Iambadoule


Iambadoule is a Thracian goddess, epigraphically testified together with the Thracian god Zberthourdos.

Epigraphy

The deity is attested in an inscription written in Ancient Greek. A male deity, identified as Zberthourdos, is standing unclothed with a naked woman on a horse by his side.
Translation:
According to Dimitar Detschew, the form Ἰαμβαδούλῃ appears in the dative, pointing to a nominative Ἰαμβαδούλῃ or Ἰαμβαδούλῃς.

Etymology

French archeologist indicated that the particle "-δουλέ" is also attested in personal name Δουλέ-ζελμις, a Thracian mercenary.
Detschew suggested that the deity's name is an epithet of a Thracian earth-mother goddess, translated as "the one that places the grain", with "iamba" meaning "wheat; wealthy, nutrition", and "doule" from Proto-Indo-European *dhe- 'to place', plus nomen agentis suffix -lo.
Bulgarian linguist Vladimir I. Georgiev proposed that Iambadoules means 'rainstorm, thunderstorm', from Dula 'the storm', with relation to Old Iranian ambhas 'water' and Greek θύελλα 'storm'.

Legacy

According to researcher Dragoslav Antonijević, Dragojlovic argued that the South Slavic character of the samovila is a continuation of this Thracian goddess.