erBBazoma
urn:cite2:trmilli:divinities.v1:div_08
The divinity erBBazoma (πππππππππ) appears in the Letoon trilingual as a the companion of the xNtawata xbidENi (ππππππππ ππππ πππ). The triligual enumerates the procedure for establishing the cults of erBBazoma and the xNtawata xbidENi at the Letoon during the reign of the satrap Pixodarus (pigesere / ππππππππ), and the appointment of eseimiya (ππππππππ) and his descendants as priests of their cults.1 Nothing difinitive is known about this deity; scholars like Laroche believe erBBazoma was originally a Kaunian divinity, whereas others like Heubeck believe the deity is Greek in origin.2 The trilingualβs Greek text gives the godβs name as βΞΟΞΊΞ΅ΟΞΉΞΌΞ±Ο, whcih closely mirrors the Lycian name.
Though nothing is known about the character of this deity, erBBazomaβs name is helpful in deciphering the values for Lycian graphemes. The letter π (transcribed as βBβ in our system) is found only in three inscriptions from around Xanthos.3 It has no equivalence in the Greek alphabet, but the transcription with ΞΊ in βΞΟΞΊΞ΅ΟΞΉΞΌΞ±Ο, and itβs increased frequency in βgutteralβ Milyan words has helped linguists like Kloekhorst give π the value of /Γ§/.4
Notes
1 Bryce (1986) 91β93
2 ibid 186β187
3 Rix (2015) 246
3 ibid 55, Kloekhorst (2008) 126
Sources
Bryce, Trevor R. The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources, vol. 1, Museum Tusculanum Press, Copenhagen, 1986.
Kloekhorst, Alwin. βStudies in Lycian and Carian Phonology and Morphology.β Kadmos, vol. 47, 2008. pp. 117-146
Rix, Emma. βTombs and Territories: The Epigraphic Culture of Lycia. c. 450-197 BC.β dissertation, Corpus Christi College, University of Oxford. Trinity, 2015.