Nemetona

Nemetona ("the one belonging to the sanctuary") was a Celtic goddess who was especially worshiped by the Treverians and Vangionen . Her partner was Loucetius .

Surname

The Gallic name Nemetona is derived from nemeton (" holy grove ") (compare: old Irish nemed ) a word that also occurs in place names, for example in Nemetacum (today: Arras ), Nemetodurum (today: Nanterre ), Nemeden or Drynemeton (" Holy Oak Grove ”), which was the meeting place of the Galatians in Asia Minor .

The Névet forest near Locronan in Brittany was a sacred place of the Druids , which was later Christianized and dedicated to Saint Ronan , an Irish traveling bishop and hermit in Brittany. The word 'Névet' is the Frenchization of the Breton neved (plural nevedoù , Cymrian nyfed ) 'holy place', which itself goes back to the Celtic nemeton .

Adoration

Together with Loucetius, Nemetona had a temple in Klein-Winternheim near Mainz ( Mogontiacum ) in the area of ​​the Aresaks , a part of the Treveri tribe and a second temple of the pair of gods was in Trier , the main town of the Treveri. Holy inscriptions on Nemetona also come from other places in the region, such as Altrip ( Alta Ripa ). An inscription from Bath ( Aquae Sulis ) in England was donated by a Treverer.

Nemetona is also seen as the tribal deity of the Nemeter , a possibly Germanic tribe (with a Celtic name!), Who lived in the area around Speyer . She is equated with the Roman goddess of victory Victoria , her partner Loucetius with the Roman god of war Mars .

See also

• List of Celtic gods and legendary figures
• Celtic religion
• Celtic mythology

literature

• 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. 652.
• Bernhard Maier : Lexicon of Celtic Religion and Culture (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 466). Kröner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-520-46601-5 , p. 249.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ CIL XIII, 7253 : A (ulus) Didius Gallus / [F] abricius Veiento co (n) s (ul) / III XVir sacris faciend (is) / sodalis Augustal (is) sod (alis) Flavial (is) / sod (alis) <T = I> i <t = I> ialis et Attica eius / Nemeton (ae) v (otum) s (olvit) l (ibens) m (erito)
2. ↑ Finke 324
3. ↑ CIL XIII, 6131 : Marti et Nemeto / nae / Silvini Iustus / et Dubitatus / v (otum) s (olverunt) l (ibentes) l (aeti) p (osuerunt)
4. ↑ CIL VII, 36 : Peregrinus / Secundi fil (ius) / civis Trever / Loucetio (!) / Marti et / Nemetona / v (otum) s (olvit) l (ibens) m (erito)