Kogaionon

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See Kogaionon for the mammal genus from the Upper Cretaceous.

Kogaionon was the semi-mythical holy mountain of the Dacians, the place where Zalmoxis stayed in an underground cave for three years. Strabo claims that a river with the same name flowed in the vicinity.

One modern translation of Kogaionon is "sacred mountain", which would be connected to a probable Dacian word kaga meaning "sacred", attested in two early 2nd century inscriptions from Tomis.[1]

Kogaionon's (test) localization is still under debate, but thought to be either in the area around the Dacian capital Sarmizegetusa (there is a 2291m summit there called Gugu and there are speculations that it could be the holy mountain; it may also have been Dealul Grădiştei where the ruins of the sanctuaries of Sarmizegetusa are located)[citation needed] or even the Ceahlău mountain.[citation needed]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Olteanu

[edit] References

  • Dicţionar de istorie veche a României ("Dictionary of ancient Romanian history") (1976) Editura Ştiinţifică şi Enciclopedică, pp. 363
  • Olteanu, Sorin. Καγα: an important Dacian word in Tomitian inscriptions.
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