Inciona
Encyclopedia
Inciona is a little-known Celtic goddess
Celtic polytheism
Celtic polytheism, commonly known as Celtic paganism, refers to the religious beliefs and practices adhered to by the Iron Age peoples of Western Europe now known as the Celts, roughly between 500 BCE and 500 CE, spanning the La Tène period and the Roman era, and in the case of the Insular Celts...

 of the Treveran
Treveri
The Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...

 region. Her name is recorded as one of a pair of deities on two votive inscriptions from Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

.

On the large stone slab from Mensdorf
Mensdorf
Mensdorf is a small town in the commune of Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. , the town has a population of 765....

 on the Widdebierg
Widdebierg
Widdebierg is a hill in the commune of Betzdorf, in eastern Luxembourg. At 386 metres, it is one of the highest points in the canton of Grevenmacher. It is in the centre of a nature reserve , which lies between the towns of Flaxweiler, Mensdorf, and Roodt-sur-Syre....

, pictured at right, she is invoked along with the god Veraudunus
Veraudunus
Veraudunus is the name of a Celtic god known only from two votive inscriptions found in Luxembourg. One of these inscriptions suggests that ‘Veraudunus’ may have been an epithet of the important Treveran god Lenus Mars...

 and in honour of the imperial family in fulfilment of a vow made by Marcus Pl(autius?) Restitutus' mother Alpinia Lucana.

The second inscription, a small bronze votive plaque from Kaul in Luxembourg, reads:
[LE]NO MAR[TI]
VERAVDVN(O) ET
INCIONE MI
[L]ITIVS PRIS
CINVS EX VOT(O)

If the letters NO MAR can be restored as Leno Marti, then Inciona is here invoked alongside Lenus
Lenus
Lenus was a Celtic healing god worshipped mainly in eastern Gaul, where he was almost always identified with the Roman god Mars. He was an important god of the Treveri tribe, who had large sanctuaries at medicinal springs at Trier and the Martberg by Pommern in what is now Germany. Two dedications...

 Mars
Mars (mythology)
Mars was the Roman god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in importance only to Jupiter, and he was the most prominent of the military gods worshipped by the Roman legions...

 Veraudunus
Veraudunus
Veraudunus is the name of a Celtic god known only from two votive inscriptions found in Luxembourg. One of these inscriptions suggests that ‘Veraudunus’ may have been an epithet of the important Treveran god Lenus Mars...

.

See also

  • Dictionary of Celtic Myth and Legend. Miranda Green
    Miranda Green
    Miranda Jane Aldhouse-Green FSA is a British archaeologist, who is Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff University....

    . Thames and Hudson Ltd. London. 1997
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