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84-536: It is often portrayed with water vessels, such as ewers, so it seems to play a role as a libation bearer to deities. The connections of this mythological beast seem to be with the Egyptian hippopotamus and crocodile goddess Taweret , from which it is believed to have derived. The earliest forms of the Minoan Genius derived from the Egyptian prototypes between approximately 1800 and 1700 BC. In Egypt, Taweret

168-577: A basis for coinages: anthropology , photography , telephony , isomer , biomechanics , cinematography , etc. Together with Latin words , they form the foundation of international scientific and technical vocabulary ; for example, all words ending in -logy ('discourse'). There are many English words of Greek origin . Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family. The ancient language most closely related to it may be ancient Macedonian , which, by most accounts,

252-529: A child is born and funeral ceremony. Traditional Festivals like Asafotu and Homowo of the Ga Adangbe people of Ghana and Togo. Also during installment of kings, queens, and chiefs, libation is poured. As recently as the 1920s, it was a custom in Lower Nubia for women to go to the graves of relatives every Friday and pour a libation of water into a red bowl at the head of the grave. For widows, it

336-558: A fairly stable set of consonantal contrasts . The main phonological changes occurred during the Hellenistic and Roman period (see Koine Greek phonology for details): In all its stages, the morphology of Greek shows an extensive set of productive derivational affixes , a limited but productive system of compounding and a rich inflectional system. Although its morphological categories have been fairly stable over time, morphological changes are present throughout, particularly in

420-560: A faster, more convenient cursive writing style with the use of ink and quill . The Greek alphabet consists of 24 letters, each with an uppercase ( majuscule ) and lowercase ( minuscule ) form. The letter sigma has an additional lowercase form (ς) used in the final position of a word: In addition to the letters, the Greek alphabet features a number of diacritical signs : three different accent marks ( acute , grave , and circumflex ), originally denoting different shapes of pitch accent on

504-540: A foreign language. It is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, " Homeric Greek is probably closer to Demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English ". Greek is spoken today by at least 13 million people, principally in Greece and Cyprus along with a sizable Greek-speaking minority in Albania near

588-629: A huge upright bull with sword or spear. The Genius moves indirectly on a cylinder from Kakovatos ( CMS XI 208): a hero stabs an upright lion while the demon urges him on from behind." Libation A libation is a ritual pouring of a liquid as an offering to a deity or spirit, or in memory of the dead . It was common in many religions of antiquity and continues to be offered in cultures today. Various substances have been used for libations, most commonly wine or other alcoholic drinks, olive oil, honey, and in India , ghee . The vessels used in

672-452: A running stream symbolizes the detachment from karma and bad energy . The English word "libation" derives from the Latin libatio , an act of pouring, from the verb libare , "to taste, sip; pour out, make a libation" ( Indo-European root *leib- , "pour, make a libation"). The Sumerian afterlife was a dark, dreary cavern located deep below the ground. This bleak domain

756-494: A silent prayer he departs, not looking back. Hero of Alexandria described a mechanism for automating the process by using altar fires to force oil from the cups of two statues. In ancient Roman religion , the libation was a religious act in the form of a liquid offering, most often unmixed wine and perfumed oil. The Roman god Liber Pater ("Father Liber "), later identified with the Greek Dionysus or Bacchus ,

840-399: A spirit of peace, the Greek term for libation, σπονδή ( spondȇ ), became synonymous with "peace treaty". Libation was part of ancient Egyptian society where it was a drink offering to honor and please the various divinities, sacred ancestors, humans present and humans who are alive but not physically present, as well as the environment. It is suggested that libation originated somewhere in

924-402: A way of giving homage to the ancestors. Ancestors are not only respected in such cultures, but also invited to participate in all public functions (as are also the gods and God). A prayer is offered in the form of libations, calling the ancestors to attend. The ritual is generally performed by an elder. Although water may be used, the drink is typically some traditional wine (e.g. palm wine ), and

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1008-804: Is also found in Bulgaria near the Greek-Bulgarian border. Greek is also spoken worldwide by the sizable Greek diaspora which has notable communities in the United States , Australia , Canada , South Africa , Chile , Brazil , Argentina , Russia , Ukraine , the United Kingdom , and throughout the European Union , especially in Germany . Historically, significant Greek-speaking communities and regions were found throughout

