Ataegina ( es, Ataecina; pt, Atégina) was a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

worshipped by the ancient

Iberians The Iberians ( la, Hibērī, from el, Ἴβηρες, ''Iberes'') were an ancient people settled in the eastern and southern coasts of the Iberian peninsula, at least from the 6th century BC. They are described in Greek and Roman sources (among ...

, Lusitanians, and Celtiberians of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

. She is believed to have ruled the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

Names

The deity's name is variously attested as ''Ataegina'', ''Ataecina'', ''Adaecina'' and ''Adaegina'', among other spellings. Her name appears in conjunction to a place named ''Turibriga'' or ''Turobriga'' (see below).

Etymology

Celtic hypothesis

The name ''Ataegina'' is most commonly derived from a

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

source: according to Cristina Maria Grilo Lopes and Juan Olivares Pedreño, French scholar D'Arbois de Jubainville and Portuguese scholar

José Leite de Vasconcelos José Leite de Vasconcelos Cardoso Pereira de Melo (7 July 1858 – 17 May 1941) was a Portuguese ethnographer, archaeologist and prolific author who wrote extensively on Portuguese philology and prehistory. He was the founder and the first direc ...

interpreted her name as a compound ''atae'' 'repetition' and ''gina'', from ''*-genos'' '(to be) born'. Thus, her name would mean 'The Reborn One' ("renascida", in the original). Others propose a connection to the domain of nocturnal or underworld deities: tentatively saw a connection with Irish ''adaig'' 'night', which may indicate a relation to the underworld. Similarly, in a 1998 article, Eugenio Luján, based on the epigraphic evidence available until then, supposed that ''Adaecina'' is the original spelling of her name, and related it to Irish ''adaig'', and both deriving from a

Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed through the compar ...

''*adakī''. This form would account for both words, but Luján refrained from offering a definitive etymology. Italian linguist Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel argues for a Celtic etymology, from ''*atakī'' ('night'), from an earlier ''*at-ak-ī'' ('interval'). Thus, de Bernardo proposes, her name means "the one of the night". In a later article, she describes Ataecina as "the goddess of the nighttime", and derives her name from *''Atakī-nā'' 'the divine (night)time'.

Other hypotheses

That said, her presence in decidedly non-Indo-European Iberian regions suggest that she may have an older, indigenous origin, in which case her name's etymology is more likely Iberian or Tartessian. In his late 19th century study, José Leite de Vasconcelos, while proposing a Celtic reading of her name, also supposed her origins as a Celticized indigenous deity. Spanish historian supported the idea of Ataegina's indigenous character, while remarking that a Celtic interpretation of her name as 'reborn' is "inviable", and that her connection to Irish 'night' is "difficult".

Centers of worship

Ataegina was worshipped in

Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province located where modern Portugal (south of the Douro river) and a portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and the province of Salamanca) lie. It was named after the Lusitani or Lusita ...

and

Betica Hispania Baetica, often abbreviated Baetica, was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). Baetica was bordered to the west by Lusitania, and to the northeast by Hispania Tarraconensis. Baetica remained one of the basic ...

; there were also sanctuaries dedicated to Ataegina in

Elvas Elvas () is a Portuguese municipality, former episcopal city and frontier fortress of easternmost central Portugal, located in the district of Portalegre in Alentejo. It is situated about east of Lisbon, and about west of the Spanish fortress ...

(

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

), and Mérida and Cáceres in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, along with other places, especially near the Guadiana river. She was one of the goddesses worshipped in ''Myrtilis'' (today's Mértola,

), ''

Pax Julia ''Pax Iulia'' (also known as ''Colonia Civitas Pacensis'') was a city in the Roman province of Lusitania (today situated in the Portuguese municipality of Beja). History The region was inhabited during 400 BC by Celtic tribes, but there are indic ...

'' ( Beja, Portugal). A bronze plaque from Malpartida de Cáceres suggests associations with the

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

as a sacred animal.

Turibriga or Turobriga

Her name appears with adjective ''Turobrigensis'', which seems to indicate a place called ''Turibriga'' or ''Turobriga''. Similar epigraphic attestations read ''Turibrige'', '' rubricae'' and ''Turibri'', which led professor Amílcar Guerra to indicate a form ''*Turibris''. This place is interpreted by scholarship to mean the main center of her cult, but its precise location is unknown. Classical author Pliny indicated it belonged to Celtic Beturia.

Functions

Epigraphs from the

Badajoz Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...

region associate the goddess with the Roman Proserpina (analogous to Greek

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

), which would make her a goddess presiding over

spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season), a season of the year * Spring (device), a mechanical device that stores energy * Spring (hydrology), a natural source of water * Spring (mathematics), a geometric surface in the shape of a ...

and seasonality, echoing the "reborn" derivation of the name,Juan Manuel Abascal, ''Las inscripciones latinas de Santa Lucía del Trampal (Alcuéscar, Cáceres) y el culto de Ataecina en Hispania,'' Archivo Español de Arqueología 68: 31-105 (1995) or connect her to the Underworld. In that regard, a dedication etched in marble was found in Augusta Emérita: the propitiator prays to ''Dea Ataecina Turibrig(ensis) Proserpina'' for her to avenge the theft of some pieces of clothing.Tomlin, Roger. "Cursing A Thief In Iberia And Britain". In: ''Magical Practice in the Latin West''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2013. pp. 247-249. doi: https://doi-org.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/10.1163/ej.9789004179042.i-676.55

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* Frías, Manuel Salinas de; Cortés, Juana Rodríguez. "Corrientes religiosas y vías de comunicación en Lusitania durante el Imperio Romano". In: ''V Mesa Redonda Internacional sobre Lusitania Romana: las comunicaciones. Cáceres, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, 7, 8 y 9 de noviembre de 2002''. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, Secretaría General Técnica, Subdirección General de Información y Publicaciones, 2004. pp. 286-292. * . * . * . * Olivares Pedreño, Juan Carlos.
Los dioses de la hispania céltica
'. Universitat d´Alacant / Universidad de Alicante, Servicio de Publicaciones: Real Academia de la Historia. 2002. pp. 247-249. . * Vasconcellos, José Leite de.
Religiões da Lusitania na parte que principalmente se refere a Portugal
'. Lisboa: Imprensa nacional, 1897. pp. 146-173.