Abaev Dictionary: entry <hi rendition="#rend_italic">Saniba</hi>

Translated from Russian in 2020 by Oleg Belyaev (ed.), Irina Khomchenkova, Julia Sinitsyna and Vadim Dyachkov.

 Абаев, Василий Иванович. Историко-этимологический словарь осетинского языка. Т. I. A–Kʼ. М.–Л.: Наука, 1958. С. ??–??. font-variant: italic; font-variant: small-caps; quotes: "‘" "’"; quotes: "«" "»";
Saniba
название высокогорного селения в Сев. Осетии; также название праздника около Троицы. В этот праздник устраивают кувды (пиршества) (). Место, где проводится главный кувд, расположено выше аула и называется Nog ʒwar Новое святилище. Английский путешественник Baddelley, посетивший Саниба в 1899 и 1902 гг., пишет: Trinity Sunday — Saniba (in Georgian Sameba) means Trinity — was celebrated at a certain place on a hill above the village, with eating, drinking, singing and dancing. The pagan sacrifice of cattle, sheep, or goats continued; the meat was eaten and the horns were set up in honour of the gods, adorned with bits of white wool round which gold thread was twisted. This was the chief holiday here... no doubt, heathen festivals had been transferred and adapted to Christianity... The shrine Nog Dzouar was pointed out on the mountain-side high above the river on the opposite westem bank, 8.000 feet up at a guess... The custom was for the inhabitants of Saniba to go there at the end of July on a Monday,По осетинскому календарю на 1925 г., изданному Е. Гутновым в Берлине, праздник Ног дзуар справлялся в понедельник 10 августа. after a week preparation, which included abstention from wives and a meagre diet, taking with them quantities of cakes specially prepared and other offerings, but neither hens nor eggs, which were for some forgotten reason forbidden food at this festival and for three days after... Beside the shrines or sanctuaries common to a whole neighbourhood each family had its own sacred place, generally a cave (John F. Baddeley. The Rugged Flanks of Caucasus, Vol. I. Oxford, , стр. 75, 130—131) the name of the highland settlement in North Ossetia; also the name of the holiday near in time to the Day of the Holy Trinity. On this holiday kuvds (feasts) are arranged (). The place where the main kuvd is held is situated above the aul and is called Nog ʒwar the New sanctuary. The English traveler Baddelley, who visited Saniba in 1899 and 1902, writes: Trinity Sunday — Saniba (in Georgian Sameba) means Trinity — was celebrated at a certain place on a hill above the village, with eating, drinking, singing and dancing. The pagan sacrifice of cattle, sheep, or goats continued; the meat was eaten and the horns were set up in honour of the gods, adorned with bits of white wool round which gold thread was twisted. This was the chief holiday here... no doubt, heathen festivals had been transferred and adapted to Christianity... The shrine Nog Dzouar was pointed out on the mountain-side high above the river on the opposite westem bank, 8.000 feet up at a guess... The custom was for the inhabitants of Saniba to go there at the end of July on a Monday,According to the Ossetian calendar for year 1925 which was published by E. Gutnov in Berlin, the holiday Nog ʒwar the New sanctuary was celebrated on Monday, August 10. after a week preparation, which included abstention from wives and a meagre diet, taking with them quantities of cakes specially prepared and other offerings, but neither hens nor eggs, which were for some forgotten reason forbidden food at this festival and for three days after... Beside the shrines or sanctuaries common to a whole neighbourhood each family had its own sacred place, generally a cave (John F. Baddeley. The Rugged Flanks of Caucasus, Vol. I. Oxford, 1940, p. 75, 130—131) Sanibajy baijæfton k˳yvdy badgæ (жителей) Саниба я застал сидящими на кувде I found (the villagers of) Saniba sitting on the kuvd 111 næ fydælty ræstæǵy bydirag ældar jæ fæsʒæwīntīmæ xoxmæ qalon īsynmæ bacydī æmæ Sanibajy Koʒyrty Tajmurazy kærty ærxyztīs во времена наших отцов равнинный князь со своей свитой поехал в горы брать дань и спешился в (ауле) Саниба во дворе Таймураза Кодзырова in the time of our fathers, the prince of the plain went in the mountains with his entourage to collect the tribute and dismounted in the aul Saniba in the yard of Tajmuraz Kodzyrov III 202 ærtæ Jonon Saniba, adǵynæn, kadǵynæn rajs næ kūvinægtæ Саниба трех Иоаннов (?), с удовольствием и честью прими наши жертвенные приношения Saniba of three Johns (?), take our sacrificial offerings with pleasure and honour из молитвенной формулы; from the praying formula; II 354 næ kuvd Sanibajæn barst fæwæd! да будет наш кувд (молитвы и жертвенные приношения) угоден Саниба! let our kuvd (prayers and sacrificial offerings) be pleasing to Saniba! 62 Из Sameba Троица (от sami три) с перебоем сонантов m → n (диссимиляция лабиальных). Перебой мог произойти на осетинской почве. Но он наблюдается уже в грузинских говорах. Так, в хевсурском находим форму Saneba (Бардавелидзе. Опыт социологического изучения хевсурских верований. Тифлис, , стр. 24, 41, 42).В хевсурском, как видно из цитируемой работы, Санеба выступает не как особый культ (Троица), а как одна из местных ипостасей св. Георгия. Можно думать, что и на этот раз, как в ряде других случаев, древний языческий праздник после христианизации был приурочен к грузинскому храмовому празднику св. Троицы. Большой известностью пользовался, в частности, храм Самеба в Икалто в Кахетии (VI в.). Ср. в этом отношении , Kasutæ, . — К осетинскому примыкает Saniba (в топонимии: 5-я сессия по изучению иберийско-кавказских языков. Тезисы докладов, Орджоникидзе, , стр. 69). From Sameba Trinity (from sami three), contains the dissimilation:m → n. This sound change could occur in Ossetic. However, it is already attested in the Georgian dialects. For instance, in Khevsurian there is the form Saneba (Bardavelidze. Opyt sociologičeskogo izučenija xevsurskix verovanij [An essay in the sociological study of Khevsurian beliefs]. Tiflis, 1932, p. 24, 41, 42).In Khevsurian, as it may be seen from the cited work, Saneba acts not as the special cult (the Trinity), but as the one of the local hypostases of the Saint George. It is possible to think that the ancient pagan holiday was coincided with Georgian church holiday of the Holy Trinity after the Christianisation and this time, as in several other cases. In particular, the church of Sameba in Ikalto, Kakheti (the 6th century), was very famous. Cf. in this regard , Kasutæ, . — The cognate of the Ossetic word is Saniba (in the toponymy: 5-ja sessija po izučeniju iberijsko-kavkazskix jazykov [The 5th session on the study of the Iberian-Caucasian languages]. Conference proceedings, Ordzhonikidze, 1973, p. 69).