Juno Covella
Iuno Covella (also Iuno Kalendaris ) was a Roman goddess of the moon .
In her character as the "goddess of birth" she was responsible for the proclamation of calendar days in the Roman calendar . The name Kalendae is derived from the associated ritual of invocation ("kalo") .
etymology
The etymology for the additional name "Covella" is not clear. The frequently used combination of “Covella” and “kalo” for “exclamation” can no longer be maintained according to recent results; neither is the derivation of “cavus”. The attempt to identify “luna cava” in the sense of “hollow moon ” with the term “ crescent moon ” fails because of the technical use of Pliny for the waning moon.
Additional equations with “caula” as “goddess of the entrance” are based on the erroneous assumption that no celestial cult was practiced. Further interpretations with recourse to “covere”, which are suspected in the derivation of “convendla” for “to watch out”, are also on an uncertain basis.
Roman calendar
The traditional invocation of "Iuno Covella" goes back to the beginnings of the Roman Republic , as the associated ritual only makes logical sense in the context of a lunar calendar . On the calendar, shortly after the new moon , observations were made by a royal scribe in association with some patricians in order to estimate the days of difference until the next day of proclamation. With one of the highest priests called , the Rex sacrorum , the walk took place to the small sanctuary Curia Calabra , which stood on the Capitol near the historical accommodation of the legendary city founder Romulus .
After a sacrifice was made by the royal scribe and the Rex sacrorum, the repeated invocation to the goddess followed, whereby the number of sentences “I call you, Iuno Covella” coincided with the days of difference to the respective event. At the same time, the wife of Rex sacrorum sacrificed a female sheep or pig in the regia of the goddess Iuno . On the day called, parts of the population of Rome appeared to hear the public holidays in the Roman calendar for the respective month .
literature
- Jörg Rüpke : Time and Festival. A cultural history of the calendar. Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54218-2 , p. 19.
- Jörg Rüpke: Calendar and Public. The history of the representation and religious qualification of time in Rome (= Religious- historical experiments and preparatory work. Vol. 40). de Gruyter, Berlin et al. 1995, ISBN 3-11-014514-6 , pp. 200 and 211, (at the same time: Tübingen, Universität, habilitation paper, 1994).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Ekkehart Syska: Studies on theology in the first book of Saturnalia by Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius (= contributions to antiquity . Vol. 44). Teubner, Stuttgart 1993, ISBN 3-519-07493-1 , p. 226, (At the same time: Cologne, University, Dissertation, 1990), ( Google book search ).
- ↑ Pliny Naturalis historia 8.215.