Stone of dedication for Dea Nehallenia
A stone of dedication was donated to the Germanic goddess Nehallenia by a no more familiar Ianuarius Ambacthius. This stone originally featured in a cult district at the North Sea near Domburg on Walcheren (NL). The district fell into oblivion after the Romans and was identified again after the 17th century. There are only few inscriptions or artistic testimonials of Dea Nehallenia that offer reliable information, and so hardly anything is known about the cult surrounding her. It seems reasonable to presume that there was a connection between the goddess and the shipping on the Rhine, because her cult can be identified at the river bank and the efforts made to interpret her name (ship?) lead us in this direction. But the connection seems obvious in the representation itself. The goddess stands dressed in a coat in a niche which is completed with a peaked gable over pilasters. A small dog sits on the right side, a broad ship bow is visible on the left side. Her left foot is placed on the ship bow. This image backs up the theory that the goddess is somehow connected to ships. The reason the piece was admitted to a collection for Christian Archeology and Ecclesiastical Art is similar to that for the stone dedicated to the Aufanian matrons.