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Jesza

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Jesza(read asYesha;Latin:Jessa,Yesza) orJasza(read asYasha;Latin:Yassa,Jassa) is an allegedPolishgod. He was first mentioned around 1405–1412 in the sermons ofLucas of Wielki Koźmin[pl],which warned against the worship of Jesza and other gods during spring rituals and folk performances. His popularity is partly owedJan Długosz's comparison of him to the Roman godJupiter.However, the opinions of the 20th century and later researchers are divided with respect to the authenticity of the deity.

The Latin names should be written in modern Polish asJeszaorJasza.In the 15th century, the Polishvoiceless retroflex fricative(shsound) was written asss(modern Polishsz).[1]

Sources

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The first known source mentioning the nameJeszais thePentacostal Sermonswritten byLucas of Wielki Koźminaround 1405–1412, without giving any specific description:

One should pay attention to those who say ungodly things today in dances or elsewhere in performances, consider unclean things in their hearts, shout out and mention the names of idols, and consider whether conversion to God the Father is possible. Certainly not. For it is forbidden to hear freely these holidays, which unfortunately celebrate according to what was left of the rites of the accursed pagans of our ancestors, unless for punishment, as once the shout of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah rose. For at this festival indecent exposure and other abominations, which the Apostle says should not even be named because of God the Father. However, due to the fact that preachers have arrived, such things cease, and in many places they have already ceased [...] There is no other name under heaven in which we can be saved. For a man is not saved in the name ofLado,Jassa, Qiya,Nyia,but in the name of Jesus Christ... Not Lada, not Jassa, not Nija, which are the names of idols worshiped here in Poland, as some chronicles of Poles testify...[2]

— Lucas of Wielki Koźmin,Pentacostal Sermons,around 1405–1412

Similar warnings, also without any description, are also found in:Statua provincialia breviter(1420–1422),[3]Sermones per circulum anni Cunradi(1423),[3]Postilla Husitae anonymi,[3]and inglossesofLife of Adalbert of Prague.[4]

Thetheonymscontained in thePentacostal Sermonswere also repeated by Jan Długosz,[5]who made aninterpretatio romanaand compared Jesza to the Roman chief godJupiter:

Jupiter they called Yesza [or Jessa] in their tongue; they believed that he, as the most important god, was responsible for all favourable meteorological phenomena, and for everything which happened to them, both negative and fortunate. To him they also dedicated the highest honours compared with the other deities, and they performed sacrifices to him more frequently.[6]

— Jan Długosz,Annals or Chronicles of the Famous Kingdom of Poland,1455

After Długosz the information about Jesza was repeated by historiansMaciej Miechowita,Marcin Kromer,Alexander Guagnini,Maciej Stryjkowski,MarcinandJoachim[pl]Bielskis, and the priestJakub Wujek.[7]

Historicity

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Originally, the historicity of Jesza was not questioned; he appears in the works ofPolish Romantics,such asBronisław Trentowski.[8]This situation changed whenAleksander Brücknercriticised the sources mentioning Jesza. Brückner pointed out that the wordješa(yesha) inOld Church Slavonicmeant "may", and he also hypothesized that it could not have been the name of the old god as, in his opinion, it was accidentally heard in folk songs.[9]Although this position was not fully embraced by other scholars such asKarol Potkański,[10]it was subsequently supported by such scholars asHenryk Łowmiański,[11]orStanisław Urbańczyk[12]though none of these were aware of the Lucas of Wielki Koźmin postilla.

Contemporary scholars often criticize Brückner's views on the information given by Długosz, regarding them as hypercritical. However, many scholars, such asAleksander Gieysztor,[13]orVyacheslav IvanovandVladimir Toporov,[14]who consider at least part of Długosz's mythological account valuable also reject the historicity of Jesza, and believe the deity was created through a misunderstanding of the refrains of folk songs or words, as suggested by Brückner,[13][14]or ignore him in their publications as doesAndrzej Szyjewski,.[15]According to Brückner, Długosz considered Jesza to be equivalent to Jupiter because of the phonetic similarity (Polish:Jowisz"Jupiter", from LatinJovis).[16]

Other modern scholars, such as the historianWłodzimierz Szafrański,[17]the cultural anthropologistLeszek Kolankiewicz[18]and the historian and medievalistKrzysztof Bracha[19]appear more willing to accept the authenticity of the theonym.

