Reitia (

Venetic Venetic ( ) is an extinct Indo-European language, most commonly 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 ...

: 𐌓𐌄:𐌉:𐌕𐌉:𐌀) was a

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

, one of the best known

deities A deity or god is a supernatural being considered to be sacred and worthy of worship due to having authority over some aspect of the universe and/or life. The ''Oxford Dictionary of English'' defines ''deity'' as a God (male deity), god or god ...

of the

Adriatic Veneti The Veneti (sometimes also referred to as Venetici, Ancient Veneti or Paleoveneti to distinguish them from the modern-day inhabitants of the Veneto region, called ''Veneti'' in Italian language, Italian) were an Proto-Indo-Europeans, Indo-Europea ...

of northeastern

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

to Venetic society is well attested in archaeological finds. A large body of

votive A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

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 a deity of

writing Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

; 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, most commonly 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 ...

.Cambridge Ebooks, The Ancient Languages of Europe
The Romans identified her with Diana and under her

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

name

Artemis In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Artemis (; ) is the goddess of the hunting, hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, transitions, nature, vegetation, childbirth, Kourotrophos, care of children, and chastity. In later tim ...

. Roman-era inscriptions from

Northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

and the Alpine region show Diana and the Greek Artemis taking Reitia's place as healer, a function only observed in that area, as in an incomplete inscription on a roll-up silver sheet found in Austria, dated to the 2nd century A.D., which reads:

For
migraine Migraine (, ) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache, most often unilateral and generally associated with nausea, and light and sound sensitivity. Other characterizing symptoms may includ ...
s. Antaura came out of the ocean; she cried like a deer; she moaned like a cow. Artemis Ephesia met her: "Antaura, where are you bringing the headache? Not to the . . ."

On the other hand,

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

tells how the people of Northern Italy worshipped Artemis above all other gods, hinting at her

syncretism Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various school of thought, schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or religious assimilation, assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the ...

to the local Raetia.

Other instances of the name

Reitia Chasma, a geological feature on the planet

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, is named after Reitia.

References

Bibliography

* Rex E. Wallace, "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; ) *R. Kotansky, ‘Incantations and prayers for salvation on inscribed Greek amulets’, in C.A. Faraone and D. Obbink (eds), Magika Hiera (New York 1991), pp. 112–13. *M. MacLeod and B. Mees, 'runic amulets and magic objects', pp.16-17 {{Authority control Health goddesses Knowledge goddesses Italic goddesses Votive offering Adriatic Veneti Este culture