Ataegina

Ataegina. Marble, 210x93x72 cm, by the artist Pedro Roque Hidalgo. Museum of marble from Vila Viçosa (Portugal), 2008.

Ataegina or Ataecina (Spanish; Portuguese: Atégina) was a goddess worshipped by the ancient Iberians, Lusitanians, and Celtiberians of the Iberian Peninsula. She was believed to rule the underworld.

Name and functions[]

The name Ataegina is most commonly derived from a Celtic source: the two roots *atte- and *geno- to mean "Reborn" or from *ad-ak^wī- (Irish adaig) meaning "night".^[1] But her presence in decidedly non-Indo-European Iberian regions suggest that she may have an older, indigenous origin, in which case her name's etymology is more likely Iberian or Tartessian.^[2] Epigraphs from the Badajoz region associate the goddess with the Roman Proserpina or Persephone which would make her a goddess presiding over Spring and seasonality, echoing the "reborn" derivation of the name.^[3]

Ataegina was worshipped in Lusitania and Betica; there were also sanctuaries dedicated to Ataegina in Elvas (Portugal), and Mérida and Cáceres in Spain, along with other places, especially near the Guadiana river. She was one of the goddesses worshipped in Myrtilis (today's Mértola, Portugal), Pax Julia (Beja, Portugal) and especially the city of Turobriga, whose precise location is unknown. A bronze plaque from Malpartida de Cáceres suggests associations with the goat as a sacred animal.^[3]

References and bibliography[]

• Espírito Santo, Moisés. Origens Orientais da Religião Popular Portuguesa. Lisbon: Assírio & Alvim, 1988.
• Michael Jordan, Encyclopedia of Gods, Kyle Cathie Limited, 2002