Danube rider

The so-called Danube rider is a type of ancient cult images , of which numerous documents have been found in the Danube region. It has been concluded that a corresponding cult was practiced in the Roman provinces of Dacia , Moesia and Pannonia from the middle of the 2nd century onwards.

In contrast to the depictions of the so-called Thracian rider , the sculptures have no inscriptions whatsoever, which is why one has to rely on guesswork as to the identity of the worshiped deities and the origin of the worshipers.

There are two types of images. The older picture type shows a rider and to the right of him a goddess and her companion. There is often a man lying down under the horse. In the younger picture type of the 3rd and 4th centuries, a goddess appears between two riders facing her. Sometimes the goddess feeds the horses from a bowl. This type of image is reminiscent of similar representations of the originally Celtic Epona . Usually a fish also appears in front of the goddess, sometimes lying on a tripod. It is believed that fish was consumed at a cult meal. From a representation that shows a slaughtered ram hanging from a tree with a vessel placed underneath to collect the sacrificial blood, one has inferred connections to the cult of Cybele and the ram sacrifice ( criobolium ) practiced there .

literature

• Dumitru Tudor: The cult of the Danube riders. In: Das Altertum 8, Berlin 1962, Issue 4, pp. 234–243
• Dumitru Tudor: Corpus monumentorum religionis equitum danuvinorum (CMRED). Brill, suffering
  • Vol. 1: The monuments. 1969
  • Vol. 2: The analysis and interpretation of the monuments. 1976
• Roland Gschlössl: In the melting pot of religions. Exchange of gods among Celts, Romans and Teutons. von Zabern, Mainz 2006, ISBN 978-3-8053-3655-0 , p. 58f