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Ucuetis
A Gaulish God: Great of Breath
Ucuetis is a Gaulish god known from three Inscriptions found in France. The most important of these is a Gaulish inscription on limesotne which names Ucuetis as the patron deity of the smiths of Alesia. |
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Gaul: Great of Breath
Ucuetis is a god known from two inscriptions found at Mont Auxois, Alise-Sainte-Raine, Côte D'Or, France (CIL XIII 02880, 11247). The first of these inscriptions (named the Martiails iscription) was discovered on Mont Auxois, about 50 km northwest of Dijon, during excavations in 1839 (left). This is engraved in capitals on a limestone block 49 cm in height. The Gaulish text reads: MARTIALIS DANNOTALI IEVRV VCVETE SOSIN CELICNON ♧ ETIC GOBEDBI DVGIJONTIJO ♧ VCVETIN IN [ ] ALISIJA. The ♧ represents the ivy leaf inscirbed on the stone and as the gap between the IN and ALISIJA represents only a single character it has been proposed that the ivy leaf should also be inserted here. This would give the standard interpretation of the inscription as: Martialis, son of *Dannotalos, offered this edifice to *Ucuetis and to the smiths who serve *Ucuetis in Alisia. The second iscription, found on the same site was inscribed on a bronze vase and reads DEO VCVETI ET BERGVSIAE REMVS PRIMI FIL(ius) DONAVIT V(otum) S(oluit) L(ibens) M(erito) (Remus, son of Primus, gave (this vase) to the god Ucuetis and to Bergusia. A vow willingly and properly fulfilled).
The bronze vase was discovered in a large structure some 75m to the north of where the inscribed stone was found and it is now widely believed that the carved stone originated from this structure which is nnow generally thought to have been dedicated to the god Ucuetis. A number of findings and ancient workings reveal the Alisian site to have been that of extensive bronze workings thus the 'smiths' referred to in the Martialis inscription would seem to be bronze smiths and their patron deity was Ucuetis. Thus, by extension Ucuetis was the patron deity of bronze workers. The dedication of a bronze vase to Ucuetis also strengthens this supposition.
From the bronze vase discovered at Mont Auxois, it would seem that Ucuetis' consort was considered to be the goddess Bergusia whose name has been interpreted as 'She Who Brings Force'. A suitable epithet for the consort of a smith god. The same deity is also known from a fragmentary inscription found at Entrains, France (AE 1995, 1095).
However, the interpretation of Ucuetis' own name had proved to be more troublesome. One possible derivation is based on the reconstructed proto-Celtic elements *uxs- (a component of *uxs-(i)samo- [highest] and the basis of the Cymric preposition uch- [high, highest]) as well as weto- (air, but which is also related to *wāt- [poet, seer]). The name would seem to suggest a name of the form 'Great of Air' which would fit-in with a smith god as a god of bellows. But there is also a divine or connotation of turning base metal into a golden alloy, bronze. Perhaps a more satisfactory interpretation would be 'Great of Breath' suggesting the divine breath of the bellows that engenders form to the formless.
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