Origin

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The wordješaoccurs inOld Church Slavonic(ѥша, ⰵⱎⰰ) as a wishful participle "I wish that,utinam".As an example, a passage from theOld Church Slavonic translation of the Bibleješa i nie sьbrali sьborais given, which is translated as "would indeed they had not convened the council!". According to linguists, originally the wordješameant "may be" and wasthird-person singularoptativeof the word*jesmь( "I am" ) – so easily the original meaning of "may be" could have shifted into "if only".[1][20]Consequently, there is a consensus among scholars that the wordjeszaappearing in the church texts occurs in this sense and was mistakenly considered a deity. However, etymological dictionaries state that the wordješais attested only in Old Church Slavonic (and its Russian and Serbian versions),[21][22]and no researcher has indicated where this word found its way into Polish chants.

Another explanation is proposed by Michał Łuczyński, who points toMaria Malec's workImiona chrześcijańskie w średniowiecznej Polsce.According to Malec, thesuffix-szforms 56derivationsfrom Christian names, 15 times with Christian names ending in aconsonantand 40 times with Christian names ending in avowel,and she points to the namesBusz,Dasz,Desz,Dosz,Gasz,Niesz,Sieszand others. She also lists the nameJasz–Jesz,as two phonetic variants of one name:Jasz(Latin:Georgium Jasch) as aLesser Polandname from 1228, andJesz(Latin:Iohannis Jesz) as aMazovianname from 1429, and their variants:Jaszak,Jaszek,Jaszko,Jeszek,Jeszko,Jeszel.Also attested is thehypocoristic(diminutive) of the name with the suffix-a:Jasza(Latin:Apud Iaszkonem dictum Iasscha) from 1408. These names are an abbreviation of the nameJan,Polish equivalent ofJohn,so the nameJeszashould be considered as its derivative.[20]

Interpretations

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Despite strong criticism of the source material mentioning Jesza, some scholars have accepted or are accepting its historicity and have made interpretations of this theonym.

According toWłodzimierz Szafrański,Jesza could have been a Pan-Slavic or evenPan-Indo-Europeangod. He believed that the name of the god, Jesza, was clearly etymologically related to another Indo-European god, theCelticEsus,[23]whose name was derived, as in the case of theNorseÆsir(inOld Norseáss,óssmeant "god" ), from the same Indo-European root*ansu-( "lord, ruler, god" ).[24]Also derived from this stem is theAvestanwordahurameaning "lord", and which later became the epithet of theZarathushtriangodAhura Mazdaas "Lord of Wisdom",[25]to whom theyasnaritual is dedicated, the Sanskrit wordásura"divine, powerful",[26]or theHittiteḫaššuš"king".[26]InGeorges Dumézil'strifunctional hypothesisEsus is compared to Jupiter andOdin,and this should support Długosz' comparison of Jesza to Jupiter.[23][1]In the case of the second form of the deity's name, Jasza, Szafrański believed that an additional influence on its formation could have been exerted by theSarmatian/Alaniantribe ofJaszliving in part of today's Poland.[27]

According to Leszek Kolankiewicz, Jesza was the Polish equivalent ofDazhbog(orSvarog,assuming that Dazhbog is the local equivalent of Svarog) stating that the names of both gods actually mean the same.[28]He points to another wish-particle,bodaj,and quotes a 15th-century wishBogdaj mu zaległ usta wrzódliterally meaning "Lord/God, let him have an ulcer in his mouth" with a clear structuredaj Boże"please God", and this brings to mind associations with Dazhbog, whose name is translated in two ways: either asdaj-bog"God who gives", or asdag-bog,where the first part comes from the Proto-Indo-European stem*dagmeaning "to burn", i.e. "God who burns".[29]Thus Jesza, like Dazhbog, would have been the god of sun and fire, the giving, punishing and burning god. He concludes at the same time that sinceLadais always mentioned first in the sources, she (or he) may have been the most important god.[28]

Jesza in culture

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Manuscript byBronislaw Trentowski:With the wordHaluJessa created the world and all that existed in it. ThereforeTriglav,having heard it, tore off his three heads, and from the blood that flowed from them arose hosts of three successive deities.[8]

