Dalmatia meaning

Meaning

Land Of Shepherds

Etymology

From the Illyrian word for sheep: delme.

Related names

• Via delme: Dalmanutha

The name Dalmatia occurs only once in the Bible. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul informs his young pupil that he has sent Titus there (2 Timothy 4:10).

Dalmatia was a Roman province, roughly similar to what later would be Yugoslavia. It was so named after the Great Illyrian Revolt of 6 to 9 AD, which split the original province of Illyricum into Pannonia in the north and Dalmatia in the south.

The name Dalmatia is still used today for the southern as coastal region of Croatia. The famous spotted Dalmatian dog was bred there probably around the fifteenth century.

The name Dalmatia comes from that of one of many indigenous tribes: the Dalmatae. Their name, in turn, was derived from the Illyrian word for sheep: delme.

The Dalmatae were probably not known as the Sheep but the Shepherds. The name Dalmatia therefore may mean Land Of Sheep or Land Of Shepherds.

The evangelist Mark refers to a mysterious place named Dalmanutha (Mark 8:10), which may in fact be a covert reference to Dalmatia and the Illyrian Revolt.