Religione e sfera del sacro nel lessico osseto

In the 10th century, the Alans – an Iranian-speaking people settled north of the Caucasian ridge – converted to Christianity. This conversion led to a religious syncretism in the territory of Alania rather than to an authentic Christianization of the region and took place above all on Byzantine influence. But what was the path followed by Christianity to penetrate Alania? Directly from Byzantium or with the mediation of other Christian peoples of the Caucasus? The study of the Christian religious lexicon in Ossetic (Iron) shows that it is very likely that Christianity came from Georgia. In this article 22 etymologies of V.I. Abaev’s Historical-Etymological Dictionary relating to the sphere of the sacred are translated and examined in detail.

Nell'articolo viene preso in esame il lessico osseto relativo al cristianesimo. L'analisi del lessico permette di individuare ulteriori elementi per determinare da quale area è penetrato nell'antica Alania medievale il cristianesimo nel X secolo.