References

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  1. ^abcKolankiewicz 1999,p. 436.
  2. ^Kolankiewicz 1999,p. 416–417.
  3. ^abcKolankiewicz 1999,p. 418.
  4. ^Kolankiewicz 1999,p. 415.
  5. ^Łuczyński 2020,p. 221.
  6. ^Alvarez-Pedroza 2021,p. 476–478.
  7. ^Kolankiewicz 1999,p. 425.
  8. ^abSzyjewski 2003,p. 100.
  9. ^Brückner 1985,p. 40, 224.
  10. ^Potkański 1924,p. 90.
  11. ^Łowmiański 1979,p. 212-218.
  12. ^Urbańczyk 1947,p. 9.
  13. ^abGieysztor 2006,p. 196.
  14. ^abIvanov & Toporov 1980.
  15. ^Szyjewski 2003.
  16. ^Brückner 1985,p. 224.
  17. ^Szafrański 1979,p. 355–386.
  18. ^Kolankiewicz 1999,p. 436–439.
  19. ^Bracha 2014,p. 400.
  20. ^abŁuczyński 2020,p. 222.
  21. ^Vasmer 1986,p. 30.
  22. ^Trubachyov 1979,p. 32.
  23. ^abSzafrański 1979.
  24. ^Kempiński 1993,p. 131.
  25. ^"Old Iranian Online".lrc.la.utexas.edu.Retrieved2020-05-07.
  26. ^abAlwin 2007,p. 382.
  27. ^Szafrański 1987,p. 343.
  28. ^abKolankiewicz 1999,p. 439.
  29. ^Kolankiewicz 1999,p. 436-438.

Bibliography

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  • Kolankiewicz, Leszek (1999).Dziady. Teatr święta zmarłych.Gdańsk: Słowo/Obraz Terytoria.ISBN8387316393.
  • Bracha, Krzysztof (2014). "Tria Ydola Polonorum". In Bracha, Krzysztof; Hadamik, Czesław (eds.).Sacrum pogańskie - Sacrum chrześcijańskie.Warszawa: DiG. p. 400.ISBN978-83-7181-873-8.
  • Potkański, Karol (1924).Pisma pośmiertne.
  • Brückner, Aleksander(1985).Mitologia słowiańska.Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.ISBN8301062452.
  • Gieysztor, Aleksander(2006).Mitologia Słowian.Warsaw: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego.ISBN978-83-235-0234-0.
  • Szyjewski, Andrzej (2003).Religia Słowian.Kraków: Wydawnictwo WAM.ISBN83-7318-205-5.
  • Łuczyński, Michał (2020).Bogowie dawnych Słowian. Studium onomastyczne.Kielce: Kieleckie Towarzystwo Naukowe.ISBN978-83-60777-83-1.
  • Szafrański, Włodzimierz (1987).Prahistoria religii na ziemiach polskich.Wrocław: Ossolineum.ISBN83-04-02624-4.
  • Szafrański, Włodzimierz (1979).Pradzieje religii w Polsce.Warszawa: Iskry. pp. 355–386.ISBN83-207-0035-3.
  • Kempiński, Andrzej (1993).Słownik mitologii ludów indoeuropejskich.Poznań: Kantor Wydawniczy SAWW.ISBN83-85066-91-8.
  • Łowmiański, Henryk(1979).Religia Słowian i jej upadek, w. VI-XII.Warsaw: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.ISBN83-01-00033-3.
  • Urbańczyk, Stanisław(1947).Religia pogańskich Słowian.Kraków: Wydawnictwo Studium Słowiańskiego Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego.
  • Ivanov, Vyacheslav;Toporov, Vladimir(1980). "СЛАВЯНСКАЯ МИФОЛОГИЯ". InTokarev, Sergei(ed.).Мифы народов мира: Энциклопедия.Vol. 2. Moscow: Большая российская энциклопедия. pp. 450–456.
  • Alwin, Kloekhorst(2007).Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon.Leiden:Brill.ISBN978-90-04-16092-7.
  • Vasmer, Max(1986)."еша".Этимологический словарь русского языка(in Russian). Vol. 2 (2 ed.). Moscow: Progress.
  • Trubachyov, Oleg(1979)."*eša".Этимологический словарь русского языка(in Russian). Vol. 6. Moscow: Nauka.
  • Alvarez-Pedroza, Juan Antonio (2021).Sources of Slavic Pre-Christian Religion.Leiden: Koninklijke Brill.ISBN978-90-04-44138-5.
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