Bindus is atheonym attested in the territory of theIapodes tribe. According to scholars, the name refers to awater deity worshipped by the Iapodes, since its name is attested next to Roman deityNeptune.[1][2]
The name is attested in epigraphic monuments found inDardanian territory, dated to the 2nd century, near the riversIbër andDrin.[3] At least 11 votive documents dedicated to the deity were found in Privilica,Bihac:[4][5][6]
Bindo Neptuno sacrum
B[i]ndo Neptuno sacr[um]
(Bindo Nep)tuno
Bindo N[e]ptuno sa[c]r(um)
Bindo N(eptuno) s(acrum)
[Bi]ndi
Bi[ndo].
Out of the available epigraphy, four were dedicated by indigenous Romanized elites (praepositus), dated toFlavian times, and two offered by soldiers (dated to 3rd century).[7]
A personal nameBindho was also found in aNoricum holy spring.[8]
Polish linguist Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak also sees some possible cognate relationship between the Illyrian deity and theLusitanianBandua.[11]
Etymological connections have also been proposed between the deity's name and a place namedfons Bandusiae, mentioned by Horatio in one of his Odes.[12]
Bindus is interpreted as the name of a deity of seas and waters,[13][14][15] or a deity of sources.[16][17] In this regard, according to Croatian historianAleksandar Stipčević, this interpretation is supported by the location of their altars at the source of a river in Privilica.[18]
An altar dedicated to Bindus shows its possible symbols: a figure is depicted with an oar and a dolphin on one side, and atriton with an oar on the other side.[19][15][20]
^Stipčević, Aleksandar (1977).The Illyrians: History and Culture. Noyes Press. p. 194.ISBN9780815550525.On various inscriptions Bindus is identified as the Roman god of seas and springs, i.e. with Neptune ("Bindo Neptuno sacrum").
^Ferri, Naser (2012)."Vjerovanja i štovanje bogova u predkršćanskoj Dardaniji" [Cults and Beliefs in Pre-Christian Dardania].Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in Bosnian) (41). Akademija Nauka i Umjetnosti Bosne i Hercegovine: 143.
^Wilkes, John J. (1992).The Illyrians. Oxford, United Kingdom: Blackwell Publishing. p. 238.ISBN0-631-19807-5.Among the Japodes (sic) around Bihać, altars were dedicated by leaders of the tribe to Bindus Neptunus, deity of the local spring (...)
^Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras].Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9): 126.
^Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras].Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9): 126.
^Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras].Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9):126–127.
^Mayer, Anton (1936). "O Fons Bandusiae...".Glotta (in German).25 (3/4): 180, 182.JSTOR40265469. Accessed 3 June 2023.
^Stipčević, Aleksandar (1977).The Illyrians: History and Culture. Noyes Press. p. 194.ISBN9780815550525.[Bindus's identification to Roman Neptune] justifies the conclusion that Bindus and Neptune stand very close together in their attributes as guardians of seas and waters.
^abKurilić, Anamarija (2022). "Acceptance, Imitation and Adaptation: How did the Natives of Roman Dalmatia Respond to Roman Cultural Presence?". In Kresimir Matijevic; Rainer Wiegels (eds.).Kultureller Transfer und religiöse Landschaften: Zur Begegnung zwischen Imperium und Barbaricum in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Akademie Forschung. p. 157.doi:10.1515/9783110716580-007.S2CID244565777.Both Bindus's connection with Neptune and iconographic features present in several figural images carved on some altars (such as a deity with Neptune's attributes – fish and a scepter, a Triton, a male goat) clearly testify to him being the god of waters.
Katičić, Radoslav (1972). "Drei Altbalkanische Nomina Sacra" [Three Old-Balkan Nomina Sacras].Godišnjak Centra za balkanološka ispitivanja (in German) (9):126–127.
Ferri, Naser (2008)."BINDI - HYJ JAPOD APO HYJ GJITHILIR?" [BINDUS – JAPOD DEITY OR PANILLYRIAN DEITY?].Gjurmime Albanologjike - Folklor Dhe Etnologji (in Albanian) (38). Instituti Albanologjik i Prishtinës:231–241.
