More than two hundred votive inscriptions, altars, and fragments dating from ca. 188 to 227 and dedicated to an otherwise unknown goddess Nehalennia emerged on the coast and near the islands of the Low Countries in 1647 (after a great sea flood) and in 1970-1971 (during some maritime operations). The relics seem to be traceable back to an ancient Roman port network of the great Rhine-Meuse-Schelde delta, in the Roman Germania inferior, an area of strong cultural contamination (Celts and others). Usually surrounded by boats, rudders, or oars, and young in appearance, the deity wears a long Roman tunic with an unknown local shrug. Cornucopias or fruit, loaves, bags, or others sometimes appear in her hand or at her feet, and she is often invoked in the context of trade by sea, as frequently witnessed by the indication of ex-votos and the standing of most of the dedicatees. Absent from classical literary sources, Nehalennia poses several problems of interpretation even from a linguistic perspective, which engender, as is often the case with Celto-Germanic female deities, emotional overtones, unless one considers some quickly dismissed clues provided by Roman geography.
Dea Nehalennia. Topicum numen?
Battaglia, M.
2023-01-01
Abstract
More than two hundred votive inscriptions, altars, and fragments dating from ca. 188 to 227 and dedicated to an otherwise unknown goddess Nehalennia emerged on the coast and near the islands of the Low Countries in 1647 (after a great sea flood) and in 1970-1971 (during some maritime operations). The relics seem to be traceable back to an ancient Roman port network of the great Rhine-Meuse-Schelde delta, in the Roman Germania inferior, an area of strong cultural contamination (Celts and others). Usually surrounded by boats, rudders, or oars, and young in appearance, the deity wears a long Roman tunic with an unknown local shrug. Cornucopias or fruit, loaves, bags, or others sometimes appear in her hand or at her feet, and she is often invoked in the context of trade by sea, as frequently witnessed by the indication of ex-votos and the standing of most of the dedicatees. Absent from classical literary sources, Nehalennia poses several problems of interpretation even from a linguistic perspective, which engender, as is often the case with Celto-Germanic female deities, emotional overtones, unless one considers some quickly dismissed clues provided by Roman geography.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.