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Sulis

Celtic Deities

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The Brittonic goddess of the thermal spring at Bath in southwest England, known to the Romans as Aquae Sulis, "the waters of Sulis." Excavation at the site recovered more than a hundred curse tablets, inscribed lead sheets asking Sulis to punish thieves who had wronged the petitioner, alongside votive gifts and gemstones thrown into the sacred spring, showing her worshipped both as a healing water goddess and as an enforcer of justice. Roman-era worshippers syncretized her as Sulis Minerva, and a well preserved gilt bronze head from a cult statue of the combined goddess survives from the site.

Facts
Function
Domain / Function
Healing and medicine 1
Identity
Gender
Female 1
Belief
Theology
Polytheistic: many gods 1
The Brittonic goddess of the thermal spring at Bath, syncretized as Sulis Minerva, matching the reading already carried by the region's other Celtic deities.
Attributions
Mythic Association
Roman-era worshippers syncretized Sulis as Sulis Minerva, and a well preserved gilt bronze head from a cult statue of the combined goddess survives from the site. 1
Cult
Attributes and Iconography
A well preserved gilt bronze head from a cult statue of Sulis, worshipped in her syncretized Roman form as Sulis Minerva, survives from the temple precinct at Bath. 1
Origins
Origin of the Name
Sulis was known to the Romans as Aquae Sulis, the waters of Sulis, naming the thermal spring at Bath in southwest England that was her cult centre. 1
Attestation
Veneration Today
Historically attested; no continuous cult 1
Historicity
Historically attested 1
Correspondences & Relations

Pantheons

Celtic, Pantheons
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Tabellae Sulis: Roman Inscribed Tablets of Tin and Lead from the Sacred Spring at Bath, Sources

This source names Sulis directly: "of the curse tablets, the tabellae Sulis, recovered from the sacred spring dedicated to Sulis Minerva at Bath."

Source Tabellae Sulis: Roman Inscribed Tablets of Tin and Lead from the Sacred Spring at BathR. S. O. Tomlin

Worshipped In

Celtic Paganism, Religions
Source A Dictionary of Celtic MythologyJames MacKillop
Sources
1. A Dictionary of Celtic Mythology
James MacKillop, Oxford University Press, 1998MacKillop's entry on Sulis and the Bath curse tablet corpusView the Source
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