Hearth-Queen Tabiti

Supreme fire/hearth goddess and queen of the Scythians. Scythian religion was largely aniconic, so no cult-statue is attested for her (materialCulture left empty). Domains kept distinct from the verb-phrase faculty (guarding the hearth / binding oaths).

Domains

• fire
• hearth
• kingship and oath

Powers

• guards the royal hearth and binds the king's oath
• sends sickness on the king when a false oath is sworn by her hearth
• is named queen of the Scythians, head of the gods

Epithets

• Ταβιτί
• Ἑστίη βασίλεια Σκυθέων

Relations

• interpretatio: Hestia

Sources

• Herodotos, Histories 4.59 (Godley)
• Herodotos, Histories 4.127
• V.I. Abaev, Istoriko-etimologicheskii slovar' osetinskogo yazyka; R. Schmitt et al., Encyclopaedia Iranica, 'Scythians'