The Gaulish goddess of the source of the river Seine, which bears her name. Excavation of her sanctuary near Dijon, at the river's spring, recovered a bronze statue of the goddess standing in a boat shaped like a duck, together with more than a thousand wooden and bronze votive offerings, many carved as the specific limbs, eyes or organs pilgrims hoped she would heal, making the site one of the clearest surviving records of a healing-water pilgrimage cult anywhere in Gaulish religion.
Facts
Origins
Place of OriginFontes Sequanae, the source of the Seine near Dijon, France, the site of her excavated sanctuary. 1 Origin of the NameThe river Seine takes its name from Sequana, the Gaulish goddess of its source. 1 Function
Domain / FunctionRivers, lakes and springs 1 Cult
Attributes and IconographyExcavation of Sequana's sanctuary near Dijon recovered a bronze statue of the goddess standing in a boat shaped like a duck, together with more than a thousand wooden and bronze votive offerings carved as the limbs, eyes or organs pilgrims hoped she would heal. 1 Attestation
Era of Attestation Veneration TodayHistorically attested; no continuous cult 3 Belief
TheologyPolytheistic: many gods 1 The Gaulish goddess of the source of the Seine, matching the reading already carried by the region's other Gaulish healing-water deities. Correspondences & Relations
Connections
Worshipped In
Source A Dictionary of Celtic MythologyJames MacKillop
Sources
1. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
James MacKillop, Oxford University Press, 1998MacKillop's entry on Sequana and the Fontes Sequanae excavationView the Source 2. Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia
John T. Koch (ed.), ABC-CLIO, 2006Sequana, Gallo-Roman inscriptions at the source of the SeineView the Source 3. The Facts on File Encyclopedia of World Mythology and Legend
Anthony S. Mercatante, revised and expanded by James R. Dow, Facts on File
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