Sabazios Votive Hand, Bronze

Votive hand of the Sabazios cult

Richly decorated votive hand of the Sabazios cult, made of solid bronze. Inspired by a find from the antique collection of the State Museums in Berlin. Height with base approx. 66 mm.

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Votive hand of the Sabazios cult

The cult of Sabazios (lat. Sabazius) originated in ancient Phrygia or Thrace, today's central Turkey, or the region between Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria, between the Bosporus and the lower Danube. Already in the 5th century BC there is a community in Athens where the followers initially encountered incomprehension because of their religious practices. The poet Aristophanes makes fun of the strange customs, since the rites were only understandable to the initiated and sometimes took on dissolute and orgiastic features. As a mystery cult, the followers of Sabazios were initially met with skepticism. But already in the 4th century BC The community was an integral part of the Athenian population. From the 2nd century BC, evidence of the veneration of Sabazios comes from Rome. There are also finds from the Vesuvius cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum that are directly related to the practice of the Sabazios cult. With the soldiers and their troop transfers, the mystery cult finally also reached remote regions of the empire.

According to Diodorus, Sabazios is a son of Zeus and Persephone, who farmed the fields and was the patron saint of women before giving birth.According to Diodorus, Sabazios was killed by the Titans and then reborn as Dionysus. The equation with the god of wine, or in later Roman times also with Jupiter, shows the efforts to integrate the oriental mystery cult into the canon of the Roman religions.

Sabazios is a multifaceted deity who combines different aspects of Zeus and Dionysus, but also has older equestrian nomadic origins. His work and the animals that are associated with him are correspondingly diverse. A special type of archaeological finds are the Sabazios hands, which were presented as liturgical objects in processions, but were also exhibited in shrines and in private house altars. The hands are covered with numerous symbols which indicate the practice of the cult and the work of the God himself.

The cult hand of Sabazios is shown in the "Latin blessing gesture" with an angled little and ring finger. A cave with breastfeeding mother and child refers to its protective function for women in childbed. The concentration of amphibians is also striking, depicting a lizard, a snake and a turtle. While Zeus is said to have approached Persephone in the form of a snake, the snake is at the same time an earth animal, the regular moulting of which was seen as a symbol of renewal and youth. Ancient authors also point out that golden snakes played a special role in the Sabazios cult, which were tucked under clothing at the top and taken out in the lap and thus symbolized procreation. The lizard, whose tail can grow back, was also considered a sign of rebirth. The frog, on the other hand, with its metamorphosis is a symbol of growth and development.