Reitia (

Venetic Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language, usually classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po Delta and ...

: 𐌓𐌄:𐌉:𐌕𐌉:𐌀) is 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 ...

, one of the best known

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being who is considered divine or sacred. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. C. Scott Littleton defines a deity as "a being with powers greate ...

of the Adriatic Veneti of northeastern

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. While her place in the Venetic pantheon cannot be known for certain, the importance of her

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

to Venetic society is well attested in archaeological finds. A large body of votive offerings on pottery and metal objects has been found at a Venetic shrine in Baratella, near Este. In Venetic, she is given the epithets ''Śahnate'', the Healer, and ''Pora'', the good and kind. She was also a deity of

writing Writing is a medium of human communication which involves the representation of a language through a system of physically Epigraphy, inscribed, Printing press, mechanically transferred, or Word processor, digitally represented Symbols (semiot ...

; Marcel Detienne interprets the name Reitia as "the one who writes" (compare Proto-Germanic *wreitan- 'to write'). Inscriptions dedicating offerings to Reitia are one of our chief sources of knowledge of the

Venetic language Venetic is an extinct Indo-European language, usually classified into the Italic subgroup, that was spoken by the Veneti people in ancient times in northeast Italy (Veneto and Friuli) and part of modern Slovenia, between the Po Delta and ...

.Cambridge Ebooks, The Ancient Languages of Europe
The Romans

identified ''Identified'' is the second studio album by Vanessa Hudgens, released on July 1, 2008 in the U.S. June 24, 2008 in Japan, February 13, 2009 in most European countries and February 16, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The album re ...

her with

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

Other instances of the name

Reitia Chasma, a

geological feature Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ea ...

on the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

, is named after Reitia.

References

Bibliography

*Sarah De Nardi,
Landscapes of the Prehistoric Veneto, Italy. A Plurality of Local Identities Reflected in Cult and Landscape Perception
,

Papers from the Institute of Archaeology UCL's Institute of Archaeology is an academic department of the Social & Historical Sciences Faculty of University College London (UCL) which it joined in 1986 having previously been a school of the University of London. It is currently one o ...

, 2009 *

Rex E. Wallace Rex E. Wallace (born September 13, 1952) is an American linguist and classical scholar specializing in Etruscan language, languages of ancient Italy, epigraphy, historical linguistics. He served as Professor of Classics at University of Massachus ...

, "Venetic", in Roger D. Woodard, ed., ''The ancient languages of Europe'' (Cambridge, 2008; ), p
124
*Joachim Meffert,
Die paläovenetische Votivkeramik aus dem Reitia-Heiligtum von Este-Baratella
', 1998 *Marcel Detienne, ''The writing of Orpheus: Greek myth in cultural context'' (Johns Hopkins, 2002; ), p
126
*Adolphus Zavaroni

from Este, 2001 *Harald Meller, Die Fibeln aus dem Reitia-Heiligtum von Este (Ausgrabungen 1880-1916) / Le Fibule del Santuario di Reitia a Este (Scavi 1880-1916) (Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag, 2012; ) *Sonja Ickler, Die Ausgrabungen im Reitia-Heiligtum von Este 1987-1991 / Gli Scavi 1987-1991 (Nünnerich-Asmus Verlag, 2013; ) {{Authority control Health goddesses Knowledge goddesses Italic goddesses Votive offering Adriatic Veneti Este culture