Damona

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In Gallo-Roman religion, Damona was a goddess worshipped in Gaul as the consort of Apollo Borvo and of Apollo Moritasgus.

History[]

Dedication to Borvo and Damona

Mary Jones interprets Damona's name as "Divine Cow" based on its resemblance to damos or "cow".[1] She has sometimes been linked with the Irish goddess Boand on the basis of this bovine association.

Damona and Bormana have been described as the patron deities of the hot springs at Bourbonne-les-Bains and Saint-Vulbas, respectively.[2][3] Some seventeen inscriptions dedicated to Damona have been recovered, including nine from Bourbonne-les-Bains and four from Bourbon-Lancy, both spa towns in eastern France. In one inscription from Saintes, she has the epithet Matubergini.[4]

Inscriptions and dedications[]

There are several inscriptions relating to Damona,[5] including two inscriptions in Bourbon-Lancy (CIL 13, 02805), discovered in 1792.

C (aius) Iulius Eporedirigis f (ilius) Magnus / pro L (ucio) Iulio Caleno filio / Bormoni and Damonae / vot (um) sol (vit)

and (CIL 13, 02806), where Damona is also included in dedications to Borvo, (CIL 13, 02807) and (CIL 13, 02808):

Borvoni and Damonae / T (itus) Severius Mo / destus [o] mnib (us) / h [o] n [orib (us)] and offi [ciis]


The other large site associated with Damona is Bourbonne-les-Bains, there are nine dedications to the goddess of the waters, including (CIL 13, 05911):

Deo Apol / lini Borvoni / et Damonae / C (aius) Daminius / Ferox civis / Lingonus ex / voto

and (CIL 13, 05914):

Borvoni / and Damon (ae) / Aemilia / Sex (ti) fil (ia) / M [3] S

with (CIL 13, 05921):

Damonae Aug (ustae) / Claudia Mossia and C (aius) Iul (ius) Superstes fil (ius) / l (ocus) d (atus) ex d (ecreto) d (ecurionum) v (otum) s (olverunt) l ( ibentes) m (erito)


Damona also appears in dedications to Chassenay, associated with Albius and Alise-Sainte-Reine. An inscription was found bearing Damona's name in Alesia in 1962, where she was worshipped with Apollo Moritasgus[6][7][8] (CIL 13, 11233):

Aug (usto) sacr (um) / deo Albio and Damonae Sex (tus) Mart (ius) / Cocillus ex iussu eius v (otum) s (olvit) l (ibens) m (erito)

and (CAG-21-01):

Deo Apollini Moritasgo [and] / Damonae P (ublius) Pontius Apolli [naris]


Finally, there is an inscription in Rivières.[9]

   Jullia Malla Malluronis fîl (ia) numinibus Augustorum et deae Damonae Matuherginni (?) Ob memoriam Sulpiciae Silvanae filiae suae de suo posuit

References[]

  1. ^ Mary Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia Archived 2012-07-30 at the Wayback Machine. Cf. also the Proto-Celtic—English lexicon, which glosses damos as "cow".
  2. ^ MacKillop, James (2016). A dictionary of Celtic mythology. Oxford. ISBN 978-0-19-880484-0. OCLC 965737514.
  3. ^ William van Andringa (2002). La religion en Gaule romaine : Piété et politique (Ier-IIIe siècle apr. J.-C.) Editions Errance, Paris. p.165
  4. ^ Nicole Jufer & Thierry Luginbühl (2001). Les dieux gaulois : répertoire des noms de divinités celtiques connus par l'épigraphie, les textes antiques et la toponymie. Editions Errance, Paris. pp.36-7.
  5. ^ Hatt, Jean-Jacques (1983). "Apollon guérisseur en Gaule. Ses origines, son caractère, les divinités qui lui sont associées - Chapitre II". Revue archéologique du Centre de la France. 22 (3): 185–218. doi:10.3406/racf.1983.2383.
  6. ^ Le Gall, Joël. (1980). Alésia : archéologie et histoire (Nouv. éd. rev. et augm ed.). [Paris]: Fayard. ISBN 2-213-00780-2. OCLC 7462836.
  7. ^ Raepsaet-Charlier, Marie-Thérèse (2013). "Alésia et ses dieux:: du culte d'Apollon Moritasgos à l'appartenance civique des Mandubiens à l'époque gallo-romaine". L'Antiquité Classique. 82: 165–194. ISSN 0770-2817.
  8. ^ Beck, Noémie (2009). Goddesses in Celtic Religion: Cult and Mythology: A Comparative Study of Ancient Ireland, Britain and Gaul. Lyon, France.
  9. ^ Héron de Villefosse, Antoine (1918). "Inscription romaine de Rivières (Charente)". Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. 62 (6): 479–484. doi:10.3406/crai.1918.74083.


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