1092-433: Is also possible the reverse occurred; as milk libation was already known to Nubians, they may have introduced it to Philae. Libation ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : σπονδή , spondȇ , [spondɛ̌ː] ) was a central and vital aspect of ancient Greek religion , and one of the simplest and most common forms of religious practice. It is one of the basic religious acts that define piety in ancient Greece, dating back to

1176-773: Is an Indo-European language, constituting an independent Hellenic branch within the Indo-European language family. It is native to Greece , Cyprus , Italy (in Calabria and Salento ), southern Albania , and other regions of the Balkans , Caucasus , the Black Sea coast, Asia Minor , and the Eastern Mediterranean . It has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning at least 3,400 years of written records. Its writing system

1260-479: Is an Indo-European language, but also includes a number of borrowings from the languages of the populations that inhabited Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greeks, some documented in Mycenaean texts ; they include a large number of Greek toponyms . The form and meaning of many words have changed. Loanwords (words of foreign origin) have entered the language, mainly from Latin, Venetian , and Turkish . During

1344-480: Is common to pour a small amount of one's beverage on the ground before drinking as an offering to the Pachamama , or Mother Earth. This especially holds true when drinking Chicha , an alcoholic beverage unique to this part of the world. The libation ritual is commonly called challa and is performed quite often, usually before meals and during celebrations. The sixteenth century writer Bernardino de Sahagún records

1428-403: Is done to share the accrued merit with all other living beings in all 31 planes of existence. The ceremony has three primary prayers: the confession of faith, the pouring of water, and the sharing of merits. While the water is poured, a confession of faith, called the hsu taung imaya dhammanu ( ဆုတောင်း ဣမာယ ဓမ္မာနု ), is recited and led by the monks. Then, the merit is distributed by

1512-674: Is found in Brazil when cachaça is drunk, with the drops being offered " para o santo " or " para o santinho ". These customs are similar to the practice among Visayans of Mindanao , the Philippines , where rum is spilled upon opening of the bottle, accompanied by " para sa yawa " ('for the Devil'). Greek language Greek ( Modern Greek : Ελληνικά , romanized :  Elliniká , [eliniˈka] ; Ancient Greek : Ἑλληνική , romanized :  Hellēnikḗ )

1596-482: Is offered abhisheka with water by devotees at many temples when they go visit the temple, and on special occasions elaborately with water, milk, yogurt, ghee, honey, and sugar. In Burmese Buddhism , the water libation ceremony, called yay zet cha ( ရေစက်ချ ), which involves the ceremonial pouring of water from a vessel of water into a vase, drop by drop, concludes most Buddhist ceremonies, including donation celebrations, shinbyu , and feasts. This ceremonial libation

1680-519: Is protected and promoted officially as a regional and minority language in Armenia, Hungary , Romania, and Ukraine. It is recognized as a minority language and protected in Turkey by the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne . The phonology , morphology , syntax , and vocabulary of the language show both conservative and innovative tendencies across the entire attestation of the language from the ancient to

1764-526: Is spoken by at least 13.5 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey , and the many other countries of the Greek diaspora . Greek roots have been widely used for centuries and continue to be widely used to coin new words in other languages; Greek and Latin are the predominant sources of international scientific vocabulary . Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around

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1848-763: Is still used internationally for the writing of Ancient Greek . In Greek, the question mark is written as the English semicolon, while the functions of the colon and semicolon are performed by a raised point (•), known as the ano teleia ( άνω τελεία ). In Greek the comma also functions as a silent letter in a handful of Greek words, principally distinguishing ό,τι ( ó,ti , 'whatever') from ότι ( óti , 'that'). Ancient Greek texts often used scriptio continua ('continuous writing'), which means that ancient authors and scribes would write word after word with no spaces or punctuation between words to differentiate or mark boundaries. Boustrophedon , or bi-directional text,

1932-599: Is the Greek alphabet , which has been used for approximately 2,800 years; previously, Greek was recorded in writing systems such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary . The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin , Cyrillic , Coptic , Gothic , and many other writing systems. The Greek language holds a very important place in the history of the Western world. Beginning with

2016-497: Is usually done with sake , but at a household shrine, one may substitute fresh water which can be changed every morning. It is served in a white porcelain or metal cup without any decoration. Among the Ainu , libations are offered by means of the ikupasuy , a carved wooden implement with a "tongue," the pointed end from which millet beer or sake is dripped upon the venerated object. Shamanism among Siberian peoples exhibits

