Dyeus: The Indo-European Sky Father

In this video, we explore the Proto-Indo-European Sky Father. A deity revered by many cultures throughout history. From the Greek Zeus to the Roman Jupiter, the Sky Father god represented the celestial day-lit sky. Hosted by Dr. Andrew M. Henry.

Bibliography:
David Anthony, "The Horse, the Wheel, and Language," 2007.
Ranko Matasovic, "A Reader in Comparative Indo-European Religion," 2018.
Mallory and Adams, "The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World," 2006.
West, Indo-European Poetry and Myth, Oxford Press, 2007.

[ninja]

Learning Jupiter came from Sky-Father rather than being an independent name really blew my mind.

[alliesimpkins]

thank you for prioritizing historical contexts around religions and not just theology! your channel is an important reminder that both the past and present are richly nuanced

[heyjude]

Dyus Pitr is directly mentioned in Rig Veda

And when we Hindus perform rituals we chant - Dyuas Shanti which means - the sky is peaceful

[macwinter]

As a geneticist, I want to point out that we now have access to a lot of valuable genetic data that can help answer these questions about the origin of the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) language. We don't have to rely on linguistic and cultural data alone anymore. For example, when considering the distribution of clades within the R1 hablogroup in modern humans as well as from DNA from preserved human remains, it is likely that the original speakers of the PIE formed after hunter gatherer populations from Eastern Europe mixed with hunter gatherers from the Caucus mountains. And given that important domesticated animals associated with the spread of Indo-European (IE) languages, such as horses, are grassland species that naturally inhabited steppe regions, such as the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, it is quite likely that the ancestral Indo-European culture formed in that region, where it eventually spread west into Europe and East into India and parts of the Middle East. From a genetic perspective, there was a westward migration into Europe from the East around 4, 500 years ago, where many of the original inhabitants of Europe were mostly displaced by the new migrants, with some genetic mixing. These migrants are referred to as Western Steppe Herders (WSH), and most Europeans derive most of their ancestry from these people. Since the arrival of these WSH corresponds with the timing of the spread of Info-European languages into Europe, it is very likely that these WSH spoke the PIE language.
Also, the amount of loanwords shared between modern Indo-European and Uralic languages suggest that there was linguistic mixing between the early speakers of the two language families. And since the Uralic languages are distributed in the regions near the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, this is further support that the the Indo-European languages originated there, as opposed to further south in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In fact, genetic data shows that the peoples who lived in Europe before the WSH were agriculturalists who originated on the Islands of the Aegean Sea, referred to as Eastern European Farmers (EEF). So there definitely is good evidence for a migration of people into Europe from the Aegean, but those peoples were mostly displaced by the WSH, where most modern Europeans have more WSH ancestry than EEF ancestry, which suggests that it was the WSH who spread Indo-European languages, not these Aegean farmers. It is usually the language of the displacers that survives, not the peoples being displaced.
I personally believe that the Basque language is a descendent of the language spoken by the EEF. Not only is the Basque language not of Indo-European-European origin, the Basque people have the highest EEF DNA of all Europeans.

In summary, using genetic data to determine migration patterns into Europe, which correspond with the spread of languages, I think there were three major language families brought to Europe since the beginning of the Holocene:
There was an original migration of hunter gatherers into Europe after the end of the Ice Age (11, 700 years ago). And those hunter gatherers probably spoke a family of language belonging to a language family that has no living representatives, because those hunter gatherers were then replaced by the Eastern European Farmers, who came from the Aegean a few thousand years after and spread agriculture into Europe. And then, the Western Steppe Herders, from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe, spread into Europe some 4, 500 years ago, bringing horses and mostly displacing the EEF and their languages. And it was the WSH who brought the Indo-European-European languages into Europe. I hope more research goes into determining whether Basque could be a descendant of the languages spoken by the EEF. I honestly don't know here else Basque could have come from, especially since the Basque people have so much EEF ancestry.
Interestingly enough, using the DNA from bodies buried around Stonehenge, we can see the major shifts in ancestry.

[mjr_schneider]

I would love to see a whole series on reconstructed Indo-European religion because it's so fascinating. One of my favourite examples is how we can be pretty sure that the Proto-Indo-Europeans lived inland because we know they had words for bodies of water but not specifically for the sea. Many sea gods from Indo-European mythologies had strange associations with things other than the sea (Poseidon was the god of horses and storms, Neptune was the god of springs) that suggest that they weren't originally worshipped as sea gods and only became associated with the sea after their peoples migrated to coastal areas.

[captainfury]

8:34 The powers of Dyaus Phter was transferred to his son -the God Indra -in Vedic mythology. Indra is the supreme God and the king of the Gods. He wields a thunderbolt weapon and has slayed a serpent demon . This is almost identical to Zeus and Jupiter. Similarly, in Germanic mythology the thunderbolt weapon and serpent slaying are attributed to Thor but his father Odin is the king of the Gods . So there are some regional variations.

[friedkeenan]

I absolutely adore linguistics and religious studies separately, and it's awesome watching these videos of you putting them together. Thank you so much

[milecurcic]

Note that the word Dyeus is still being used in modern Romance languages for "God" - dios in Spanish, dio in Italian, dieu in French, deus in Portugese etc., as well as in other modern Indo-European languages - deity in English, theos in Greek (d became th), dievs in Latvian, Deva/Devas in modern descendants of Sanskrit, but also diva in many south Asian languages...

[nbenefiel]

I remember reading a paper by an Irish scholar on similarities between Old Irish language and rituals and those of India. It was fascinating.

[txcn]

Pre-Indoeuropean is literally the most interesting concept ever. It might be because I was already interested in Greco-Roman civilization AND Hinduism, but the whole idea is just endlessly fascinating. Mention PIE and you've immediately got my attention!

[l.a.gothro]

If my late father were alive (1923-1996) nowadays, he'd be completely addicted to your channel. And he's the person that got me into history in general.

[aslater]

Here’s another weird one, Cerberus in Greek mythology and an underworld dog named Sarvara in Hindu mythology, they think they both go back to the same mythological creature in the Proto-Indo-European religion.

[libbybibby]

I’m a big fan of linguistics and religious studies so I’m very happy to see you talking about this, keep up the great work!

[troyjardine]

On the point of reconstructing myths, it is telling how many cultures share similar stories (not just in the indo-european family). A deity associated with the sky defeating a mighty serpent associated with chaos and using its remains to construct the world (Chaoskampf), a dog that watchfully guards over the underworld, a pair of twins who travel to the underworld, etcetera.

[chubhench]

I don't often comment on videos, but the information here is of extreme quality and depth. Bravo.

[chronikhiles]

I'm actually reading The Horse, the Wheel, and Language right now! Pretty dense, but observing the similarities between Sanskrit and Latin is extremely cool.

[markadams]

I love the study of etymology. This is such an interesting video.

[abdullahmoiz]

That part about the link of Jupiter and Devas was really surprising, excellent video

[Magplar]

YES. I would absolutely LOVE more PIE religion content from you. Your way of presenting information is next level and everything Proto-Indo-European is massively underrated! 🙏

[kardoen]

In indigenous Siberian and Mongolian religions, we know the highest deity as Tenger, тэнгэр (Tengri/Taniz in other languages). A very common epithet is Tenger Etseg, тэнгэр эцэг. Tenger means sky and etseg means father; the epithet names them Sky Father.
I've always wondered if there was a cultural connection between the Mongolic Tenger Etseg and the Indo-European Father Sky, and other deities. It is not inconceivable, as they both originate in the Eurasian steppe and are known to have had contact.