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 Foot ...

goddess with roots in northeastern

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

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

people known as the

Nemetes The Nemetes or Nemeti were a tribe settled along the Upper Rhine by Ariovistus in the 1st century BC. Their area of settlement was the contact zone between Celtic (Gaulish) and Germanic peoples. According to Tacitus, the Nemetes were "unquest ...

;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 ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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

Bath, England Bath ( RP: , ) is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,092. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, west of London and southeast of Bristol. The city becam ...

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

Treveri The Treveri (Gaulish language, Gaulish: *''Treweroi'') were a Germanic peoples, Germanic or Celts, Celtic tribe of the Belgae group who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle (river), Moselle in modern day Germany from around 150 BCE, if not ea ...

people.''

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

'' 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 is a goddess in Romano-British religion. Her shrine is 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, 199 ...

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. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...

(sometimes given the Celtic name Loucetius). 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. The population in 2022 was 7,728. Sister city Altrip has one sister ci ...

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

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

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

terra cotta Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based Vitrification#Ceramics, non-vitreous ceramicOED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used ...

depiction of the goddess. One inscription from Eisenberg appears to identify Nemetona with Victoria:'' 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 Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include '' Neotoma'' (pack rats), '' Bandicota'' (bandicoo ...

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 (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, 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 Seleucus or Seleukos (Ancient Greek: Σέλευκος) was a Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedonian Greek name, possibly meaning "very bright" or “very white”. It is likely related to the ancient name Zaleucus (Ancient Greek language, Ancient ...

(22 April 221)." Noémie Beck considers the identification of Nemetona with

Nemain In Irish mythology, Neman or Nemain (Modern Irish: 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 who ...

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

* {{Celtic mythology (ancient) Gaulish goddesses Nature goddesses Martian deities