Maintain an ornamental pond filled with beautiful, healthy fish. Votive offerings of gold and silver fish. Place:Syria, where she was sometimes the most prominent and beloved deity Fish function as Atargatis’ oracle and were hand-fed by her priestesses and priests. Their gills and lips were pierced and they were decorated with gold ornaments. Atargatis’ sanctuaries featured sacred trees full of doves and ponds filled with sacred fish. Devotees traditionally refrain from eating doves and any kind of fish, including shellfish.ĭoves, snakes, fish, whales, dolphins, and other sea creatures. She was a great favourite of Roman Emperor Nero.Ītargatis is petitioned for abundance, health, protection, fertility, safety, and virtually anything else one desires. Inscriptions dedicated to her have been found in Northumberland and Yorkshire. ![]() Syrian auxiliaries in the Roman army carried veneration of Atargatis throughout Europe, especially Spain. There is much conjecture that the temple in Petra, now modern Jordan, belonged to her. She had sacred fish ponds in Crete and Cyprus and a small temple on the sacred island of Delos. Atargatis counted ancient Israelites among her devotees. Under her Philistine name, Derceto, she had a temple in Ashkelon, now modern Israel. It was the largest, richest temple in Syria and eventually plundered by Romans. ![]() Her primary shrine was a magnificent temple in Hierapolis, Syria, northeast of Aleppo near the Euphrates. Some versions of this legend state that Atargatis then threw herself into a lake, transforming herself into the Great Fish Mother and since that time prefers to communicate with humans through fish.Ītargatis was widely venerated. Transporting her newborn daughter, Semiramis, to the wilderness, she left her in the care of doves who fed and attended the baby. Atargatis is no little mermaid longing for legs: when she bore a daughter in the shape of a human, Atargatis was so surprised and dismayed that she killed her lover, the baby’s father. Once on dry land, the egg hatched and Atargatis emerged, in mermaid form.Ītargatis is intensely proud of her mermaid form. ![]() They nudged it to shore with their noses. Dea Syria, “the Syrian goddess” (Rome) Derceto, “whale of Der” (Philistine)įish swimming in the Euphrates discovered an unusual egg floating on the river.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |