In the footsteps of the Bosnian sun god

The human species inhabited the Balkan area a million years ago, at that age the remnants of humans found in the caves of Šandalj next to Pula in Croatia were estimated. Throughout all that time our ancestors carried inside of them a feeling of security that the cave offered. That feeling became a part of the human gene.

Numerous caves in BIH are known for having ritual and religious significance in various periods of this area. The oldest holly caves are in Badanj in the canyon Bregava next to Stoca and the cave "Pod lipom" not far from Kada's village next to Sokoc whose cult significance is depicted by drawings on the walls. The drawings can also be seen on the entrance of Ledenjača cave next to Miljevina, on the cliff "Pod pismom" next to Višegrad in Robovići next to Foča, in the Djevojačka (maiden) cave next to Kladanj and also at the entrance to Vjetrenica. We could say that the presence of these drawings in the caves separates BIH from the other countries of south-western Balkans. Out of ten drawings, seven were found in BIH, and the other three are located more to the south in Montenegro and Albania, countries which constituted major parts of the ancient Illyrian kingdom. The mere arithmetic fact gives Bosnia a unique cultural and historical significance. The drawings in the Bosnian caves are situated from the early Palaeolithic period, around 14 thousand years BCE, until the Middle Ages. This shows the multiplicity of religious beliefs where the medium of pictures is only a symbolic means of expression. Without knowledge of this language it is impossible to have a clear insight into the holly Bosnian underground.

Places which simply flourish with deep meaning for the Bosnian spiritual history is the space around the royal city of Bobovac in central Bosnia. Here too the spiritual tradition is long which confirms the numerous cemetery tombstones. On the cliffs above the monastery in Kraljeva Sutjeska there are twelve caves. They are smaller in size which can house one or two people. Previous research has shown their ritualistic significance. Cave Ljuba has an artificially carved semi-circle bench stipadium, famous from when the Christians used to pray sitting in circle. From that bench there is a carved path which leads to two resting places or two praying places. When it comes to the morphology of the cave there is no need for this path since the sides of the cave are not steep. It is obvious that even walking along that path had ritualistic significance. The path ends in front of an altar, artificial window which is oriented towards the east. Who were these people that directed their prayers to the rising sun?

It is difficult to answer this question fully because we can only follow history satisfactorily to a certain period until ancient Bosnia (Bassania), but deeper into history things haven't been researched as far. However, undoubtedly the undisputable fact is that the cult of the sun god (Oganj, Ognjev Pir, Zvizdan) has its genesis in the Bosnian region. Its traces are interspersed throughout the religious practice of the Greeks, Celts and the Romans, i.e. people who came into direct contact with the Illyrians. We can't disregard nor forget the influence of ancient Persia through temples of the god Mithra which are also placed inside caves, and the one which is best preserved in Bosnia is located in Jajce and dates back to third century AD. The sun cult didn't even disappear when the Slavs arrived and mixed with the Illyrian tribes, only the name changed into Svetovid, although this name wasn't the sole name of the sun god, since we come across a very widespread name which is derived from the word star (zvijezda, zvizda), Zvizdan. However, all religious practice of this cult still remained unchanged and under strong antique influence, especially Roman and Celtic. The best proof of this is the practice of keeping various rituals and competitions which is undoubtedly of Roman origin. From ritual competitions stems the toponim playground on the Hotijelj hill on mount Ratiš, as well as toponim playground on Trebava.

In ancient and medieval Bosnia all hilltops were dedicated to the sun god, and that's the reason why all rituals took place up high. That's why many mountain tops have the name Zvijezda (Zvizdan) in their root, which is also a folk name for sun today, like the hill Zvijezda above Malešić, terrain Podzvizd on the slopes of Monja, locality Zvijezda in Sladna where the cult area Rahimin tomb is located. Above the village Priluk there is a hill called Sunčevo (Sun's) hill. We shouldn't forget the medieval city Podzvizd in Velika Kladuša which was built on top of a hill, etc.