (Drew-BearlNaour 1990, 1992­ thought of /JeJlJleirw and {Jel'Jl6.PXIJC; as mem­ 1995, notes 308- 309. 316). Two dedications bers ofa clllt assoc iation of Zeus Bennios ($a­ were di scovered at the site identified as Mo­ hin 1978. 777), the above view derives both dra, mentioned by Strabo in Hellespontine th e activities and the epithet from the word for Phrygia (Strabo 12.3.7). The toponym might association. This means that there would have be discerned in the compound title mo­ been cult associations ofother deities as well, drovanak found in an Old-Phrygian inscrip­ as could be perceived by the pcvvor:; of J10r:; tion hewn on a rock-cut throne at the top of /JpovTfiwro; and of JI(')(; Ka},o,Ku.yaOfoc;. the plateau of the "Midas City" - "Vanak of A recently republished and reinterpreted Modra/Modroi" (Brixhe/Lejeune 1984, M-04; inscription renders the form ERMA BENNE! Neumann 1986, 52, against this toponym in (Levick et al. 1993, No 222, 69- 7 I), that pro­ the compound title: Brixhe 1997,47, note 19). voked n vivid discussion as well. The editors Thracian-Phrygian cultural belonging ha s of MAMA X consider it as an argument against long being ascribed to this cult (Cook 1925, (he meaning of Ptvvo';, as a cult association, 838). A.B. Cook's view about the Orphic na­ and suggest a cult image in the shape of a ture of the divinity, wh ich he related to Za­ herm. The Phrygian cult and religious prac­ greus, is usually neglected by modern schol­ tice is cOllsisitent with such a hypothesis, as ars. Whatever the discussion, a survival of an the stone/pillar/rock cult setting is well at­ uranian deity, of the Weather/Storm God-type tested. The reading of the inscription, how~ (popular in Anatolian land) could have ap· ever, poses some difficulties as there is a peared under this Greek epithet. It is instruc­ sma ll space between EPMA and BENNE! tive to note that two recently published dedi­ and a word di vision could be assumed here as cations, again from Western Phrygia, attested wel l. It is also very unlikely to offer a dedica­ .1tl BpovrwVTl Ke Eaovabfw and LJli Eaova­ tion both to Zeus and a herm. Accepting it as Moo - a variant of Sabazios (Frei 1988, Nos 'Ep/uipt vvf l, CI. Brixhe proposes the founder 9N, ION, 19- 20, 22- 24). E"u",,",. E"ou"(· of the association or of the cult to be seen in 10';, £aoa(OI; seem to be forms reserved for ' EpJIQ. (Brixhc 1995. No 479,513). Whatever the inscriptions from Phrygia, though badly the discussion , the evocation of the name of documented data for Thrace exist as well Hermes might be suggestive. (Eisele 1909, 233, 236; Johnso n 1984, 1585). It 53 Maya /lassileva should al so be reminded that Silenoi were other deities, it s original meaning was related called EalJdbw by the Macedonians (Hesychius to the followers of the Great Mother-Goddess.