Illyrian religion

rdf:langString Illyrian religion

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rdf:langString A swastika in clockwise motion on a detail of the reproduction of a 5th century BC bronze belt plaque from Vače, Slovenia.

rdf:langString Illyrian lembs with figureheads of serpents depicted on Labeatan coins of the 2nd century BC.

rdf:langString Some of the geometric Illyrian cult symbols depicted on metal and ceramic ware.

rdf:langString Black bold spiral.svg

rdf:langString Bullseye .svg

rdf:langString Earth symbol .svg

rdf:langString Eight-spoked wheel.svg

rdf:langString HallstattIllyrianCavalrywithAxe.jpg

rdf:langString HallstattIllyrianCavalrywithjavelins.jpg

rdf:langString LabiaTan Coin of Illyria.png

rdf:langString Lauburu.svg

rdf:langString Monedha Labeate.jpg

rdf:langString Sun symbol .svg

rdf:langString Illyrian religion refers to the religious beliefs and practices of the Illyrian peoples, a group of tribes who spoke the Illyrian languages and inhabited part of the western Balkan Peninsula from at least the 8th century BC until the 7th century AD. The available written sources are very tenuous. They consist largely of personal and place names, and a few glosses from Classical sources. Still insufficiently studied, the most numerous traces of religious practices of the pre-Roman era are those relating to religious symbolism. Symbols are depicted in every variety of ornament and reveal that the chief object of the prehistoric cult of the Illyrians was the sun, worshipped in a widespread and complex religious system. Illyrian deities were mentioned in inscriptions on statues, monuments, and coins of the Roman period, and some interpreted by Ancient writers through comparative religion. To these can be added a larger body of inscriptions from the south-eastern Italian region of Apulia written in the Messapic language, which is generally considered to be related to Illyrian, although this has been debated as mostly speculative. There appears to be no single most prominent god for all the Illyrian tribes, and a number of deities evidently appear only in specific regions. It is thought that the Illyrians did not develop a uniform cosmology on which to center their religious practices. As pagans, Illyrians believed in supernatural powers and they attributed to the deities qualities that were reflected in everyday life, health and disease, natural abundance and natural disaster. A number of Illyrian toponyms and anthroponyms derived from animal names and reflected the beliefs in animals as mythological ancestors and protectors. The serpent was one of the most important animal totems. Illyrians believed in the force of spells and the evil eye, in the magic power of protective and beneficial amulets which could avert the evil eye or the bad intentions of enemies. The rich spectrum in religious beliefs and burial rituals that emerged in Illyria, especially during the Roman period, may reflect the variation in cultural identities in this region. Certain aspects of the deities and beliefs of the Illyrians stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European mythology. Alongside the Thracian and Dacian beliefs, it constitutes part of Paleo-Balkan mythologies. Albanians preserved traces of Illyrian religious symbolism, and ancient Illyrian religion is probably one of the underlying sources from which Albanian folk beliefs have drawn nourishment. One can also find several traces of Illyrian cults in the religious and superstitious beliefs among south Slavic peoples today.

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