Celtic Divine Names in the Inscriptions of Germania Superior

Numerous Celtic divine names exist in the north and west of the Roman Empire. Almost all of those names, with a few exceptions, are exclusively attested in Roman inscriptions. The investigation of these sources is attractive for a couple of reasons. To begin with, many of the Celtic divine names are completely unknown to the wider public, notwithstanding the fact that they constitute an essential part of European religious history. Furthermore, even those scholars in the relevant academic field, do not, as yet, benefit from a comprehensive and in-depth presentation of those divine names. The examined sources are of even more interest, because they show a fusion of religious elements of different cultures. On the one hand, the setting up of dedicatory inscriptions is a religious practice brought from the inner parts of the Imperium Romanum to its provinces. On the other hand, these very inscriptions are used to worship divinities bearing Celtic and Romano-Celtic names. The project can, therefore, contribute on a historical level to the wider field of research dealing with the topic of cultural exchange in situations when different cultures come together. In continuation of the FWF-project, Celtic Divine Names in the Inscriptions of the Roman Province Germania Inferior. A Case Study on Religion in the Context of Cultural Contacts and Cultural Transfer (P 29274-G25), the new project will focus on the military zone in Germania Superior on the left bank of the river Rhine, where a similar population structure can be observed. Thus, a verification, a more in- depth investigation and an increase of the results achieved so far is intended. Moreover, the proposed project forms a stand-alone part of the interdisciplinary research enterprise F.E.R.C.AN. (FONTES EPIGRAPHICI RELIGIONUM CELTICARUM ANTIQUARUM), initiated by the Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Austrian Academy of Sciences). It is the aim of this enterprise to provide a conclusive new edition and analysis of all the attested Celtic divine names. The work of the project will be divided in two parts. Part one will comprise the compilation and new edition of all the relevant inscriptions and will be freely available online. Part two will be provided in print. It will contain a detailed presentation of each divine name in Celtic language in the study area, as well as an analysis of the entire Celtic divine names focusing especially on sociocultural aspects and aspects of the history of mentalities concerning the religion in cultural contact zones

The project 'Celtic Divine Names in Latin Inscriptions of the Military Zone in Germania Superior on the Left Bank of the River Rhine. Religious Phenomena in a Cultural Contact Zone ' records in a digital edition Roman votive inscription with Celtic divine names from the northern area of the Roman province of Germania Superior (roughly Koblenz to Freiburg im Breisgau in the north-south and from Bad Bertrich to Aschaffenburg respectively Saverne (FR) to Schorndorf (GER) in the widest west-east extension). In this edition, the votive forms and names of gods contained in the inscriptions are analysed and classified from a linguistic, epigraphic-historical and iconographic perspective. The methodology used was developed in the previous project 'Celtic Divine Names in the Inscriptions of the Roman Province Germania Inferior.' and further refined. The content of both projects is related to the Corpus F.E.R.C.A.N. (Fontes epigraphici religionum Celticarum antiquarum), which pursues the goal of editing all inscriptions in the provinces of the Roman Empire which have divine names with possible Celtic-language background and thus gaining information about the development and meaning of the combination of Celtic and Roman names of gods. The most important result was that the documented cults of the deities with Celtic names were carried out in a profoundly Roman form: the inscriptions were made in Latin, with Roman consecration formulae, by people with Latinised names. This mainly disproves the old theory that the worship of deities with Celtic names had preserved remnants of the old Celtic religion. The 589 items from these two projects have been published in the digital edition 'Die keltischen Götternamen der germanischen Provinzen' and can also be individually selected via the pdf shopping basket for download. Thus, this edition is not only the first collection of all corresponding inscriptions from the study areas with detailed comments, it is also fully searchable with regard to various keywords. For example, it is possible to find all inscriptions that were erected in connection with the foundation of a shrine or statue, or by soldiers. This enables people with specific questions to quickly find the inscriptions relevant to them. Based on the experience gained in preparing the data for online publication in the Germania Inferior project, the Patrimonium editor, which was created at the University of Bordeaux for the digital recording of epigraphic material, was adapted together with the Austrain Center for Digital Humanities and the start-up DH-Craft for data entry and easier transfer of the data into a website format. By using this web-based input mask to record the data, the project is taking on a pioneering role in the search for efficient methods for creating and curating a scientific epigraphic database.