Noah’s Ark (1846) – Edward Hicks oil painting. A Quaker minister and folk artist, the painting reflects his belief in harmony and renewal. Inspired by an 1844 lithograph by Nathaniel Currier, Hicks infused the scene with cooperative animals, echoing his earlier works on Isaiah’s Peaceable Kingdom. Created in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the piece merges biblical history with Quaker ideals, emphasizing humanity’s potential for peaceful coexistence. Public Domain Image with thanks to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
"at a distance of four schoeni [about 22 km], lies Bambycê, which is also called Edessa and Hierapolis, where the Syrian goddess Atargatis is worshiped; for after they cross the river, the road runs through the desert to Scenae, a noteworthy city situated on a canal towards the borders of Babylonia."
- Strabo, Geography 16.1Hierapolis (known locally as Bambycê), located within Cyrrhestica, northern part of the Roman province of Syria, was a major religious center dedicated to Atargatis, the "Syrian Goddess." Hadad, who is often associated with Ba'al or Zeus, is the consort of Atargatis.
This coin is extremely rare, described by Leu in their auction listing (29 Lot 1385) as "apparently the second and finest known example", although I do find 5 examples (including my coin) in Roman Provincial Coinage as Unassigned 69004. Whether it is 1 of 2 or 1 of 5, it does appear to be the finest example known and a very rare coin.
Syria, Cyrrhestica, Hierapolis, Caracalla, 198-217, Diassarion (AE, 24mm, 7.70g, 12h), AD 214-217.
Obv: AVTO ANTⲰNINO[C] Laureate head of Caracalla to right.
Rev: ΘЄAC CY/PIAC IЄPO/ΠOΛЄITⲰN / B in four lines within wreath.
Ref: Paris 1715 = Butcher 55.A pl. 27, 55; Butcher Thesis 55(large) pl. 35. Earthen deposits, otherwise, good very fine. Ex Leu Numismatik, from a European collection, formed before 2005."
The "large module" example from Butcher (same coin in both thesis and Royal Numismatic Society "Coinage in Roman Syria" 2004), similar to my coin, weighs 10.57g. My coin doesn't match the example of the left facing "small module". The weight on this coin raises a question of whether or not there is really a large and small module or just a wide weight range for these coins. Given only 5 examples the question cannot be fully resolved. There are 2 examples of about 10.5g and 3 that are about 7.5g so maybe two modules.
Here is a coin that depicts Atargatis on the reverse (a.k.a. Baalat-Hera) from Antioch.
Trajan (AD 98-117), Syria, Antioch, AR Didrachm (7.53 gms), ca. A.D. 98-99. NGC Ch VF, Strike: 5/5 Surface: 5/5.
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚΡ ΚΑΙC ΝΕΡ ΤΡΑΙΑΝΟC CΕΒ ΓΕΡΜ, laureate head right.
Rev: Draped bust of Atargatis (Baalat-Hera) left, wearing cylindrical headdress, holding short scepter in her right hand and volumen (scroll or rolled manuscript) in left.
Ref: RPC-3575;McAlee-481.
McAlee's supplement references this article : Butcher, Kevin. “Two Syrian Deities.” Syria 84 (2007): (3) 277–86 and (4) 282.
Atargatis and Hadad, limestone relief by an unknown artist ca. A.D 100–256, from the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, Syria, Public Domain image with thanks to Yale University.
A Source of Wealth for Hierapolis
Lucian (c. AD 125 – after 180's) wrote a treatise "On the Syrian Goddess" which highlights the differences between Greeks and Syrians and is the main source of information about the cult of Atargatis.
Lucian describes the temple of Atargatis (which he also refers to as Syrian Hera) is a source of many festivals and great wealth for the city as people from Arabia, Phoenicia, Babylonia, Cilicia and Assyria bring their tribute of garments, and other valuables that are exchanged for silver or gold.
"Of all these temples, and they are numerous indeed, none seems to me greater than those found in the sacred city. No shrine seems to me more holy, no region more hallowed. They possess some splendid masterpieces, some venerable offerings, many rare sights, many striking statues, and the gods make their presence felt very clearly. The statues sweat and move, utter oracles, and a shout has often been raised when the temple was closed. This has been heard by many."
