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Tribans
A Celtic God Tribans, also known as Tribanos and Tribantis: Three-horned One
Tribans (Tribanos, Tribantos, Tribantis) is a Gaulish god known from s single carving and associated inscription found at Langensoultzbach, France that depicts a bearded male deity bearing a three-tined crown. He may represent a warrior deity of the Gaulish Mars type. |
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Gaul: Three-horned One
Tribans is a god known from a single bas-relief carving and an associated inscription found at Langensoultzbach, Bas-Rhin, France (CIL XIII 6061). This carving now resides at the local museum and though quite severely eroded it clearly depicts the figure of a bearded male deity standing full-face who bears a three-tined crown upon his head. He wears a tunic and a coat that affixes down the right hand side. His right hand holds a long spear whilst his left hand seems to hold something that might represent the curve of a bow or a shield. Above the figure there is a severely eroded inscription that reads TRIBAN and may represent the name Tribans or Tribanos or even Tribantos. This figure is unique in the whole of Gaul and may, as some have suggested, represent a native form of the Roman deity, Mars.
Etymologically, though on the surface deceptively simple, this deity's name is actually quite difficult to interpret. Employing the reconstructed proto-Celtic lexicon the first part of the name can be derived from *tri- (three) and possibly *benno- (peak,top [though it also has the connotation of 'horn']). Thus Tribans is the 'Three-horned One'. The deity's name may also be related to the word *bƒbo- (white, shining) and it is this aspect of the god's name that may mark him as a warrior deity.
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