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Celtic Goddess From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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]
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').[3][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 Trēveri is also generally seen as meaning 'those crossing the river', that is to say the 'ferrymen'.[3]
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 Uzès in southern France.[10]
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]
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]
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