Editing Damona

{{Short description|Gaulish goddess}}
In [[Gallo-Roman religion]], '''Damona''' was a [[goddess]] worshipped in [[Gaul]] as the consort of [[Apollo]] [[Borvo]] and of [[Apollo]] [[Moritasgus]]. 

== Name ==
{{wiktionary|Damona}}
The theonym ''Damona'' is a derivative of the [[Proto-Celtic]] stem ''*damo-'', meaning 'bull' or 'deer' (cf. Old Irish ''dam'' 'bull, deer'; also *''damato''- > Middle Welsh ''dafad'' 'sheep', Old Cornish ''dauat'' 'ewe'), itself from [[Proto-Indo-European]] *''dmh<sub>2</sub>o''- ('the tamed one'). The Latin noun ''damma'', which is the source of French ''daim'' ('roe'), is probably a loanword from [[Gaulish]]. The root ''*dmh<sub>2</sub>-'' is also presumably reflected in the British tribal name ''[[Demetae]]'', interpreted as meaning 'Tamers'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=135}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2009|p=89}}

== Cult ==
[[File:Dédicace Apolo borvo et damona Bourbonne 13497.jpg|thumb|Dedication to Borvo and Damona]]
Damona and [[Bormana]] have been described as the [[patron deities]] of the hot springs at Bourbonne-les-Bains and Saint-Vulbas, respectively.<ref>{{Cite book|last=MacKillop|first=James|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/965737514|title=A dictionary of Celtic mythology|date=2016|isbn=978-0-19-880484-0|location=Oxford|oclc=965737514}}</ref><ref>William van Andringa (2002). ''La religion en Gaule romaine : Piété et politique (I<sup>er</sup>-III<sup>e</sup> siècle apr. J.-C.)'' Editions Errance, Paris. p.165</ref> 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, Charente-Maritime|Saintes]], she has the epithet ''Matubergini''.<ref>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.</ref>
== Inscriptions and dedications ==
There are several inscriptions relating to Damona,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Hatt|first=Jean-Jacques|date=1983|title=Apollon guérisseur en Gaule. Ses origines, son caractère, les divinités qui lui sont associées - Chapitre II|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/racf_0220-6617_1983_num_22_3_2383|journal=Revue archéologique du Centre de la France|volume=22|issue=3|pages=185–218|doi=10.3406/racf.1983.2383}}</ref> 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 (city)|Alesia]] in 1962, where she was worshipped with Apollo Moritasgus<ref>{{Cite book|last=Le Gall|first=Joël.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/7462836|title=Alésia : archéologie et histoire|date=1980|publisher=Fayard|isbn=2-213-00780-2|edition=Nouv. éd. rev. et augm|location=[Paris]|oclc=7462836}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Raepsaet-Charlier|first=Marie-Thérèse|date=2013|title=Alésia et ses dieux:: du culte d'Apollon Moritasgos à l'appartenance civique des Mandubiens à l'époque gallo-romaine|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/90004373|journal=L'Antiquité Classique|volume=82|pages=165–194|doi=10.3406/antiq.2013.3831 |jstor=90004373 |issn=0770-2817}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Beck|first=Noémie|url=https://theses.univ-lyon2.fr/documents/lyon2/2009/beck_n#q=damona&o=0&a=search|title=Goddesses in Celtic Religion: Cult and Mythology: A Comparative Study of Ancient Ireland, Britain and Gaul|year=2009|location=Lyon, France}}</ref> (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, Charente|Rivières]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Héron de Villefosse|first=Antoine|date=1918|title=Inscription romaine de Rivières (Charente)|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_1918_num_62_6_74083|journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres|volume=62|issue=6|pages=479–484|doi=10.3406/crai.1918.74083}}</ref>

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

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{Cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental|year=2003|publisher=Errance|isbn=9782877723695|author-link=Xavier Delamarre}}
*{{Cite book|last=Matasović|first=Ranko|title=Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic|year=2009|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004173361|author-link=Ranko Matasović}}

{{Celtic mythology (ancient)}}

[[Category:Animal goddesses]]
[[Category:Gaulish goddesses]]
[[Category:Health goddesses]]
[[Category:Water goddesses]]

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