The Bessi were an independent Thracian tribe who lived in a territory ranging from Moesia to Mount Rhodope in southern Thrace, but are often mentioned as dwelling about Haemus, the mountain range that separates Moesia from Thrace. "Thracians" also refers to modern inhabitants of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity Moesia (Μοισία Moisía; Мизия Miziya; Moesia Мезија Mezija) was an ancient region and Roman province situated in the The Rhodopes (Родопи Rodopi, usually used with a definite article Родопите Rodopite, sometimes also called Родопа Rodopa or Родопа Thrace (Тракия Trakiya or "Trakija" or Trakia, Θράκη Thráki, Trakya is a historical and geographic area in southeast Europe In Greek mythology, King Haemus (Αἷμος Haîmos) of Thrace was the son of Boreas. Herodotus described them as a sort of priestly-caste among the Satrae, the Bessi being interpreters of the prophetic utterances given by a priestess in an oracular shrine of Dionysus located on a mountain-top, which is thought to be Perperikon. The Satrae were in ancient geography a Thracian people inhabiting part of Mount Pangaeus between the rivers Nestus (Mesta and Strymon An oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion an Infallible authority usually spiritual in nature In Classical mythology, Dionysus or Dionysos (in Greek, Διόνυσος or Διώνυσος; associated with Roman The ancient Thracian city of Perperikon (also Perpericon) is located in the Eastern Rhodopes, 15 km northeast of the present-day town of
In Strabo, however, the Bessi are described as the fiercest of the independent Thracian tribes, dwelling on and around the Haemus range, and possessing the greater part of the area around that mountain chain. Strabo ( Greek: Στράβων 63/64 BC – ca AD 24 was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.
Towards the end of the 4th century ad, Nicetas the Bishop of Dacia brought the gospel to "those mountain wolves", the Bessi. Saint Nicetas (ca 335&ndash414 was Bishop of Remesiana, present-day Bela Palanka in the Pirot District of modern Serbia, but which Dacia, in ancient geography was the land of the Dacians. It was named by the ancient Hellenes ( Greeks) " Getae " Reportedly his mission was successful, and the worship of Dionysus and other Thracian gods was eventually replaced by Christianity. Paleo-Balkanic mythology is a rubric that entails the gods and goddesses worshipped by the Dacians, Thracians, and Illyrians. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings
In the 11th century Strategikon text, Cecaumenos the Byzantine historian described the Vlachs south of the Danube (Aromanians) as being descendants of the Daci and of the Bessi. Kekaumenos is the family name of the otherwise anonymous Byzantine author of the Strategikon, a manual on military and household affairs composed Vlachs is a blanket term covering several modern Latin peoples descending from the Latinised population in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj Aromanians (or Macedo-Rumans; in Aromanian they call themselves Armãnji, Rrãmãnji) are a people living throughout the southern Balkans The Dacians ( Lat Daci, Gr Dákai) were a Thracian people the ancient inhabitants of Dacia (located in the area
Bessian monks in the Sinai
In 570, Antonius Placentius said that in the valleys of Mount Sinai there was a monastery in which the monks spoke Greek, Latin, Syriac, Egyptian and Bessian. Events By Place Europe Spoleto becomes the capital of an independent duchy under the Lombard chieftain For other places named Mount Sinai see Mount Sinai (disambiguation Mount Sinai (Arabic طور سيناء, Hebrew הר סיני also Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. See Syriac (disambiguation for other uses Syriac (syr ܠܫܢܐ ܣܘܪܝܝܐ leššānā Suryāyā) is an Eastern Aramaic language Egyptian is an Afro-Asiatic language most closely related to the Berber, Semitic, Somali and Beja languages
The origin of the monasteries is explained in a mediaeval hagiography written by Simeon Metaphrastes, in Vita Sancti Theodosii Coenobiarchae in which he wrote that Saint Theodorius founded on the shore of the Dead Sea a monastery with four churches, in each being spoken a different language, among which Bessan was found. Hagiography ( is the study of Saints. A hagiography, from Greek (hağios (ἅγιος "holy" or "saint" and graphē (γραφή Saint Symeon Metaphrastes was the most renowned of the Byzantine Hagiographers He is identified with the Logothete of that name Saint Theodore of Amasea (d 306 Amasenus, now Amasya Turkey) is one of the Greek Military saints of the 4th century the earlier Patron saint The Dead Sea (יָם הַמֶּלַח, "Sea of Salt"البَحْر المَيّت, "Dead Sea" is a salt lake between The place where the monasteries were founded was called "Cutila", which may be a Thracian name.
It has been argued that the name "Bessam" used in the Sinai region could be a corrupt version or alternate name for "Persian", "Slavic", "Iberian" or "Armenian", but there is nothing to indicate that.
References
- Lozovan, Eugen, "Dacia Sacră". Editura Saeculum. Bucureşti. 2005