Lusitanian mythology

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Lusitanian mythology is the mythology of the Lusitanians, an Indo-European speaking people of western Iberia, in what was then known as Lusitania. In present times, the territory comprises the central part of Portugal and small parts of Extremadura and Salamanca.

Contents

Lusitanian deities heavily influenced all of the religious practices in western Iberia, including Gallaecia as well. Lusitanian beliefs and practices intermingled with those of Roman deities after Lusitania was conquered. [1] Recently, a Vasconian substrate is starting to be recognized. [2]

Deities

Main pantheon

Through the Gallaecian-Roman inscriptions, a great pantheon of Gallaecian deities begins to emerge, sharing cults with other Celtic or Celticized peoples in the Iberian Peninsula, such as Astur — especially the more Western — or Lusitanian, but also the Gauls and Britons among others. However, because the borders shifted numerous times and Lusitanians and Gallaecians were often referred to as one people, it is relevant to note that some of the so-called Gallaecian or Lusitanian deities had the same names.

Of particular importance and popularity, especially following the Roman conquest, were a number of deities among whom were Endovelicus, Ataegina, Nabia and Trebaruna.

The Fonte do Idolo (Portuguese for Idol's Fountain), in Braga. Fonte do Idolo Braga.jpg
The Fonte do Ídolo (Portuguese for Idol's Fountain), in Braga.

There is hardly any sign of Bandua, Reue, Arentius-Arentia, Quangeius, Munidis, Trebaruna, Laneana and Nabia — all worshipped in the heart of Lusitania — outside the boundary with the Vettones. Bandua, Reue and Nabia were worshiped in the core area of Lusitania (including Northern Extremadura to Beira Baixa and Northern Lusitania) and reaching inland Galicia, the diffusion of these gods throughout the whole of the northern interior area shows a cultural continuity with Central Lusitania.

Other deities

Two regional deities in Western Iberia do not occur in the region: Crouga, worshiped around Viseu, and Aernus, in the Bragança area. The largest number of indigenous deities found in the whole Iberian Peninsula are located in the Lusitanian-Galician regions, and models proposing a fragmented and disorganized pantheon have been discarded, since the number of deities occurring together is similar to those of other Celtic peoples in Europe and ancient civilizations.

Toga, female deity of the known Lusitanian mythology. Her name is in inscriptions found on Vettone and Lusitanian territory [8] [9] but the cult is thought to have Vettone origins. [9]

A sun goddess, Kontebria (Cantabria), was apparently present, her worship later being assimilated into Virgin Mary's Nossa Senhora de Antime figure. [10] [11] [12]

Dii, Lares, Nymphs and Genii were the main types of divinity worshiped, known from the Latin epigraphy, although many names are recorded in the Lusitanian or Celtiberian languages.

See also

Related Research Articles

The Lusitanians were a people living in the far west of the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding roughly to Central Portugal and some areas of modern-day Extremadura and Castilla y Leon, in Spain. After its conquest by the Roman Republic the land was subsequently incorporated as a Roman province named after them (Lusitania).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ataegina</span> Iberian Goddess possibly related to the Underworld

Ataegina was a goddess worshipped by the ancient Iberians, Lusitanians, and Celtiberians of the Iberian Peninsula. She is believed to have ruled the underworld.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nabia</span>

Nabia was a goddess of the Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula, although she also had an extended cult during the Roman occupation of the peninsula.

Runesocesius was a deity whose name appears on an inscription from the region of Évora, the Roman Ebora in modern Portugal in the area inhabited by the Celtici in Lusitania. He has generally been thought of as a Lusitanian god.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tongoenabiagus</span>

Tongoenabiagus was the god of the Fonte do Ídolo, a 1st-century shrine in Braga with an inscribed fountain dedicated both to Tongoenabiagus and the goddess Nabia. His name may derive from the Celtic root *tenge(o)- and so he may have been associated with the swearing of oaths.

Trebaruna, also Treborunnis and possibly *Trebarunu, was a Lusitanian deity, probably a goddess. Trebaruna's cult was located in the cultural area of Gallaecia and Lusitania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lusitanian language</span> Extinct Indo-European language of Iberia

Lusitanian was an Indo-European Paleohispanic language. There has been support for either a connection with the ancient Italic languages or Celtic languages. It is known from only six sizeable inscriptions, dated from c. 1 CE, and numerous names of places (toponyms) and of gods (theonyms). The language was spoken in the territory inhabited by Lusitanian tribes, from the Douro to the Tagus rivers, territory that today falls in central Portugal and western Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gallaeci</span> Historical Celtic tribal complex in Northwest Iberia

The Gallaeci were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, and the Spanish regions of Galicia, western Asturias and western León before and during the Roman period. They spoke a Q-Celtic language related to Northeastern Hispano-Celtic, called Gallaecian or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic. The region was annexed by the Romans in the time of Caesar Augustus during the Cantabrian Wars, a war which initiated the assimilation of the Gallaeci into Latin culture.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castro culture</span> Archaeological culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian peninsula

Castro culture is the archaeological term for the material culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Peninsula together with the Spanish regions of Galicia, Asturias, and western León) from the end of the Bronze Age until it was subsumed by Roman culture. It is the culture associated with the Gallaecians and Astures.