2100-469: The Bronze Age and even prehistoric Greece . Libations were a part of daily life, and the pious might perform them every day in the morning and evening, as well as to begin meals. A libation most often consisted of mixed wine and water, but could also be unmixed wine, honey, oil, water, or milk. The typical form of libation, spondȇ , is the ritualized pouring of wine from a jug or bowl held in

2184-495: The Eastern Mediterranean , in what are today Southern Italy , Turkey , Cyprus , Syria , Lebanon , Israel , Palestine , Egypt , and Libya ; in the area of the Black Sea , in what are today Turkey, Bulgaria , Romania , Ukraine , Russia , Georgia , Armenia , and Azerbaijan ; and, to a lesser extent, in the Western Mediterranean in and around colonies such as Massalia , Monoikos , and Mainake . It

2268-516: The Indo-Iranian languages (see Graeco-Aryan ), but little definitive evidence has been found. In addition, Albanian has also been considered somewhat related to Greek and Armenian, and it has been proposed that they all form a higher-order subgroup along with other extinct languages of the ancient Balkans; this higher-order subgroup is usually termed Palaeo-Balkan , and Greek has a central position in it. Linear B , attested as early as

2352-467: The grove of the Eumenides : First, water is fetched from a freshly flowing spring; cauldrons which stand in the sanctuary are garlanded with wool and filled with water and honey; turning towards the east, the sacrificer tips the vessels towards the west; the olive branches which he has been holding in his hand he now strews on the ground at the place where the earth has drunk in the libation; and with

2436-420: The jue , has a large pouring lip, and may be regarded as a type of jug rather than a cup. In modern Chinese customs, rice wine or tea is poured in front of an altar or tombstone horizontally from right to left with both hands as an offering to gods and in honour of the deceased. The offering is usually placed on the altar for a while before being offered in libation. In more elaborate ceremonies honouring deities,

2520-410: The middle voice , the verb means "enter into an agreement", in the sense that the gods are called to guarantee an action. Blood sacrifice was performed to begin a war; spondaí marked the conclusion of hostilities, and is often thus used in the sense of "armistice, treaty." The formula "We the polis have made libation" was a declaration of peace or the "Truce of God", which was observed also when

2604-492: The nominal and verbal systems. The major change in the nominal morphology since the classical stage was the disuse of the dative case (its functions being largely taken over by the genitive ). The verbal system has lost the infinitive , the synthetically -formed future, and perfect tenses and the optative mood . Many have been replaced by periphrastic ( analytical ) forms. Pronouns show distinctions in person (1st, 2nd, and 3rd), number (singular, dual , and plural in

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2688-470: The 3rd millennium BC, or possibly earlier. The earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the world's oldest recorded living language . Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now-extinct Anatolian languages . The Greek language is conventionally divided into

2772-459: The Aztec ceremony associated with drinking octli : Libation was done in this manner: when octli was drunk, when they tasted the new octli , when someone had just made octli ...he summoned people. He set it out in a vessel before the hearth, along with small cups for drinking. Before having anyone drink, he took up octli with a cup and then poured it before the hearth; he poured the octli in

2856-580: The Christian use of amen . Afterward, the libated water is poured on soil outside, to return the water to Vasudhara . The earth goddess Vasudhara is invoked to witness these meritorious deeds. Prior to colonial rule, the water libation ceremony was also performed during the crowning of Burmese kings, as part of procedures written in the Raza Thewaka Dipani Kyan , an 1849 text that outlines proper conduct of Burmese kings. Although

2940-470: The Genius also became a deity in the Mycenaean world; its representations are found widely in continental Greece. Weingarten writes: "The Minoan Genius is also known for carrying large beasts of all kinds to sacrifice... rarely depicted in an act of violence; though closely linked to sacrifice, the demon is only once seen to do the deed: on a seal impression from Zakro ( Genius No.27 = Z 104), it slaughters

3024-486: The Greek alphabet since approximately the 9th century BC. It was created by modifying the Phoenician alphabet , with the innovation of adopting certain letters to represent the vowels. The variant of the alphabet in use today is essentially the late Ionic variant, introduced for writing classical Attic in 403 BC. In classical Greek, as in classical Latin, only upper-case letters existed. The lower-case Greek letters were developed much later by medieval scribes to permit

