Cel was the Etruscan goddess of the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surface ...

. On the Etruscan calendar, the month of ''Celi'' (September) is likely named for her. Her Greek counterpart is

Gaia In Greek mythology, Gaia (; from Ancient Greek , a poetical form of , 'land' or 'earth'),, , . also spelled Gaea , is the personification of the Earth and one of the Greek primordial deities. Gaia is the ancestral mother—sometimes parth ...

and her

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

is Tellus. In

Etruscan mythology Etruscan religion comprises a set of stories, beliefs, and religious practices of the Etruscan civilization, heavily influenced by the mythology of ancient Greece, and sharing similarities with concurrent Roman mythology and religion. As the Et ...

, Cel was the mother of the

Giants A giant is a being of human appearance, sometimes of prodigious size and strength, common in folklore. Giant(s) or The Giant(s) may also refer to: Mythology and religion *Giants (Greek mythology) *Jötunn, a Germanic term often translated as 'gi ...

. A bronze mirror from the 5th century BC depicts a theomachy in which Celsclan, "son of Cel," is a Giant attacked by

Laran In Etruscan mythology and religion, Laran (or Larun) is the god of war. In art, he was portrayed as a naked youth wearing a helmet, a cuirass and carrying a spear, shield, or lance. Laran also appears to be an underworld god. Among his attri ...

, the god of war. In Greek, "giant" comes from a word meaning "born from Gaia". Another mirror depicts

anguiped The Anguiped (Latin: ''angui'', 'snake'; ''ped-'', 'foot') is a kind of divinity that is often found on magical amulets from the Greco-Roman period, and is characterized by having serpents for legs. Abraxas, the most common kind of Anguiped, i ...

Giants in the company of a goddess, possibly Cel, whose lower body is formed of

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plant species and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic character ...

. In a sanctuary near

Lake Trasimeno Lake Trasimeno ( , also ; it, Lago Trasimeno ; la, Trasumennus; ett, Tarśmina), also referred to as Trasimene ( ) or Thrasimene in English, is a lake in the province of Perugia, in the Umbria region of Italy on the border with Tuscany. T ...

were found five

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 ...

bronze statuettes, some male and some female, dedicated to her as ''Cel Ati'', "Mother Cel". The inscription on each reads "I elong to, have been givento Cel the mother, here n this sanctuary"Giuliano Bonfante and

Larissa Bonfante Larissa Bonfante (March 27, 1931, Naples, Italy – August 23, 2019, New York City, New York) was an Italian-American classicist, Professor of Classics ''emerita'' at New York University and an authority on Etruscan language and culture. Biograp ...

, ''The Etruscan Language: An Introduction'' (New York University Press, 2002, revised edition), p. 166. Cel appears on the

Liver of Piacenza The Liver of Piacenza is an Etruscan artifact found in a field on September 26, 1877, near Gossolengo, in the province of Piacenza, Italy, now kept in the Municipal Museum of Piacenza, in the Palazzo Farnese. It is a life-sized bronze model of ...

, a bronze model of a liver marked for the Etruscan practice of

haruspicy In the religion of ancient Rome, a haruspex (plural haruspices; also called aruspex) was a person trained to practise a form of divination called haruspicy (''haruspicina''), the inspection of the entrails ('' exta''—hence also extispicy ...

. She is placed in House 13.

References

{{Authority control Etruscan goddesses Earth goddesses