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In Gallo-Roman religion
Gallo-Roman religion is a fusion of the traditional religious practices of the Gauls, who were originally Celtic speakers, and the Roman and Hellenistic religions introduced to the region under Roman Imperial rule. It was the result of selective ...
, Ancamna was a goddess worshipped particularly in the valley of the river Moselle
The Moselle ( , ; german: Mosel ; lb, Musel ) is a river that rises in the Vosges mountains and flows through north-eastern France and Luxembourg to western Germany. It is a bank (geography), left bank tributary of the Rhine, which it jo ...
. She was commemorated at Trier and Ripsdorf as the consort of Lenus Mars, and at Möhn as the consort of Mars Smertulitanus.Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl. 2001. ''Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie.'' Editions Errance, Paris. pp.14, 21. At Trier, altars were set up in honour of Lenus Mars, Ancamna and the '' genii'' of various '' pagi'' of the Treveri, giving the impression of Lenus Mars and Ancamna as tribal protectors honoured in an officially organized cult.Two such surviving inscriptions were published in Finke (1927) "Neue Inschriften," ''Bericht der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission'' 17: inscriptions 12 and 13. Among the few statuettes left as votive offerings at the sanctuary of Mars Smertulitanus and Ancamna at Möhn is one of a ''genius cucullatus
The Hooded Spirits or ''Genii Cucullati'' are figures found in religious sculpture across the Romano-Celtic region from Britain to Pannonia, depicted as "cloaked scurrying figures carved in an almost abstract manner". They are found with a parti ...
'' like those offered to the Xulsigiae at the Lenus Mars temple complex in Trier.
Inciona is also apparently invoked along with Lenus Mars Veraudunus on a bronze ''ex voto'' from Luxembourg;Musée d'histoire et d'art, Luxembourg. 1974. ''Pierres sculptées et inscriptions de l'époque romaine'', catalogued by Eugénie Wilhelm, p.71. it is unclear what connection, if any, exists between Inciona and Ancamna. Jufer and Luginbühl link Ancamna with two other consorts of the Gaulish Mars, Litavis and Nemetona, noting that none of these appear to be warrior goddesses themselves; instead, they suggest that Ancamna might have been associated with a spring. Edith Wightman considers the couple Mars Loucetius and Nemetona to be "closely similar to if not identical with, Lenus and Ancamna".
Works cited
Further reading
* Ellis, Peter Berresford (1994). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology'' (Oxford Paperback Reference), Oxford University Press, Oxford. * MacKillop, James (1998). ''Dictionary of Celtic Mythology''. Oxford University Press, Oxford. . * * Wood, Juliette (2002). ''The Celts: Life, Myth, and Art.'' Thorsons Publishers.External links
* {{Celtic mythology (ancient) Gaulish goddesses Sea and river goddesses Treveri