3108-425: The Greek language are often emphasized. Although Greek has undergone morphological and phonological changes comparable to those seen in other languages, never since classical antiquity has its cultural, literary, and orthographic tradition been interrupted to the extent that one can speak of a new language emerging. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than

3192-495: The Greek language was the Cypriot syllabary (also a descendant of Linear A via the intermediate Cypro-Minoan syllabary ), which is closely related to Linear B but uses somewhat different syllabic conventions to represent phoneme sequences. The Cypriot syllabary is attested in Cyprus from the 11th century BC until its gradual abandonment in the late Classical period, in favor of the standard Greek alphabet. Greek has been written in

3276-629: The Greek verb have likewise remained largely the same over the course of the language's history but with significant changes in the number of distinctions within each category and their morphological expression. Greek verbs have synthetic inflectional forms for: Many aspects of the syntax of Greek have remained constant: verbs agree with their subject only, the use of the surviving cases is largely intact (nominative for subjects and predicates, accusative for objects of most verbs and many prepositions, genitive for possessors), articles precede nouns, adpositions are largely prepositional, relative clauses follow

3360-685: The Greek-Albanian border. A significant percentage of Albania's population has knowledge of the Greek language due in part to the Albanian wave of immigration to Greece in the 1980s and '90s and the Greek community in the country. Prior to the Greco-Turkish War and the resulting population exchange in 1923 a very large population of Greek-speakers also existed in Turkey , though very few remain today. A small Greek-speaking community

3444-639: The Jerusalem temple , and a double libation of wine and water was offered during Sukkot , possibly as a rain making ritual. Idolatrous libations were forbidden, along with the Torah's prohibitions on idolatrous sacrifice and worship generally. Libation is present and in Christianity appears in the New Testament and is the practice of Jesus and other biblical figures. In the same way, after

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3528-404: The acute during the late 20th century, and it has only been retained in typography . After the writing reform of 1982, most diacritics are no longer used. Since then, Greek has been written mostly in the simplified monotonic orthography (or monotonic system), which employs only the acute accent and the diaeresis. The traditional system, now called the polytonic orthography (or polytonic system),

3612-402: The ancient language; singular and plural alone in later stages), and gender (masculine, feminine, and neuter), and decline for case (from six cases in the earliest forms attested to four in the modern language). Nouns, articles, and adjectives show all the distinctions except for a person. Both attributive and predicative adjectives agree with the noun. The inflectional categories of

3696-419: The ash and flames. This scene is commonly depicted in Greek art , which also often shows sacrificers or the gods themselves holding the phiale . The Greek verb spéndō (σπένδω), "pour a libation", also "conclude a pact", derives from the Indo-European root *spend- , "make an offering, perform a rite, engage oneself by a ritual act". The noun is spondȇ ( plural spondaí ) , "libation." In

3780-583: The city of Rome by an African community. Libations were part of ancient Judaism and are mentioned in the Bible : And Jacob set up a Pillar in the place where he had spoken with him, a Pillar of Stone; and he poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it. In Isaiah 53 :12, Isaiah uses libation as a metaphor when describing the end of the Suffering Servant figure who "poured out his life unto death". Libations of wine were offered at

3864-533: The dead at their tombs, libations would include milk and honey. The Libation Bearers is the English title of the center tragedy from the Orestes Trilogy of Aeschylus , in reference to the offerings Electra brings to the tomb of her dead father Agamemnon . Sophocles gives one of the most detailed descriptions of libation in Greek literature in Oedipus at Colonus , performed as atonement in

3948-424: The donors (called ahmya wei အမျှဝေ ) by thrice saying the following: (To all those who can hear), we share our merits with all beings (Kya kya thahmya), ahmya ahmya ahmya yu daw mu gya ba gon law' ' ( (ကြားကြားသမျှ) အမျှ အမျှ အမျှ ယူတော်မူကြပါ ကုန်လော ) Afterward, in unison, the participants repeat thrice a declaration of affirmation: thadu ( သာဓု , sadhu ), Pali for "well done", akin to

4032-404: The early 19th century that was used for literary and official purposes in the newly formed Greek state. In 1976, Dimotiki was declared the official language of Greece, after having incorporated features of Katharevousa and thus giving birth to Standard Modern Greek , used today for all official purposes and in education . The historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of