-Philip Harland, Syrian perspectives: Lucian of Samosata on The Syrian Goddess in full (mid-second century CE), July-2022
A Nabatean depiction of Atargatis, from a temple at Khirbet Tannur. Atargatis emerges from a profusion of vines, fruits, and other vegetation and is crowned by an eagle. Photo taken 11-Oct-2004 by Dennis G. Jarvis. Image used under CC BY-SA 2.0 license via Wikimedia Commons.
Syrian Goddess and Noah's Ark
Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha, the Greek equivalents of Noah and his wife, are said to have founded the city after surviving the flood and are a source of rituals associated with Atargatis.
"It is said that the first humans were extremely wicked—they broke their oaths, refused to offer hospitality to strangers, and did not provide refuge to fugitives. Because of their evil deeds, a great catastrophe befell them. Suddenly, the earth sent forth massive floods, the rivers overflowed greatly, and the sea rose to an incredible height, until everything was submerged in water, and all people perished, except for Deucalion, who was spared to bring forth the second generation of humanity due to his wisdom and righteousness.
His survival happened in this way: He built a great ark, in which he placed his children and wives, and then entered it. As he entered, animals of all kinds - pigs, horses, lions, serpents, and all other beasts of earth - came to him, two by two. Deucalion received them all, and they did him no harm. Instead, there was great harmony among them, granted by the gods, and they all sailed together in one ark while the waters prevailed. This is what the Greeks say about Deucalion.
But what happened afterward is told in a remarkable story by the people of the Holy City (Hierapolis). They say that in their land, a great chasm opened and absorbed all the floodwaters. When this occurred, Deucalion ordered altars to be built and constructed a temple over the hole, dedicating it to Juno (Hera). I saw the hole beneath the temple, which is now very small. Whether it was once much larger and later shrank, I do not know, but what I saw was indeed small.
As a sign of this event, the people perform a ritual. Twice a year, water from the sea is brought into the temple. Not only the priests but also people from all of Syria and Arabia take part in this ceremony. Many travel beyond the Euphrates to collect seawater, which they then pour into the temple. The water flows down into the hole, and although the hole is small, it is said to absorb a vast amount of water.
By doing this, they say that Deucalion established this ritual for the sanctuary in remembrance of the great flood and the divine mercy that saved him."
- Lucian, The Goddesse of Surrye, 12-13 (modernized for easier reading)Lucian describes other elaborate ceremonies performed by pilgrims and priests, including purification rituals, animal sacrifices, and ecstatic celebrations. Inspired by the Phrygian cult of Cybele, some devotees castrate themselves in devotion to the Syrian goddess.
Mermaid (1873), oil painting by Elisabeth Jerichau Baumann, housed in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, depicts a mermaid in a moment of contemplation. Photo by Villy Fink Isaksen, taken May 2011 and used under CC BY-SA 3.0 license via Wikimedia Commons.
Lucian describes that the temple contains a sacred pond filled with holy fish, which are never eaten due to their sacred status. Atargatis is sometimes portrayed as a mermaid. Diodorus Siculus tells the story of Derceto (another Greek name for Atargatis noted by Strabo in Geography 16.4) explaining the sacred fish.
"from shame and grief she threw herself into the lake and was changed as to the form of her body into a fish; and it is for this reason that the Syrians to this day abstain from this animal and honor their fish as gods."
-Diodorus Siculus II.4Cicero mocked the practice in The Nature of Gods (III.15.39) : "With the ignorant you get superstitions like the Syrians' worship of a fish...".
References:
Butcher, Kevin. “Two Syrian Deities.” Syria 84 (2007): 277–85.
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge: Atargatis
Turcan, R. (1996). The Cults of the Roman Empire (A. Nevill, Trans.). Blackwell.
Douglas R. Frayne and Johanna H. Stuckey, A Handbook of Gods and Goddesses of the Ancient Near East (n.p.: Open Source, 2023).
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