Coventina

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Bas-relief with foundation inscription
Bas-relief of Coventina as a triad of nymphs

Coventina was a healing and spring goddess in British mythology who was worshiped on Hadrian's Wall .

The sanctuary

For Coventina, the legionaries stationed on Hadrian's Wall built a shrine at Brocolitia Castle (Carrawburgh, Northumberland ). The square temple was built over a spring that is still active today ("Coventina's well") and excavated in 1876. Over 13,000 coins and bronze animal figures have been found in the basin. Also in it were the consecration stones and altar fragments that were obviously thrown in later. At least thirteen consecrations to Coventina are documented in writing. In addition, three altars dedicated to the god Mithras were found in the temple area .

The bas-relief on the right shows the goddess lying on a leaf with a plant in her hand. It was dedicated to the inscription by Titus D (omitius?) Cosconianus, prefect of the Cohors I Batavorum .

Deae
Couventinae
T (itus) D () Cosconia-
nus pr (aefectus) coh (ortis)
I Bat (avorum) l (ibens) m (erito)

The left relief shows a triad with a cup in one hand and urns pouring water in the other. Here the figures in the inscription are called nymphs ( nimpha , nimfa ).

Three other dedicatory inscriptions found (two in Spain , one in Gallia narbonensis ) could also refer to Conventina, but this is controversial.

See also

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , pp. 87 f.
  2. ^ Hermann Dessau , Inscriptiones Latinae selectae (ILS), No. 4725.
  3. ↑ Helmut Birkhan: Celts. Attempt at a complete representation of their culture. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 1997, ISBN 3-7001-2609-3 , p. 625.

Web links

Goddesses in Celtic Religion: Water Goddesses