#messapian

[venomspecs]

Times change, peoples come and go, but the tarallo is a constant

Images on the left are little carbonized ring bread cake offerings found in the Messapian cave sanctuary of Monte Papalucio in Oria, southeastern Italy, dedicated to Demeter and Persephone. It was in use from the second half of the 6th century to the first half of the 3rd century BCE. On the bottom right is the modern tarallo. Number 5 is a votive clay model from the deities' sanctuary in Corinth depicting cakes.

Here are some reconstructions of the cult area by Inklink Studio:

[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]

[classicalmonuments]

Hypogeum of the Palmieri

Lecce, Italy

3rd century BCE

Hypogeum of the Palmieri is a prestigious example of Messapian funerary architecture. The Hypogeum is composed of three rooms arranged around a vestibule. There are six capitals that decorate the door jambs. The ceiling is made with slabs of large lytic.

Along the access corridor to the tomb are two sculptural friezes. The friezes are composed of two long figurative plates, margined on the upper side by a frame and a file ova; The good state of preservation allows fairly accurate reading of what was depicted- a battle between walking and riding warriors. The floral frieze, recessed into the opposite wall, is constructed from three layers: the center, emerging from an acanthus tuft, a female face with headgear, associated with two stems that wind at its sides occupying the full length of the frieze.

[venomspecs]

So you know how Diomedes is said to encounter the Messapians during his travels in Italy? Well turns out one of the few Messapian human representations on trozzelle (typical two handed jugs) is of Diomedes' duel against Aeneas. Neat!

[venomspecs]

Messapian hydria depicting (presumably) Circe's encounter with Odysseus. Oria, Monte Papalucio (VI century).