4116-534: The environment. It is suggested that libation originated somewhere in the upper Nile Valley and spread out to other regions of Africa and the world. According to Ayi Kwei Armah , "[t]his legend explains the rise of a propitiatory custom found everywhere on the African continent: libation, the pouring of alcohol or other drinks as offerings to ancestors and divinities." Milk libations for Osiris may have originated at Philae and spread southwards into Meroe . It

4200-618: The epics of Homer , ancient Greek literature includes many works of lasting importance in the European canon . Greek is also the language in which many of the foundational texts in science and philosophy were originally composed. The New Testament of the Christian Bible was also originally written in Greek. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world , the Greek texts and Greek societies of antiquity constitute

4284-540: The first bowl ( krater ) of wine was served, a libation was made to Zeus and the Olympian gods . Heroes received a libation from the second krater served, and Zeús Téleios ( Ζεύς Tέλειος , lit. "Zeus who Finishes") from the third, which was supposed to be the last. An alternative was to offer a libation from the first bowl to the Agathos Daimon and from the third bowl to Hermes . An individual at

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4368-452: The following periods: In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia : the coexistence of vernacular and archaizing written forms of the language. What came to be known as the Greek language question was a polarization between two competing varieties of Modern Greek: Dimotiki , the vernacular form of Modern Greek proper, and Katharevousa , meaning 'purified', a compromise between Dimotiki and Ancient Greek developed in

4452-481: The form of libation called choē ( Ancient Greek : χεῦμα , cheuma , "that which is poured"; from IE *gheu- ), a larger vessel is tipped over and emptied onto the ground for the chthonic gods, who may also receive spondai . Heroes, who were divinized mortals, might receive blood libations if they had participated in the bloodshed of war, as for instance Brasidas the Spartan . In rituals of caring for

4536-607: The four directions. And when he had poured the octli then everyone drank it. In Hinduism libation rituals most often involve pouring the offered liquid over a murti or sacred image. Many temple images receive libations from the priests daily. Libations are part of Tarpan and also performed during Pitru Paksha (Fortnight of the ancestors) following the Bhadrapada month of the Hindu calendar , (September–October). In India and Nepal, Lord Shiva (also Vishnu and other deities)

4620-477: The great diversity characteristic of shamanism in general. Among several peoples near the Altai Mountains , the new drum of a shaman must go through a special ritual. This is regarded as "enlivening the drum": the tree and the deer who gave their wood and skin for the new drum narrate their whole lives and promise to the shaman that they will serve him. The ritual itself is a libation: beer is poured onto

4704-478: The hand. The most common ritual was to pour the liquid from an oinochoē (wine jug) into a phiale , a shallow bowl designed for the purpose. After wine was poured from the phiale , the remainder of the oinochoē's contents was drunk by the celebrant. A libation is poured any time wine is to be drunk, a practice that is recorded as early as the Homeric epics . The etiquette of the symposium required that when

4788-439: The infinitive entirely (employing a raft of new periphrastic constructions instead) and uses participles more restrictively. The loss of the dative led to a rise of prepositional indirect objects (and the use of the genitive to directly mark these as well). Ancient Greek tended to be verb-final, but neutral word order in the modern language is VSO or SVO. Modern Greek inherits most of its vocabulary from Ancient Greek, which in turn

4872-467: The late 15th century BC, was the first script used to write Greek. It is basically a syllabary , which was finally deciphered by Michael Ventris and John Chadwick in the 1950s (its precursor, Linear A , has not been deciphered and most likely encodes a non-Greek language). The language of the Linear B texts, Mycenaean Greek , is the earliest known form of Greek. Another similar system used to write

4956-461: The libation may be done over the burning paper offerings; whereas for the deceased, the wine is only poured onto the ground. Japanese libations leave the liquid offering on the altar in a suitable vessel, while other portions are drunk by the participants. In Shinto , the practice of libation and the drink offered is called Miki (神酒), lit. "The Liquor of the Gods". At a ceremony at a Shinto shrine, it

5040-518: The libation ritual is accompanied by an invitation (and invocation) to the ancestors, gods and God. In the Volta region of Ghana, water with a mixture of corn flour is also used to pour libation. Libation is also commonly recognized as the break within the famous performance of Agbekor , a ritual dance performed in West African cultures. It is also poured during traditional marriage ceremony, when

