Zojz is the Albanian sky father and Thunder deity, he was the most important god in the pagan Albanian religion, he is the King of the Gods.
Mythology[]
Etymology[]
Zojz evolved from the Proto-Indo-European Dyēus, therefore his name is connected with other Indo-European gods like the Greek Zeus, the Latin Jove, the Germanic Tiw, The Vedic Dyaus and the Baltic Dievas.
Reflections[]
Divine Goddess[]
Albanian Zonjë, originally Zotnjë whose name means "Goddess Lady" are epithets for the Goddess Zonja e Dheut and Prende, curiously Zonjë is derived from Dyēus, this make both goddesses have parallels with other goddesses derived from Dyēus like Diana, Dione, Devana and many others.
Therefore both Zonja e Dheut and Prende could be considered as females aspects of Zojz.
Heat of the day-time sky[]
The Albanian term zúshë/zúsha has its origins in the PIE dieu + Eús(i)-ēA₂ usually mean "day-time heat" or "heat of the day-time sky".
Epithets[]
Beauty of the Sky[]
Zojz is referred to as i Bukuri i Qiellit (The beauty of the sky), in the modern interpretation of the ancient Albanian pantheon, being seen both the counterpart of Zonja e Dheut (Beauty Earth) and e Bukura e Detit (Beauty Sea).
Sky father[]
Zojz is the father even in proto-Albanian times, so both the words *dźie̅u ̊ a(t)t- (Heavenly father) and *átta are derived from *Dyḗus ph₂tḗr.
The plural Zota means "gods" however in the catholic reform of Gjon Buzuku, he transformed Zota into Zot whose meaning is used for "ruler", "patron", "lord", "master of the house" or "owner".
Legacy[]
Poems[]
The Kângë Kreshnikësh or Songs of Heroes in English, are a collection of traditional songs of the heroic legendary cycle of Albanian epic poetry, in the Songs of Heroes Zojz is a reoccurring figure in those poems, where he has a fairly important role.
Bible[]
Christian Albanians use the name Zojz as the name for Yahweh, similar to how the Baltic Peoples use the name Dievas for the biblical name of god, curiously both Zojz and Dievas has his origins in the PIE word Dyēus who was a sky father.