Matronenstein by Vilvenich
The Matronenstein von Vilvenich is a Gallo-Roman consecration altar that was built into the wall of the Romanesque St. Helena Chapel in the small village of Vilvenich in the Düren district ( North Rhine-Westphalia ).
history
The Chapel of St. Helena was probably donated in the 10th century by a farm owner whose property was on the site of a pre-Christian cult site. During the construction of the chapel, several remains of the old sanctuary were apparently used, including several votive stones for the matrons : "Both inside and outside, your masonry contains Roman votive stones that served to worship the divine mothers" (Gerhards).
The surviving matron stone was walled in with the back facing outwards and there apparently damaged by shrapnel impacts in times of war. After it became known that the chapel would fall victim to open-cast lignite mining , the Matronenstein was secretly broken out of the wall by strangers in July 1995 and deposited on a bale of straw. Then the Rheinisches Amt für Bodendenkmalpflege was informed, in whose branch office in Nideggen - Wollersheim the stone was then stored. The chapel was demolished in June 2010.
description
The matron stone, carved from sandstone , is 100 cm high, 50 wide and 40 deep, it has an altar cornice on its upper edge. Trees can be seen on the side walls of the stone; the obverse bears the dedicatory inscription of an otherwise unknown Sulpicius Sabinus. The letters are 5 to 6.5 cm high. While the word [M] atroni [s] can be clearly recognized, the readings [Al] mavann [i] nehis or [Ha] mavann [i] nehis are conceivable for its epithet . The word “Almavanninehis” would allow a connection with the word alma for elm and could be related to a tree cult. "Hamavanninehis" could refer to the people of the chamavi relate.
If the second reading is correct, a parallel to another Matronenstein that was found in Inden-Altdorf and was dedicated to Matronis Hamavehis could be seen. The founder was a Gaius Iulius Primus Tecilius Quartus. This matron stone bears the usual relief with the three matrons. It is now in the City History Museum in Jülich . It is assumed that the Vilvenich Matronenstein comes from the same place of worship as the Altdorfer.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jakob Gerhards: On the matron worship in the Düren district . In: Cologne yearbook for prehistory and early history . tape 14 , 1974, p. 101-110 .
- ^ A b Sophie Lange: Matronenstein of the Vilvenich / Düren chapel. In: sophie-lange.de. June 23, 2010, accessed August 30, 2013 .
- ↑ Thomas Franke: A matron shrine in Inden - Pier, Düren district . In: Bonner Jahrbücher . tape 199 , 1999, pp. 117-140 (on Vilvenich: pp. 135-136) .
- ^ AE 2001, 1436 (Clauss / Slaby epigraphic database).
- ↑ CIL 13, 7864 (Clauss / Slaby epigraphic database).