Cel was the Etruscan goddess of the earth[1]: 46,57 . On the Etruscan calendar, the month of Celi (September) is likely named for her[2]: 106 . Her Greek counterpart is Gaia and her Roman is counterpart is Terra[1]: 46 .
In Etruscan mythology, Cel was the mother of a giant Celsclan[2]: 105 . A bronze mirror from the 5th century BC depicts a theomachy in which Celsclan ("son of Cel") is a giant attacked by Laran, the god of war[2]: 105 . Another mirror depicts anguiped giants in the company of a goddess, possibly Cel, whose lower body is formed of vegetation[2]: 106 .
In a sanctuary near Lake Trasimeno, at Castiglione del Lago, were found five votive bronze statuettes dedicated to Cel Ati ("Mother Cel")[1]: 90 [2]: 105 . The inscription on each reads mi celś atial celthi,[1]: 90 "I [belong to, have been given] to Cel the mother, here [in this sanctuary]."[3]
Cel appears on the Liver of Piacenza[1]: 57 , a bronze model of a liver marked for the Etruscan practice of haruspicy. She is placed in section (or house) 13 of the liver[2]: 44,105 .
References
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de Grummond, Nancy Thomson; Simon, Erika, eds. (2006). The Religion of the Etruscans. University of TexasPress, P.O. Box 7819, Austin, TX 78713-7819: University of TexasPress. ISBN 0-292-70687-1.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - 1 2 3 4 5 6 de Grummond, Nancy Thomson (2006). Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. ISBN 1-931707-86-3.
- ↑ Giuliano Bonfante and Larissa Bonfante, The Etruscan Language: An Introduction (New York University Press, 2002, revised edition), p. 166.