Sanctuary of Sabazios

The Thracians worshipped Sabazios as the god of the sky, a nomadic horseman and one of the 'Thracian Heros'; a pantheon of gods always depicted on horseback. However, it appears that worship of Sabazios was not confined to Thrace. There is evidence that he was also connected to the Greek pantheon, with references found in Macedon and even as far east as Phrygia. The common thread between all worshippers of Sabazios, in any of his various guises, seem to be horses and horsemanship. Many steles and other artefacts have been found depicting him as a mounted warrior in the sky, armed with a staff and battling the serpent of the earth. As such, Sabazios was known as the 'sky father', and his worship was, as in many other ancient cultures, a way of showing reverence to the great, vast unknown above. For instance, the Huns, certainly, worshipped the 'everlasting sky' as their chief god, knowing him as ‘Tengri’. Zeus and Jupiter, the leaders of the Greek and Roman pantheons respectively, were also worshipped for harnessing the power of the sky and thunder, and using it to wrest power above all other gods. In fact, the 'zios' of Sabazios is the etymological equivalent of Zeus, further cementing the connection between them. Furthermore, Sabazios and the Norse god Odin are also linked. Known as the ‘all-father’, Odin also rode a horse, Sleipnir, much like the Thracian Heros.