Gripswald matron stones

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Matronenstein I (replica, set up in front of the St. Pankratius chapel in Ossum , near the site)

The Gripswald Matronensteine are a group of Gallo-Roman- Germanic consecration stones that were found in 1863 near the Gripswald house in the area of ​​today's city of Meerbusch in North Rhine-Westphalia . Almost all stones bear inscriptions according to which they were donated to the mother goddesses Matronae Octocannae , which are only archaeologically documented here by name and location .

Find

The matron stones were found at the end of February 1863 by forest workers during clearing work south of Gripswald House ( map ) near a footpath to Pesch Castle in today's urban area of ​​Meerbusch near the border with today's city of Krefeld .

The clearing work ran along the broken edge of a plateau. The remains of a tuff and sandstone wall were exposed at a depth of 3.14 m (10 Prussian feet) . The remnants of the wall were 2.51 m (8 feet) in a semicircle, 0.31 m (1 foot) thick and 2.51 m (8 feet) high. The interior was accessible through a narrow entrance.

The find contained six votive stones in honor of the Matronae Octocannae and some stones in honor of Mercurius Arvernus . The consecration stones were donated by different people, two of them apparently by a Gaius Salvius Quietus.

The stones were dated to the end of the 2nd century or the beginning of the 3rd century AD after the discovery. At that time, Roman military roads ran in the vicinity and a few kilometers away was the important Roman fort Gelduba and several Roman villas ( villae rusticae ) .

interpretation

Contemporary authors interpret the building remains as the remains of a rural chapel . However, this has not been proven and was already discussed critically at the time. It is believed to be a sanctuary of the matron cult . Romanized West Germanic Ubier may have been the dedicants of the matron stones. This cult worshiped mother goddesses, the matronae . Little is known about the practice of the cult. Votive stones of the cult were not only set up on their own, but often in connection with cult sites or temples . In the case of the Gripswald matron stones, it is not certain whether they were set up on site. They may have been brought to this remote sanctuary to protect them from being destroyed by Christians. Fruit baskets with fruit (apples, pears, pomegranates or pine cones) and sacrificial scenes with animal sacrifices of boars and fish are depicted on the votive stones. Symbols of the matrons were snake, moon and crane.

storage

The then owner of the Gripswald house, Jacob Herberz from Uerdingen, donated the finds to the "Museum Rheinisch-Westfälischer Antiquities" in Bonn, today's Rheinisches Landesmuseum , where they can be viewed. A copy of one of the stones can be found in the village of Ossum , near the site.

Lettering of the stones

Matron stone I.

Reddish sandstone, believed to be from the Trier area, 2 feet 11 inches high, 21 inches wide, 9 inches thick.

Gripswalder Matronenstein (Stone I)

Inscription: Mat (ronis) Octocannis / Q (uintus) Iul (ius) Quietus et / [I] ucundus et Ursu / lus imp (erio) ips (arum) l (ibentes) m (erito)

Translated: "The Matronae Octocannae Quintus Iulius Quietus and Iucundus and Ursulus according to their command with pleasure and for a fee"

Matron stone II

Gray sandstone, 22 inches high, 14 feet [!] Wide, 6 inches thick.

Gripswalder Matronenstein (Stone II)

Inscription: Matronis Oc / tocannabus / C (aius) Iulius Seranus / et Vipsania Fa / hena ex imp (erio) i (p = B) sa (rum) v (otum) s (olverunt) l (ibentes) m (erito)

Translated: "The Matronae Octocannabae Gaius Julius Seranus and Vipsania Fahena gladly fulfilled their vows according to their command and for a fee"

Mercurius stone VI

Reddish sandstone, 2 feet 1 inches high, 13 inches wide, 6 inches thick.

Votive stone in honor of Mercurius Arvernus, found with the Gripswalder matron stones (Mercurius stone VI)

Inscription: Mercurio / Arverno / Sext (us) Sempro / nius Super / l (ibens) m (erito)

Translated: "The Mercurius Avernus (by) Sextus Sempronius Super happy and for a fee"

Matron stone III

Reddish sandstone, probably from the Trier area, 2 feet high, 15 inches wide, 7 inches thick.

Inscription: Matronis / Octocan (n) ab / us C (aius) Salvius / Quetus v (otum) s (olvit) l (ibens) m (erito)

Translated: "The Matronae Octocannabae Gaius Salvius Quietus has fulfilled his vows gladly and for a fee"

Matron stone IV

Inscription: Matronis / Octocan / abus Q (uintus) Va / rianus

Translated: "The Matronae Octocannabae (by) Quintus Varianus"

Matron stone V

Inscription: Matronis / [Octo] cannabus / [3 Vi] ctorine

Translated: "The Matronae Octocannabae (by) Victorine (?)"

literature

  • Franz Fiedler: The Gripswald Matronen and Mercurius stones. Festive program for Winckelmann's birthdays on December 9, 1863. Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland, Bonn 1863 ( online and download at archive.org ).
  • Max Ihm : The mother or matron cult and its monuments. In: Yearbooks of the Society of Friends of Antiquity in the Rhineland. Issue 83, Bonn 1887, pp. 1–200 ( online and download at archive.org ).

Web links

Commons : Gripswalder Matronensteine  - collection of images

Remarks

  1. ↑ The measure is given by Franz Fiedler: Gripswalder Matronensteine , p. 17. It is likely a typographical error. It should be correct: 2 feet high, 14 inches wide, 6 inches thick. 14 feet wide would mean that the stone is more than 4 meters wide (given a length of one Prussian foot with about 0.31 cm).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Franz Fiedler: The Gripswalder Matronen and Mercurius stones. Festival program for Winckelmann's birthdays on December 9, 1863. Bonn 1863, pp. 21–24 ( online at archive.org ).
  2. ↑ Clive Bridger (Ed.): The Roman burial field "An Hinkes Weißhof". Tönisvorst-Vorst, Viersen district. Rheinland-Verlag Cologne (= Habelt, Bonn) 1996 ISBN 3792715775 . P. 309.
  3. ↑ CIL 13, 8571 .
  4. ↑ CIL 13, 8572 .
  5. ↑ CIL 13, 8580 .
  6. ↑ CIL 13, 8573 .
  7. ↑ CIL 13, 8574 .
  8. ↑ CIL 13, 8575 .