Editing Sulis (section)

==Syncretism with Minerva==
At Bath, the [[Roman temple]] was dedicated to Sulis Minerva as the primary deity of the temple spa. It is likely that devotion to Sulis existed in Bath before the Roman presence in the area, by the local Celtic [[Dobunni]] tribe, who may have believed that Sulis had curative powers.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Cohen|first1=Paul|last2=Cohen|first2=Brenda|date=2000|title=The Roman Baths Museum In Bath, England|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42990285|journal=Journal of College Science Teaching|volume=29|issue=4|pages=285–286|jstor=42990285|issn=0047-231X|access-date=13 April 2021|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413012448/https://www.jstor.org/stable/42990285|url-status=live}}</ref> Sulis' pre-Roman presence has also been suggested by the discovery of eighteen Celtic Iron Age coins at the lowest levels of the site, as documented by Barry Cunliffe in 1988.<ref name=":92">{{Cite book|last=Green|first=Miranda|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/51912602|title=The Concept of the Goddess|date=1996|publisher=Routledge|isbn=0-203-45638-6|editor-last=Billington|editor-first=Sandra|location=London|pages=33–35|chapter=The Celtic Goddess as Healer|oclc=51912602|editor-last2=Green|editor-first2=Miranda|access-date=13 April 2021|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429024555/https://search.worldcat.org/title/51912602|url-status=live}}</ref> This is one of the reasons Sulis is named first in the syncretic Sulis Minerva.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Green, Miranda J. (Miranda Jane), 1947–|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/56611355|title=The gods of the Celts|date=2004|publisher=Sutton|isbn=0-7509-3479-4|edition=New pbk.|location=Stroud|oclc=56611355|access-date=7 January 2021|archive-date=29 April 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429025119/https://search.worldcat.org/title/56611355|url-status=live}}</ref> Through the Roman Minerva [[Syncretism|syncresis]], later [[mythographers]] have inferred that Sulis was also a [[List of knowledge deities|goddess of wisdom]] and decisions.

Of the 17 dedicatory altars and bases found at the Roman temple at Bath, 9 evoke Sulis Minerva through her single or double name.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Revell|first=Louise|date=2007|title=Religion and Ritual in the Western Provinces|journal=Greece & Rome|volume=54|issue=2|pages=218–219|doi=10.1017/S0017383507000162 |jstor=20204190 |s2cid=161820409 |issn=0017-3835|doi-access=free}}</ref> In particular, there are two altars found at the Cross Bath (RIB 146)<ref>{{Cite web|title=RIB 146. Altar dedicated to Sulis Minerva and the Divinities of the Emperors {{!}} Roman Inscriptions of Britain|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/146|access-date=2021-02-28|website=romaninscriptionsofbritain.org|language=en|archive-date=16 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116203127/https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/146|url-status=live}}</ref> and Hot Bath (RIB 150)<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=RIB 150. Altar dedicated to Sulis Minerva {{!}} Roman Inscriptions of Britain|url=https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/150|access-date=2021-02-28|website=romaninscriptionsofbritain.org|language=en|archive-date=13 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413012619/https://romaninscriptionsofbritain.org/inscriptions/150|url-status=live}}</ref> sites respectively, which list 'Sulis Minerva' in full.<ref name=":12" /> The altar found at the Hot Bath reads "To the goddess Sulis Minerva Sulinus, son of Maturus, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow" (RIB 150).<ref name=":2" />
[[File:Roman baths 2014 53.jpg|thumb|Altar from the Hot Bath, which reads "To the goddess Sulis Minerva Sulinus, son of Maturus, willingly and deservedly fulfilled his vow."]]
Sulis was not the only goddess exhibiting syncretism with [[Minerva]]. [[Senuna|Senua]]'s name appears on votive plaques bearing Minerva's image,{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}} while [[Brigantia (goddess)|Brigantia]] also shares many traits associated with Minerva. The [[interpretatio romana|identification]] of multiple Celtic gods with the same Roman god is not unusual (both [[Mars (mythology)#Celtic Mars|Mars]] and [[Mercury (mythology)#Syncretism|Mercury]] were paired with a multiplicity of Celtic names). On the other hand, Celtic goddesses tended to resist syncretism; Sulis Minerva is one of the few attested pairings of a Celtic goddess with her Roman counterpart.{{Citation needed|date=April 2021}}

Dedications to "[[Minerva]]" are common in both [[Great Britain]] and [[continental Europe]], most often without any Celtic epithet or interpretation (cf. [[Belisama]] for one exception).