Editing Balkans (section)

====From antiquity to the early Middle Ages====
The region that is nowadays known as the Balkans is largely the ancient (Europe's oldest) '''Danube civilisation''',<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tiLoDwAAQBAJ|title=The Mystery of the Danube Civilisation|last1=Haarmann|first1=Harald|publisher=Marix Verlag|date=2020|isbn=9783843806466}}</ref> also referred to as the [[Old_Europe_(archaeology)|Old Europe]] civilization, and which peaked between 5000–3500 BC.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gFEARIQ6zYoC|title=The Lost World of Old Europe: The Danube Valley, 5000-3500 BC|date=2010|isbn=9780691143880|last1=Anthony|first1=David|editor-last1=Anthony|editor-first1=David|editor-last2=Chi|editor-first2=Jennifer|publisher=New York University, Institute for the Study of the Ancient World|pages=29}}</ref>

From [[classical antiquity]] through the [[Middle Ages]], the Balkan Mountains were called by the local [[Thracians|Thracian]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VDoQAQAAMAAJ&q=hemus+thracian+name |title=Bulgaria |page=54 |work=Hemus – a Thracian name |publisher=Indiana University |year=1986}}</ref> name ''[[Haemus]]''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Balkan Studies|date=1986|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEJpAAAAMAAJ&q=thracian+sama+greek+haemus}}</ref>

According to Greek mythology, the [[Thrace|Thracian]] king [[Haemus]] was turned into a mountain by [[Zeus]] as a punishment and the mountain has remained with his name.<ref>[[Ovid]], ''[[Metamorphoses]]'' 6.87–89</ref> A reverse name scheme has also been suggested. D. Dechev considers that Haemus (Αἷμος) is derived from a [[Thracian language|Thracian]] word ''*saimon'', 'mountain ridge'.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Decev |first1=D |title=Balkan Studies |date=1986 |publisher=University of Michigan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UEJpAAAAMAAJ&q=thracian+sama+greek+haemus |access-date=20 June 2015}}</ref> A third possibility is that "Haemus" ({{lang|grc|Αἵμος}}) derives from the Greek word ''haima'' ({{lang|grc|αἷμα}}) meaning 'blood'. The myth relates to a fight between [[Zeus]] and the monster/titan [[Typhon]]. Zeus injured Typhon with a thunder bolt and Typhon's blood fell on the mountains, giving them their name.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_2900870232069/page/20 20]|quote=Haemus bloody zeus typhon.|title=Gods and Heroes of the Greeks: The Library of Apollodorus|publisher=Univ of Massachusetts Press|access-date=12 September 2014|isbn=978-0870232060|last1=Apollodorus|year=1976}}</ref>