5124-640: The membership of Greece and Cyprus in the European Union, Greek is one of the organization's 24 official languages . Greek is recognized as a minority language in Albania, and used co-officially in some of its municipalities, in the districts of Gjirokastër and Sarandë . It is also an official minority language in the regions of Apulia and Calabria in Italy. In the framework of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages , Greek

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5208-441: The modern period. The division into conventional periods is, as with all such periodizations, relatively arbitrary, especially because, in all periods, Ancient Greek has enjoyed high prestige, and the literate borrowed heavily from it. Across its history, the syllabic structure of Greek has varied little: Greek shows a mixed syllable structure, permitting complex syllabic onsets but very restricted codas. It has only oral vowels and

5292-399: The noun they modify and relative pronouns are clause-initial. However, the morphological changes also have their counterparts in the syntax, and there are also significant differences between the syntax of the ancient and that of the modern form of the language . Ancient Greek made great use of participial constructions and of constructions involving the infinitive, and the modern variety lacks

5376-536: The objects of study of the discipline of Classics . During antiquity , Greek was by far the most widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world . It eventually became the official language of the Byzantine Empire and developed into Medieval Greek . In its modern form , Greek is the official language of Greece and Cyprus and one of the 24 official languages of the European Union . It

5460-472: The offering of water to Vasudhara may have pre-Buddhist roots, this ceremony is believed to have been started by King Bimbisara , who poured the libation of water, to share his merit with his ancestors who had become pretas . This ceremony is also practiced at the end of Thai and Laotian Buddhist rituals to transfer merit, where it is called kruat nam (กรวดน้ำ) and yaat nam respectively. The most traditional Chinese ritual bronze vessel for libations,

5544-706: The older periods of Greek, loanwords into Greek acquired Greek inflections, thus leaving only a foreign root word. Modern borrowings (from the 20th century on), especially from French and English, are typically not inflected; other modern borrowings are derived from Albanian , South Slavic ( Macedonian / Bulgarian ) and Eastern Romance languages ( Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian ). Greek words have been widely borrowed into other languages, including English. Example words include: mathematics , physics , astronomy , democracy , philosophy , athletics , theatre, rhetoric , baptism , evangelist , etc. Moreover, Greek words and word elements continue to be productive as

5628-400: The quality of pietas , religious duty or reverence. The libation was part of Roman funeral rites , and may have been the only sacrificial offering at humble funerals. Libations were poured in rituals of caring for the dead (see Parentalia and Caristia ), and some tombs were equipped with tubes through which the offerings could be directed to the underground dead. Milk

5712-504: The ritual, including the patera , often had a significant form which differentiated them from secular vessels. The libation could be poured onto something of religious significance, such as an altar , or into the earth. On the other hand, one or more libations began most meals and occasions when wine was drunk in Greco-Roman and other ancient societies, mostly using normal cups or jugs. In East Asia, pouring an offering of rice into

5796-519: The skin and wood of the drum, and these materials "come to life" and speak with the voice of the shaman in the name of the tree and the deer. Among the Tubalar , moreover, the shaman imitates the voice of the animal , and its behaviour as well. In Cuba , a widespread custom is to spill a drop or two of rum from one's glass while saying " para los santos " (‘for the Saints ’). An identical practice

5880-437: The stressed vowel; the so-called breathing marks ( rough and smooth breathing ), originally used to signal presence or absence of word-initial /h/; and the diaeresis , used to mark the full syllabic value of a vowel that would otherwise be read as part of a diphthong. These marks were introduced during the course of the Hellenistic period. Actual usage of the grave in handwriting saw a rapid decline in favor of uniform usage of

5964-471: The supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. This phrasing in Luke refers to the act of libation as the new covenant, to the blood of Jesus to be poured out in death. But even if I am being poured out like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. Libations were normally conducted in

6048-415: The symposium could also make an invocation of and libation to a god of his choice. Libation generally accompanied prayer. The Greeks stood when they prayed, either with their arms uplifted, or in the act of libation with the right arm extended to hold the phiale . In conducting animal sacrifice , wine is poured onto the offering as part of its ritual slaughter and preparation, and then afterwards onto

6132-437: The upper Nile Valley and spread out to other regions of Africa and the world. According to Ayi Kwei Armah , "[t]his legend explains the rise of a propitiatory custom found everywhere on the African continent: libation, the pouring of alcohol or other drinks as offerings to ancestors and divinities." In African cultures and African traditional religions the ritual of pouring libation is an essential ceremonial tradition and

