From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Celtic Goddess
The
Contiomagus
stone from Pachten.
O.D. T.PRIITONAE. DI VINAE SIVE CA... IONI PRO SALVTE VICANORVM CONTI OMAGUS ENSIVMTER TINIUS MODESTVS F.C.V.S.
Ritona
(also known as
Pritona
) is a
Celtic goddess
chiefly venerated in the land of the
Treveri
in what is now
Germany
. Her cult is attested at
Pachten
and at
Trier
, where she "had a carefully built little temple" in the Altbachtal complex.
[1]
Ritona's temple was one of several in the Altbachtal to include
exedrae
and courtyards that may have been used to prepare ritual banquets and/or to place offerings.
[2]
At Pachten her temple also had a theatre, presumably used for performances of a religious nature.
[1]
Name
[
edit
]
The
theonym
Ritona
is generally interpreted as meaning 'that of the ford', stemming from the
Gaulish
root
ritu
- ('
ford
'; cf. Old Irish
Humar-rith
, Welsh
rhyd
'ford').
[4]
This suggests that she was a goddess of fords;
[5]
Jean-Marie Pailler remarks that, "Water crossings required religious precautions that were written into the landscape, toponymy, and ritual: Ritona is thus well at home among the 'crossers' who were the
Treveri
".
[6]
The translation 'that of the course [of the river]' is also possible, by deriving
Ritona
from the homonym root
ritu
-,
rito
- ('course'; cf. Old Irish
riuth
, Welsh
rhed
'course'), although the name
Tr?veri
is also generally seen as meaning 'those crossing the river', that is to say the 'ferrymen'.
The variant
Pritona
is directly attested twice: on the goddess's only inscription at Pachten (
PRITONAE DIVINAE SIVE CA[...]IONI
),
[7]
and in conjunction with ‘Ritona’ on an inscription from Trier (
DEA RITONA PRITONA
).
[8]
Pritona
is also restored in a further, more fragmentary inscription from Trier (
RITO/[NAE] SIVE EX IV[SSV PR]/ITONI[AE?]
).
[9]
A single inscription also honours her at
Uzes
in southern
France
.
[10]
Role
[
edit
]
Lothar Schwinden characterizes Ritona as a mother goddess on the basis of the statue of a seated goddess found at Pachten, which he connects with the well-known local type of seated mother goddesses with dogs or babies on their laps (cf.
Aveta
).
[11]
Stele from
Crain
The Pachten inscription specifies that the goddess was invoked by an individual "for the well-being of the townsfolk of Contiomagium" (
PRO SALVTE / [V]IKANORVM CONTI/OMAGIENSIVM
).
[7]
A votive sculpture from
Crain
, depicting a male figure holding an offering-dish and pouring out liquid from a vessel, is dedicated to
Minerva
and Ritona.
[12]
On two of the inscriptions from Trier, Ritona is invoked in conjunction either with the
numina
of the
Augusti
(see
imperial cult
)
[13]
or in honour of the divine house (the imperial family).
[14]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Edith Mary Wightman (1970).
Roman Trier and the Treveri.
Rupert Hart-Davis, London. p. 217.
- ^
John Scheid
(1995). "Les temples de l'Altbachtal a Treves : un "sanctuaire national"?".
Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz
.
6
. Editions de Boccard: 236.
- ^
The
Celtic
root *
ritu-
is thought to derive from the same Indo-European root *
pr?tu-
that gives Latin
portus
'port' and English 'ford'.
Lenka Do?kalova; Vaclav Bla?ek (2011). "On Indo-European Roads".
The Journal of Indo-European Studies
.
39
(3 & 4): 312.
- ^
Miranda Green (1997).
Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend.
Thames and Hudson Ltd. London.
- ^
Jean-Marie Pailler (2013). "Meres, Fils et confreries a l'ecoute de la Source : temoignages antiques et approche par la toponymie, l'archeologie et l'epigraphie gauloises".
AFEAF
: 321.
Original quote:
Les passages de cours d’eau necessitaient des precautions religieuses inscrites dans le paysage, la toponymie, le rituel : Ritona est ainsi bien a sa place chez les “passeurs” que sont les Trevires.
- ^
a
b
AE
1959, 00076
, retrieved from the
Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby
Archived
2008-04-09 at the
Wayback Machine
on 29 March 2008.
- ^
AE
1928, 00185
, retrieved from the
Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby
Archived
2008-04-09 at the
Wayback Machine
on 29 March 2008.
- ^
AE
1989, 00547
, retrieved from the
Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby
Archived
2008-04-09 at the
Wayback Machine
on 29 March 2008.
- ^
CIL
XII, 02927
, retrieved from the
Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby
Archived
2008-04-09 at the
Wayback Machine
on 29 March 2008.
- ^
Lothar Schwinden. "Muttergottin der Treverer: Ritona". In Sabine Faust et al. (1996)
Religio Romana: Wege zu den Gottern im antiken Trier.
Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier.
- ^
CIL
XIII, 02892
, retrieved 3 May 2016.
- ^
AE
1989, 00547
, retrieved from the
Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby
Archived
2008-04-09 at the
Wayback Machine
on 29 March 2008.
- ^
Finke 00030, retrieved from the
Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby
Archived
2008-04-09 at the
Wayback Machine
on 29 March 2008.
- Bibliography