- Belisama
:"Belisana" is also a spider genus (
Pholcidae ).InCeltic mythology , Belisama (also Bηλησαμα or Belesama) was agoddess worshipped inGaul and Britain. She was connected with lakes and rivers, fire, crafts and light. Belisama was identified withMinerva /Athena and has been compared withBrigid . She has been claimed to be the consort ofBelenus , [ [http://www.celtnet.org.uk/gods_b/belisama.html Belisama: a Gaulish and Brythonic goddess (Summer Bright) ] ] with whom she shared certain attributes. Her name has been interpreted to mean "summer bright".A Gaulish inscription found at
Vaison-la-Romaine in Provence shows that a "nemeton " was dedicated to her: [Lejeune, Michel "Receuil des Inscriptions Gauloises (RIG)" 1 Inscriptions Gallo-Grèques. G-153.]:"Segomaros Ouilloneos tooutious Namausatis eiōrou Bēlēsami sosin nemēton":"Segomaros, son of Uillo, "toutious" (tribe leader) of Namausos, dedicated this sanctuary to Belesama"
A
Latin inscription fromSaint-Lizier ,Aquitania (in antiquity,Consoranni ) associates her withMinerva : [Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), 13 "Tres Galliae et Germanae." 0008]:"Minervae / Belisamae / sacrum / Q(uintus) Valerius / Montan [us] / [e] x v [oto?] "
The
River Ribble inEngland was known by the name Belisama in Roman times. [Ronald Hutton (1991). "The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles." Oxford: Blackwell. p.218]Ptolemy lists a "Belisama estuary" at coordinates which correspond to the mouth of the Ribble.ee also
*
Samlesbury Hall References
External links
* [http://www.roman-britain.org/ptolemy.htm Ptolemy at RomanBritain.org]
* [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Periods/Roman/_Texts/Ptolemy/2/2*.html Ptolemy at Lacus Curtius]
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