6216-782: The various city-states came together for the Panhellenic Games , the Olympic Games , or the festivals of the Eleusinian Mysteries : this form of libation is "bloodless, gentle, irrevocable, and final". Libations poured onto the earth are meant for the dead and for the chthonic gods. In the Book of the Dead in the Odyssey , Odysseus digs an offering pit around which he pours in order honey, wine, and water. For

6300-574: Was a distinct dialect of Greek itself. Aside from the Macedonian question, current consensus regards Phrygian as the closest relative of Greek, since they share a number of phonological, morphological and lexical isoglosses , with some being exclusive between them. Scholars have proposed a Graeco-Phrygian subgroup out of which Greek and Phrygian originated. Among living languages, some Indo-Europeanists suggest that Greek may be most closely related to Armenian (see Graeco-Armenian ) or

6384-526: Was also once a custom for them to pour a libation of milk on their husband's grave the second day after his death. Similarly, it has been Coptic tradition for women to visit graves and make water libations, both in intervals during the first 40 days after a death, and during a few annual occasions, such as Nayrouz . In the Quechua and Aymara cultures of the South American Andes , it

6468-568: Was also used as the official language of government and religion in the Christian Nubian kingdoms , for most of their history. Greek, in its modern form, is the official language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population. It is also the official language of Cyprus (nominally alongside Turkish ) and the British Overseas Territory of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (alongside English ). Because of

6552-557: Was also used in Ancient Greek. Greek has occasionally been written in the Latin script , especially in areas under Venetian rule or by Greek Catholics . The term Frankolevantinika / Φραγκολεβαντίνικα applies when the Latin script is used to write Greek in the cultural ambit of Catholicism (because Frankos / Φράγκος is an older Greek term for West-European dating to when most of (Roman Catholic Christian) West Europe

6636-440: Was known as Kur , where the souls were believed to eat nothing but dry dust and family members of the deceased would ritually pour libations into the grave through a clay pipe, thereby allowing the dead to drink. Libation was part of ancient Egyptian society where it was a drink offering to honor and please the various divinities, sacred ancestors, humans present and humans who are alive but not physically present, as well as

6720-545: Was the divinity of libamina , "libations," and liba , sacrificial cakes drizzled with honey. In Roman art, the libation is shown performed at a mensa (sacrificial meal table), or tripod . It was the simplest form of sacrifice , and could be a sufficient offering by itself. The introductory rite ( praefatio ) to an animal sacrifice included an incense and wine libation onto a burning altar. Both emperors and divinities are frequently depicted, especially on coins, pouring libations. Scenes of libation commonly signify

6804-614: Was the goddess of fertility, childbirth and the protection of young children, and some scholars have thought the Genius had similar functions, although the Minoan evidence for this is limited. The other common composite mythological beast seen in Minoan art is the griffin —a widespread figure around the Ancient Near East . These may pull deities in chariots, as on the Hagia Triada Sarcophagus . Later on,

6888-580: Was under the control of the Frankish Empire ). Frankochiotika / Φραγκοχιώτικα (meaning 'Catholic Chiot') alludes to the significant presence of Catholic missionaries based on the island of Chios . Additionally, the term Greeklish is often used when the Greek language is written in a Latin script in online communications. The Latin script is nowadays used by the Greek-speaking communities of Southern Italy . The Yevanic dialect

6972-508: Was unusual as a libation at Rome, but was regularly offered to a few deities, particularly those of an archaic nature or those for whom it was a natural complement, such as Rumina , a goddess of birth and childrearing who promoted the flow of breast milk, and Cunina, a tutelary of the cradle. It was offered also to Mercurius Sobrius (the "sober" Mercury ), whose cult is well attested in Roman Africa and may have been imported to

7056-673: Was written by Romaniote and Constantinopolitan Karaite Jews using the Hebrew Alphabet . In a tradition, that in modern time, has come to be known as Greek Aljamiado , some Greek Muslims from Crete wrote their Cretan Greek in the Arabic alphabet . The same happened among Epirote Muslims in Ioannina . This also happened among Arabic-speaking Byzantine rite Christians in the Levant ( Lebanon , Palestine, and Syria ). This usage

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