Zibelthiurdos the Lightning-Bearer
Thracian · deity · Roman period Thrace; attested epigraphically at Pautalia and Serdica, 2nd 3rd c. CE · Recorded classification
Thracian thunder/sky god, epigraphically attested under Rome. Native theonym transmitted in Greek and Latin inscriptions (many spelling variants). Classified 'deity'. Linguistically paired with the Getic Gebeleizis as a southern Thracian counterpart of the Indo-European storm-god.
Domains
- thunder and lightning
- sky and rain
Powers
- wields the thunderbolt aloft
- sends the rain as lord of the storm-sky
Sources
- Zibelthiurdos (Zbelsurdos) is a Thracian god of heaven, lightning and rain known mainly from Roman-period epigraphic monuments at Pautalia and Serdica, iconographically assimilated to Zeus the Thunderer with thunderbolt and eagle.: Roman votive inscriptions/monuments from Pautalia and Serdica (primary)
- His name appears to contain the same Proto-Indo-European root as the Getic Gebeleizis, with a different phonetic development, supporting the reading of a Thracian sky/thunder god.: Comparative etymological treatments linking Zibelthiurdos and Gebeleizis to a PIE storm/sky theonym (secondary)