Anna Marinetti, Le Iscrizioni del santuario di Reitia a Este – Die Inschriften aus dem Reitia-Heiligtum von Este. Studien zu vor- und frühgeschichtlichen Heiligtümern, Bd. 11. Il santuario di Reitia a Este, Bd. 10.

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Heinz-Werner Dämmer
• Subject Area: Prehistory and World Archaeology
• Term: since 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 537701165

In this volume, Anna Marinetti compiles for the first time all the known written documents from the Reitia sanctuary of Este, giving the most important epigraphic data for each inscription and referring to details as well as an extensive bibliography. The inscriptions are arranged in the catalogue according to the type of inscription bearer. In the preceding commentary, a general overview is given of the types of dedications with inscriptions, dedicatory formulae, the nature of alphabetical exercises, onomastics and theonomy. Beyond the linguistic aspects, however, the inscriptions are also appreciated to the religiosity practiced in the sanctuary as well as in their socio-cultural context. Male and female onomastic formulas are found in the dedications, and it is noticeable that a significant proportion of the proper names have a Celtic base, reflecting the mobility processes well attested in Este that led to the integration of persons of Celtic origin into the local social system. The bronze alphabet plates occupy a very special position among the carriers of the inscriptions; they represent unique finds for which there is nothing comparable either in Etruria or in other areas of ancient Italy. As bronze reproductions, they transmit an instrument (alphabet plates) that was used in teaching to learn to write correctly. It is known that the sanctuaries took on the role of centers for the development of writing; however, in the Reitia sanctuary of Este, writing takes on a special significance, as it is both the means and the object of the consecrations. The consecration of writing utensils, also in their content, with the precise replication of the exercises for learning to write and the letters as decorations on the votive stili testify to a cult linked to the teaching and learning of writing, realizing the cult through writing itself. Another essential aspect emerges in the synopsis of the theonym, epithet, place name and a possible connection in function as a polyadic type between the goddess Reitia and the deities of other Venetian places. In this way, an important fragment of the ideological system of Venetian religion is recovered, within the framework of which a particular place was assigned a patron deity from which it derived its name. The sources at hand therefore do not show a common pantheon for the whole of Veneto, but rather cults linked to individual settlements and territories.

• DFG Programme: Publication Grants