Abnoba
Abnoba is a mother goddess in the Celtic religion . She personified the Black Forest , which was called Abnoba mons in antiquity . According to the Interpretatio Romana , she is equated with Diana .
Etymology and Mythology
The etymology of the name Abnoba is unclear. Originally, the Black Forest was already called this by Pliny and Tacitus, and the first dedicatory inscriptions were made during the Roman rule in Gaul. A relief found at the Brigach spring near St. Georgen in the Black Forest is associated with Diana Abnoba. It shows a deer, a hare and a bird between human heads. However, the assignment is unsecured.
Because of this and similar finds, Abnoba was considered the protector of the forest, the game and the springs, especially as the patron saint of the medicinal springs in Badenweiler . Game and hunters were under their protection. The equation with Diana shows, for example, a dedicatory inscription of a certain Fronto found in Badenweiler , who thereby redeemed a vow. It is likely that there was originally a statue of this deity on the pedestal with this inscription. In fact, ailments that led to unwanted childlessness were also cured in Badenweiler, and in the thermal baths of this place, unusually, the women's department was no smaller than the men's department. For visitors to Badenweiler, Abnoba was therefore primarily considered a fertility deity.
In Pforzheim, the gate to the Black Forest, in the area of the old town church St. Martin , an altar stone of the goddess was recovered. A wooden statuette of the goddess Sirona was also discovered in a fountain in the immediate vicinity . The church rests on Roman foundations at the ford over the Enz . The Abnobafund suggests a Celto-Roman origin of the settlement PORTUS.
Inscriptions
| Location | directory | inscription |
| Badenweiler | CIL 13,5334 | DIANAE ABNOB ... |
| Bad Cannstatt | CIL 13, 11746 | ABNOBAE ... |
| Bad Cannstatt | CIL 13, 11747 | ... NOBE ... |
| Karlsruhe -Mühlburg | CIL 13,6326 | DEAE ABNOB ... |
| Mühlebach near Haslach | CIL 13, 6283 | DEANAE ABNOBAE ... |
| Pforzheim | CIL 13, 6332 | ... NOBE ... |
| Pforzheim | CIL 13, 11721 | ABN ... |
| Rötenberg | CIL 13,6357 | ABNOBAE ... |
| Waldmössingen | CIL 13,6356 | ABNOBAE ... |
See also
literature
- Maximilian Ihm : Abnoba . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, column 104.
- Werner Heinz, Rainer Wiegels: The Diana Abnoba Altar in Badenweiler. In: Ancient World 13/4. 1982, pp. 37-43.
- Bernhard Maier : Abnoba. In: ders .: Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , pp. 1-2.
- Reinhard Wenskus : Abnoba. In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde (RGA). 2nd Edition. Volume 1, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 1973, ISBN 3-11-004489-7 , p. 13. ( online )
- Sabine Ziegler: Comments on the Celtic toponym Abnova / Abnoba. In: Historische Sprachforschung 116, 2 (2003), pp. 290–294.
Remarks
- ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historiae 4, 79.
- ↑ Tacitus, Germania 1.
- ^ Bernhard Maier: Lexicon of the Celtic religion and culture. P. 1 f.
- ↑ Daniela Koch: Mos Maiorum. wordpress, July 14, 2015, accessed February 8, 2019 .