Moritasgus
Moritasgus is a Celtic epithet for a healing god found in four inscriptions at Alesia.[1] In two inscriptions, he is identified with the Greco-Roman god Apollo.[2] His consort was the goddess Damona.
Etymology
[edit]The name Moritasgus, shared by a 1st-century BC ruler of the Senones,[3] has been analyzed variously. The particle -tasgus has been derived by scholars from a Proto-Celtic stem *tazgo-,[4][5] *tasgos or *tasko- 'badger'.[6][7][8][9] Xavier Delamarre proposed that the complete name means "Sea Badger", from Gaulish mori 'sea' + tasgos (also tascos or taxos), 'badger'.[10] The European badger produced a secretion used in Gaulish medicaments, hence a possible connection with a healing god.[11]
Alesia was an oppidum of the Celtic Mandubii in present-day Burgundy. A dedication to the gods alludes to the presence of a shrine at the curative spring, where sick pilgrims could bathe in a sacred pool. The sanctuary itself, located near the eastern gate of the town just outside the city wall,[12] was impressive, with baths and a temple. In addition, there were porticoes, where the sick possibly slept, hoping for divine visions and cures.
Numerous votive objects[13] were dedicated to Moritasgus. These were models of the pilgrims and the afflicted parts of their bodies: these included limbs, internal organs, genitals, breasts, and eyes. Surgeons' tools have also been found, suggesting that the priests[14] also acted as surgeons.
Selected bibliography
[edit]- Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Miranda Green. Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997.
References
[edit]- ^ Jacky Bénard et al., Les agglomérations antiques de Côte-d'Or (Annales Littéraires de l'Université de Besançon, 1994), p. 251 online.
- ^ CIL 13.11240 and 11241; Bernhard Maier, Dictionary of Celtic Religion and Culture (Alfred Kröner, 1994, 1997, translation Boydell & Brewer 1997), p. 198 online.
- ^ Julius Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico 5.54.
- ^ Mac an Bhaird, Alan (1980). "Varia II. Tadhg Mac Céin and the Badgers". Ériu. 31: 150–55 [154]. JSTOR 30008220. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
- ^ Grzega, Joachim (2001). Romania Gallica Cisalpina: Etymologisch-geolinguistische Studien zu den oberitalienisch-rätoromanischen Keltizismen (in German). Berlin, New York: Max Niemeyer Verlag. p. 240 (entry "*tazgo-"). doi:10.1515/9783110944402.
- ^ Lambert, Pierre-Yves (1994). La langue gauloise: description linguistique, commentaire d'inscriptions choisies (in French). Editions Errance. p. 199. ISBN 9782877720892.
- ^ Katz, Joshua T. (1998). "Hittite Tašku- and the Indo-European Word for 'Badger.'". Historische Sprachforschung [Historical Linguistics]. 111 (1): 61–82 [68-69]. JSTOR 41288957. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
- ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (in French). Éditions Errance. p. 291.
- ^ Jacques Lacroix (2007). Les noms d'origine gauloise - La Gaule des dieux (in French). Errance. pp. 93–94, 96. ISBN 978-2-87772-349-7.
- ^ Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (in French). Éditions Errance. pp. 229, 292–293.
- ^ See Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003), pp. 229, 292–293, and D. Ellis Evans, Gaulish personal names: a study of some Continental Celtic formations (University of Michigan Press, 1967), p. 103. For further discussion, see Tasgetius: Name and badger lore.
- ^ James Bromwich, The Roman Remains of Northern and Eastern France: A Guidebook (Routledge, 2003), pp. 49 and 133 online et passim.
- ^ See ex-voto and Milagro (votive) for analogous Christian practices.
- ^ The druids were the priesthood of the ancient Celts.
Further reading
[edit]- Espérandieu, É.; Camille, Jullian (1910). "À Alésia: le temple de Moritasgus". Revue des Études Anciennes (in French). 12 (3): 285–286. doi:10.3406/rea.1910.1635.
- Héron de Villefosse, Antoine (1910). "Fouilles de MM. Espérandieu et Épery à Alise Sainte-Reine: découverte d'un sanctuaire dédié à Moritasgus et de nombreux ex-votos". Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres (in French). 54 (6): 552–558. doi:10.3406/crai.1910.72693.
- de Cazanove, Olivier (2012). "Le lieu de culte d'Apollon Moritasgus à Alésia: Données anciennes et récentes". Revue Archéologique (in French) (1): 158–69. JSTOR 41738187. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
- 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 (in French). 82: 165–194. doi:10.3406/antiq.2013.3831.
- de Cazanove, Olivier; Dondin-Payre, Monique (2016). "Nouvelles Dédicaces d'Alésia à Apollon Moritasgus". Gallia (in French). 73 (2): 107–21. JSTOR 44744490. Accessed 2 Dec. 2024.
- Cazanove, Olivier de (2019). "Le sanctuaire d'Apollon Moritasgus à Alésia. Onze ans de fouilles (2008-2018)". Comptes-rendus des séances de l année - Académie des inscriptions et belles-lettres (in French). 163 (1): 51–75. doi:10.3406/crai.2019.96773.