<i>Fountain of the Idol</i>

The Fountain of the Idol is a Roman fountain located in the civil parish of São José de São Lázaro, in the municipality of Braga, northern Portugal. Located in the former territory of the Callaici Bracari, the granite rock fountain/spring has Latin inscriptions, dedicated to the Gallaecian and Lusitanian gods Tongoenabiagus and Nabia.

A triad, in a religious context, refers to a grouping of three gods, usually by importance or similar roles. A triad of gods were usually not considered to be one in the same being, or different aspects of a single deity as in a Trinity or Triple deity.

Bandua was a theonym used to refer to a god or goddess worshipped in Iberia by Gallaeci and Lusitanians. Whether the name referred to a discrete deity or was an epithet applied to different deities is arguable.

Reo is a name appearing on Latin dedications to a Lusitanian-Gallaecian deity, usually with an epithet relating to a place, such as Reo Paramaeco discovered in Lugo in Galicia. The name Reo is in the Latin dative case, for a Latinized name *Reus.

Gallaecian or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Celtic language of the Hispano-Celtic group. It was spoken by the Gallaeci in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula around the start of the 1st millennium. The region became the Roman province of Gallaecia, which is now divided between the Spanish regions of Galicia, western Asturias, the west of the Province of León, and the North Region in Portugal.

Aernus was a theonym used for a god in the Celtiberian pantheon. The use of this theonym was confined to worship in the vicinity of Bragança. Around this area, a number of inscriptions to a god hailed by this name have been recorded. One inscription, found in Castro de Avelãs, Bragança, was dedicated by the ‘ordo Zoelarum,’ and this leads Tranoy and Roux to conclude that this god was probably the protector of the Zoelae. Another inscription was also found in Castro de Avelãs, while yet another was found in Malta in Macedo de Cavaleiros, also in the District of Bragança. While epigraphic evidence for Aernus is scarce, its concentration in a reduced territory in association with homogeneous aspects of material culture indicates to Olivares a homogeneity in the cultural area of the Zoelae. The meaning of the name is still unknown but compare the Proto-Indo-European roots *aper- ‘behind, at the back’ and *āpero- ‘bank’ with the regular phonological developments in Celtic.

Caesarus was a chieftain of the Lusitanians, a proto-Celtic tribe from western Hispania. He followed and later replaced Punicus as their major military leader during the Lusitanian War.

Arentius and Arentia are considered to be a pair of indigenous deities that belong to the Lusitanian pantheon, and attested mainly in epigraphy.

References

Notes
  1. Katia Maia-Bessa and Jean-Pierre Martin (1999)
  2. Encarnação, José d’. 2015. Divindades indígenas sob o domínio romano em Portugal. Second edition. Coimbra: Universidade de Coimbra.
  3. Juan Carlos Olivares Pedreño (2005)
  4. Juan Francisco Masdeu (1688)
  5. P. Le Roux and A. Tranoy (1974)
  6. Lódz, Krzysztof Tomasz Witczak (1999). "On the Indo-European Origin of Two Lusitanian Theonyms (Laebo and Reve)" (66). Emerita: 65–73.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Monteiro Teixeira, Sílvia. 2014. Cultos e cultuantes no Sul do território actualmente português em época romana (sécs. I a. C. – III d. C.). Masters’ dissertation on Archaeology. Lisboa: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Lisboa.
  8. "Chapter 1: Paganism and Christianity in Spain Before the Council of Elvira". libro.uca.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  9. 1 2 "e-Keltoi: Volume 6, Celtic Gods of the Iberian Peninsula, by Juan Carlos Olivares Pedreño". 2008-10-11. Archived from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  10. "UM CULTO SOLAR OU RITUAL DE FECUNDIDADE". Archived from the original on 2011-12-30. Retrieved 2019-01-25.
  11. Enciclopédia das Festas Populares e Religiosas de Portugal. Vol. 1. Lulu.com. p. 64. ISBN   9789892013916.
  12. "TEÓFILO BRAGA. O POVO PORTUGUEZ NOS SEUS COSTUMES, CRENÇAS E TRADIÇÕES II". Lisboa, Livraria Ferreira. 1885.
Sources

Further reading