page_title: On the Syrian Goddess
hierarchical_section_title: On the Syrian Goddess
caption_attribution_description: English: This statue comes from the Nabatean temple at Khirbet Tannur. Atargatis, the "Syrian Goddess" (Lucian, De Syria Dea) was a vegetation goddess, responsible for the fertility of the land, and perhaps the sea as well; her dolphin is a puzzling attribute, which appears on other representations, although not on this one. Here, the goddess emerges from a profusion of vines, fruits, and other vegetation. Her head is crowned by an eagle, symbol of the Edomite god, Qos (Taylor, p. 122).[1]
context_page_description: On the Syrian Goddess is a Greek treatise of the second century AD which describes religious cults practiced at the temple of Hierapolis Bambyce, now Manbij, in Syria. The work is written in a Herodotean-style of Ionic Greek, and has been traditionally ascribed to the Hellenized Syrian essayist Lucian of Samosata.
context_section_description: On the Syrian Goddess (Greek: Περὶ τῆς Συρίης Θεοῦ; Latin: De Dea Syria) is a Greek treatise of the second century AD which describes religious cults practiced at the temple of Hierapolis Bambyce, now Manbij, in Syria. The work is written in a Herodotean-style of Ionic Greek, and has been traditionally ascribed to the Hellenized Syrian essayist Lucian of Samosata.
caption: A Nabataean depiction of the goddess Atargatis dating from sometime around 100 A.D., roughly seventy years before Lucian (or possibly Pseudo-Lucian) wrote The Syrian Goddess, currently housed in the Jordan Archaeological Museum
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