Belisama

Belisama (Gaulish Belesama; epigraphically Bηλησαμα) is a Gallo-Roman goddess. She was identified by Roman commentators with Minerva by interpretatio romana. The name also appears in various river names of Gauls and Britain, including Belisama (River Ribble) and Le Blima (Tarn).[1][2]

"Belisana" redirects here. For the spider genus, see Belisana (spider).

Name
photograph of the "Segomaros" inscription

The Gaulish theonym Belesama has been traditionally interpreted as meaning 'the Very Bright', stemming from the Indo-European root *bʰelH- ('white, shining'; cf. Lith. báltas 'white', Greek φαλόσ phalós 'white', Arm. bal 'pallor', goth. bala 'grey') attached to the superlative suffix *-isamā. As for Belenos, however, this theory has come under increasing criticism in contemporary scholarship.[3][1]

Xavier Delamarre notes that the proposed cognates stemming from *bʰelH- do not seem to connote 'shining', but rather 'white, grey, pale', and proposes to derive the name from the Gaulish root belo- ('strong, powerful'), hence rendering Belesama as 'the Very Strong' (cf. Sanskrit baliṣṭhaḥ 'the strongest').[1] Alternatively, Peter Schrijver has conjectured a connection with the root for 'henbane', *beles-, attached to an unknown suffix -ma, by comparing the name with the Gaulish theonym Belisa-maros.[4]

The French toponyms Beleymas, Bellême, Balesmes, Blesmes, Blismes, and Velesmes are based on the theonym.[5][1]

Attestations
photograph of the Saint-Lizier inscription

A Gaulish inscription found at Vaison-la-Romaine in Provence (RIG G-172) shows that a nemeton was dedicated to her:[6]

СΕΓΟΜΑΡΟС/ ΟΥΙΛΛΟΝΕΟС/ ΤΟΟΥΤΙΟΥС/ ΝΑΜΑΥСΑΤΙС/ ΕΙѠΡΟΥ ΒΗΛΗ/СΑΜΙ СΟСΙΝ/ ΝΕΜΗΤΟΝ
Segomaros Ouilloneos tooutious Namausatis eiōrou Bēlēsami sosin nemēton
"Segomarus Uilloneos, citizen [toutius] of Namausus, dedicated this sanctuary to Belesama"[5][7]

The identification with Minerva in Gallo-Roman religion is established in a Latin inscription from Saint-Lizier (anciently Consoranni), Ariège department (CIL XIII, 8):[8]

Minervae / Belisamae / sacrum / Q(uintus) Valerius / Montan[us] / [e]x v[oto?]

The presence of the goddess in Britain is more difficult to establish. Based on Ptolemy listing a "Belisama estuary",[9] River Ribble in England seems to have been known by the name Belisama in Roman times.[10] However, it is also said to be the name of the River Mersey.[11]

Theories

The attestation of the theonym as a river name may indicate that she was a lake- and river-goddess.[2] Belisama has also been speculatively claimed as companion of Belenos, whose name seems to contain the same root.[12]

References
  1. Delamarre 2003, pp. 71–72.
  2. MacKillop 2004, s.v. Belisama.
  3. Schrijver 1999, pp. 29–30.
  4. Schrijver 1999, pp. 30–31: "An analysis *Belesa-ma is suggested by the theonym Belisa-marus, but the suffix remains unclear. The connection with *beles- 'henbane' is formally attractive and semantically possible (if *Belesama = Lat. Minerva medica) but not supported by direct evidence."
  5. Schrijver 1999, p. 29.
  6. Michel Lejeune. Recueil des Inscriptions Gauloises (RIG) 1: Inscriptions Gallo-Grèques. G-153.
  7. Delamarre 2003, p. 300.
  8. Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL) 13: Tres Galliae et Germanae. 0008
  9. The identification of Ptolemy's Belisama aest. with River Ribble is due to William Camden's Britannia (1586); see also Bill Thayer's "Ptolemy at Lacus Curtius" page
  10. Ronald Hutton (1991). The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 218. Hutton also suggests that the name of Samlesbury may derive from a corruption of the name.
  11. William Gawin Herdman (1843). Pictorial Relics of Ancient Liverpool. Oxford: p.68.
  12. Helmut Birkhan, Kelten. Versuch einer Gesamtdarstellung ihrer Kultur p. 613.
Bibliography
  • Delamarre, Xavier (2003). Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise: Une approche linguistique du vieux-celtique continental. Errance. ISBN 9782877723695.
  • MacKillop, James (2004). A dictionary of Celtic mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-860967-1.
  • Schrijver, Peter (1999). "On Henbane and Early European Narcotics". Zeitschrift für celtische Philologie. 51 (1): 17–45. doi:10.1515/zcph.1999.51.1.17. ISSN 1865-889X.

See also
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