Nemetona, or 'she of the sacred grove', is 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 Foo ...

goddess with roots in northeastern

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

. She is thought to have been the eponymous deity of the Germano-

people known as the

Nemetes The Nemetes (occasionally ''Nemeti'') were a tribe settled along the Upper Rhine by Ariovistus in the 1st century BC. Their capital, ''Noviomagus Nemeton'' (or ''Civitas Nemetum''), was close to the site of medieval Speyer. Their area of settlem ...

;Beck, pp. 237-238. evidence of her veneration is found in their former territory along the Middle Rhine'' CIL'' 13, 6131. as well in the Altbachtal sanctuary in present-day

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

.Powers Coe, p. 1351.Finke 324. She is also attested in

Bath, England Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

, where an altar to her was dedicated by a man of the Gallic

Treveri The Trēverī (Gaulish: *''Trēueroi'') were a Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, if not earlier, until their displacement by the Franks. Their domain lay within the southern fring ...

people.''

RIB In vertebrate anatomy, ribs ( la, costae) are the long curved bones which form the rib cage, part of the axial skeleton. In most tetrapods, ribs surround the chest, enabling the lungs to expand and thus facilitate breathing by expanding the ches ...

'' 140.

Etymology

Nemetona's name is derived from the Celtic root '' nemeto-'', referring to consecrated religious spaces, particularly sacred groves. She has been considered a guardian goddess of open-air places of worship. The same root is found in the names of the Romano-British goddess

Arnemetia Arnemetia was a goddess in Romano-British religion. Her shrine was at Aquae Arnemetiae ("waters of Arnemetia"), which is now Buxton in Derbyshire, England.Miranda J. Green. ''Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend.'' Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, ...

and the Matres Nemetiales (known from an inscription in Grenoble).

Inscriptions

Surviving inscriptions often associate Nemetona with

Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin at ...

(sometimes given the Celtic name

Loucetius In Gallo-Roman religion, Loucetios (Latinized as Leucetius) was a Gallic god known from the Rhine-Moselle region, where he was identified with the Roman Mars. Scholars have interpreted his name to mean ‘lightning’. Mars Loucetius was worship ...

). She is paired with " Loucetius Mars" in the inscription at Bath, and with "Mars" at

and

Altrip Altrip is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated on the left bank of the Rhine, approx. 7 km southeast of Ludwigshafen. Sister city Altrip has one sister city: * Kutztown, Pennsylvania ...

. Separate inscriptions to Nemetona and to Loucetius have been recovered from the same site in Klein-Winternheim near

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

.''CIL'' 13, 7253 (the inscription to Nemetona on bronze). The Altrip site was further notable for yielding a

terra cotta Terracotta, terra cotta, or terra-cotta (; ; ), in its material sense as an earthenware substrate, is a clay-based unglazed or glazed ceramic where the fired body is porous. In applied art, craft, construction, and architecture, terracotta ...

depiction of the goddess. One inscription from Eisenberg appears to identify Nemetona with

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

:'' AE'' 2007, 1044. :'' n h(onorem) d(omus)d(ivinae) Marti Lou/ etio etVictoriae Neme/ onaeM(arcus) A(urelius) Senillus Seve/ us b(ene)f(iciarius) lgati urnam cum / ortibs et phiala(m) ex / oo posuit l(ibens) l(aetus) m(erito) / rat et Seleuco co(n)s(ulibus) / X Kal(endas) Maias'' :"In honour of the divine house, to Mars Loucetius and Victoria Nemetona, Marcus Aurelius Senillus Severus, a protégé of the

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". O ...

, set up an urn with its lots and serving-dish in free, cheerful, and well-deserved fulfilment of his vow on the tenth day before the Kalends of May in the consulship of Gratus and Seleucus (22 April 221)." Noémie Beck considers the identification of Nemetona with

Nemain In Irish mythology, Neman or Nemain (modern spelling: Neamhan, Neamhain) is the spirit-woman or goddess who personifies the frenzied havoc of war. In the ancient texts where The Morrígan appears as a trio of goddesses — the three sisters wh ...

to be "inaccurate and irrelevant".Beck, p. 251, fn. 1321.

Notes

References

* * H. Finke (1927), "Neue Inschriften", ''Berichte der Römisch-Germanischen Kommission'' 17, 1-107 and 198–231. * * Paula Powers Coe, "Nemetona", p. 1351 ''in''

External links

* Gaulish goddesses Nature goddesses Martian deities {{Celt-myth-stub