Zamolxis/Gebeleizis < PIE *dHg^Hem-wo + *leig^-sk-i-

From: alexandru_mg3
Message: 43961
Date: 2006-03-23

Herodotus:
"They think that they do not really die, but that when they depart
this life they go to Zalmoxis, who is called also Gebeleizis by some
among them."

'Starting' from Herodotus who wrote: '[Zalmoxis] who is called also
Gebeleizis by some among them', I think that Gebeleizis and Zalmoxis
is in fact one and the same word present in 2 different Getic
dialects and next corrupted by the Greeks Translators.

Getic Dialectal Reconstructions:

1. *DZJAM-W&-LIDZ-KSI-S > *DZJAM-WO-LDZKS-IS > Zamolxis > Zalmoxis
2. *DZJEMB-W&-LEIDZ-HI-S > G^E(M)B-WE-LEIDZ-IS > Gebeleizis

If true, the (Early) Common Getic Reconstructed Form is :
*DZ'EM-WA-LEIDZ-SK-IS that lead us to the supposition that we have 2
words here:

GETO-DACIAN: *DZEM-WA 'earth-' + *LEIDZ-SK-I- 'to tie-, to bind-'

(see Albanian lidh 'to tie' < Dacian *LEIDZ-A < PIE *leig^-o
see Albanian dhe 'earth' < Dacian *DZO:M < PIE *dHg^Hem- 'earth')


So Finally Zamolxis/Gebeleizis < PIE *dHg^Hem-wo + PIE *leig^-sk-
i "THAT ONE THAT TIED (HIMSELF) IN THE EARTH"

Let's check this etymology against Herodotus again:

"While he was acting in this way, and holding this kind of
discourse, he was constructing an apartment underground, into which,
when it was completed, he withdrew, vanishing suddenly from the eyes
of the Thracians, who greatly regretted his loss, and mourned over
him as one dead. He meanwhile abode in his secret chamber three full
years, after which he came forth from his concealment, and showed
himself once more to his countrymen, who were thus brought to
believe in the truth of what he had taught them. Such is the account
of the Greeks."


If true, the dialectal Getic differences at that time were:

1. Getic-'Zamolxis'-Dialect : e/stressed,closed.syll. > ja versus
Getic-'Gebeleizis'-Dialect: e/stressed,closed.syll. > je
1.a see Romanian fierbe versus Romanian Sub-Dialectal form fiarbe <
Latin ferveo:

2. Getic-'Gebeleizis'-Dialect : m > mb
a) see Dacian Tibiscus (in a Greek Attestation) versus Romanian
Timish that point out to an original Dacian form *Timbis-
b) see Albanian krimb > Dacian *krim(b)i > PIE *kWrm-i

3. Getic-'Gebeleizis'-Dialect : dzj > g^
a) see Romanian cea /c^a/ 'this fem.' Aromanian tsia /ca/ Albanian
so > Dacian *tsja: /cya:/ > PIE *k^y-eh2

4. Getic-'Zamolxis'-Dialect : ei > i (already)
a) see Albanian dim&r 'winter' > Dacian *dzeimena > PIE *g^Hei-men-o


5. Getic-'Zamolxis'-Dialect : sk > ks versus
Getic-'Gebeleizis'-Dialect : sk > ks > h (already)
a) see Albanian sk > ks > h

5. Getic-'Zamolxis'-Dialect : wa > *w& > wo versus
Getic-'Gebeleizis'-Dialect : wa > *w& > we
(See Romanian o < wo < wa/we :
Latin nubilus > PRom *nueru > nuor > noor > nor
Latin una > PRom ua > u& > uo > o


Some conclusions regarding the 'GETO-DACIAN' timeframes in Herodotus
time (c. 450 BCE):

a) sk > ks -> already ended for awhile and ks > h -> were already
started (-> ks is already h in some dialects)
b) ei > i -> were started (already i in some dialects)
c) dzj > g^ -> ended (at least in some dialects)
d) dz - present (so Alb. dz > dh not started yet)
e) e/stressed > je/ja already happened (and will remain active
until the end of the Roman Times based on Romanian and Albanian
latin Loans)
f) wa > w& > wo > we variations -> raises the possibility that &
were already present at that time in Dacian

Marius



Histories By: Herodotus (c. 484 - 425 BCE) - Full Quotation:
============================================================
[4.93] Before arriving at the Ister, the first people whom he
subdued were the Getae, who believe in their immortality. The
Thracians of Salmydessus, and those who dwelt above the cities of
Apollonia and Mesembria - the Scyrmiadae and Nipsaeans, as they are
called - gave themselves up to Darius without a struggle; but the
Getae obstinately defending themselves, were forthwith enslaved,
notwithstanding that they are the noblest as well as the most just
of all the Thracian tribes.

[4.94] The belief of the Getae in respect of immortality is the
following. They think that they do not really die, but that when
they depart this life they go to Zalmoxis, who is called also
Gebeleizis by some among them. To this god every five years they
send a messenger, who is chosen by lot out of the whole nation, and
charged to bear him their several requests. Their mode of sending
him is this. A number of them stand in order, each holding in his
hand three darts; others take the man who is to be sent to Zalmoxis,
and swinging him by his hands and feet, toss him into the air so
that he falls upon the points of the weapons. If he is pierced and
dies, they think that the god is propitious to them; but if not,
they lay the fault on the messenger, who (they say) is a wicked man:
and so they choose another to send away. The messages are given
while the man is still alive. This same people, when it lightens and
thunders, aim their arrows at the sky, uttering threats against the
god; and they do not believe that there is any god but their own.

[4.95] I am told by the Greeks who dwell on the shores of the
Hellespont and the Pontus, that this Zalmoxis was in reality a man,
that he lived at Samos, and while there was the slave of Pythagoras
son of Mnesarchus. After obtaining his freedom he grew rich, and
leaving Samos, returned to his own country. The Thracians at that
time lived in a wretched way, and were a poor ignorant race;
Zalmoxis, therefore, who by his commerce with the Greeks, and
especially with one who was by no means their most contemptible
philosopher, Pythagoras to wit, was acquainted with the Ionic mode
of life and with manners more refined than those current among his
countrymen, had a chamber built, in which from time to time he
received and feasted all the principal Thracians, using the occasion
to teach them that neither he, nor they, his boon companions, nor
any of their posterity would ever perish, but that they would all go
to a place where they would live for aye in the enjoyment of every
conceivable good. While he was acting in this way, and holding this
kind of discourse, he was constructing an apartment underground,
into which, when it was completed, he withdrew, vanishing suddenly
from the eyes of the Thracians, who greatly regretted his loss, and
mourned over him as one dead. He meanwhile abode in his secret
chamber three full years, after which he came forth from his
concealment, and showed himself once more to his countrymen, who
were thus brought to believe in the truth of what he had taught
them. Such is the account of the Greeks.

[4.96] I for my part neither put entire faith in this story of
Zalmoxis and his underground chamber, nor do I altogether discredit
it: but I believe Zalmoxis to have lived long before the time of
Pythagoras. Whether there was ever really a man of the name, or
whether Zalmoxis is nothing but a native god of the Getae, I now bid
him farewell. As for the Getae themselves, the people who observe
the practices described above, they were now reduced by the
Persians, and accompanied the army of Darius