Artahe
Artaha (also spelled Artehe) is the name of an ancient god that was worshiped in Southern Gaul, in the region of Aquitania.
The theonym is recorded in several inscriptions from Saint-Pé-d'Ardet, where there seems to have been a Gallo-Roman-era cult center for the god:[1]
- CIL 13, 64
- Lexeia Odanni f(ilia) Artehe v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
- CIL 13, 70; AE 1888, 141
- Deo Artahe L(uci) P(ompei) Pauliniani [nep(os) 3]
- ILTG 37
- Artahe deo Rufo IIFIS v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
- ILTG 38
- [...] Artahe [...]
From the same region - the village of Lourde - comes another inscription bearing the name:
- CIL 13, 71
- Artehe deo Bonnexi Amandi v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
It is also recorded in an inscription from Malvezie:
- CIL 13, 73 (4, p 2)
- Ar[t]a[he deo] L(ucius) Antist(ius) Syntr[o]p(h)us v(otum) s(olvit) l(ibens) m(erito)
Etymology
The name appears to be of ancient Aquitanian origin and may be cognate with modern Basque arte "oak".[2] The place name Ardet may be derived from the theonym, or vice-versa.[3]
References
- ^ fr:Saint-Pé-d'Ardet
- ^ Whatmough, Joshua, The Dialects of Ancient Gaul, Harvard, 1970, p. 240
- ^ Whatmough, Joshua, The Dialects of Ancient Gaul, Harvard, 1970, p. 253
AE: L'Année Épigraphique, 1888
CIL: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, Berlin, 1863-
ILTG: Wuilleumier, P., Inscriptions latines des Trois Gaules (France), (XVIIe Supplement à Gallia) Paris, 1963