Good evening honored guests and welcome to the opening of the ÃÂAncient Celtic ExhibitÃÂ. I'm the curator of the museum and I will be giving you a glimpse at what our exhibit holds. Archaeological studies have found that the Celtic religion has existed for over 3000 years from 1400 B.C. to today. Around the 6th Century B.C. the Celts spread from their homeland, Germany and Europe through Ireland all the way to Ukraine and Turkey. These tribal people held polytheistic beliefs and lived close to nature. However, these groups didnÃÂt have much contact with each other and many beliefs were not written down so much of what we have here in the exhibit includes ancient Celtic inscriptions, coins, remains, myths, and people like Julius Caesar who left records of their encounters with the Celts.
Our exhibit explains much about the Celtic gods. Firstly there is evidence of over 300 gods but only 20 are common.
Inscription dedicated to the cult of Grannus Apoll...
Cross
Stone sculpture of Celtic hero, from the sanctuary...It is part of Celtic religion not to worship the gods but to respect them and bring them offerings. There were also different roles for gods. The males included war and courage while the females were about fertility, nature and motherhood. They also believed that there were kind and hostile gods. The hostile gods brought drought, chaos, defeat and death to the community while the friendly gods brought protection, healing and honour.
In the exhibit you can find many statues of Celtic gods and goddesses. Here next to me is a limestone statue of the horse goddess Epona which was found in Alesia, France. She rode with the dead on their final journey. She is also depicted holding the horn of plenty which symbolises abundance. This statue is identified as Celtic art because the Celts had a distinctive art style. It is important for showing...