**Work in Progress**
125 AD: in Byblos, Lucian of Samosata confirms the 'Aphrodite' mystery cult (of the Syrian Goddess) was still closely affiliated with Osiris "for some Byblians."
75 AD: in the early Roman Period, a pottery workshop near Plinthine produced clay figurines to the Goddess(es), archaeological site Tabet Mutawah, in Al-Ameriya).
55 BC: the sanctuary at Cape Zephyrion (at Plinthine) was known to Romans as Venus Arsinoe Zephyriti: Catullus, Carmina 66 (c.55 BC) identified Berenice with "Venus, Zephyritis."
270 BC: the deified Pharaoh-Queen Arsinoë was called 'Aphrodite Akraia Arsinoe' ; the sanctuary at Cape Zephyrion (at Plinthine) was dedicated to her as 'Aphrodite Zephyritis'.
400 BC: Anat-Yahu (=Anat-Baal, Baalat-Baal, Amunet-Amon) worshiped by Northern Israelitish mercenaries at Elephantine.
600 BC: Herodus (450 BC) reported Semitic frontier mercenaries "Persians" under Wahibre Psamtik I at Marea, at the Libyan frontier (religion unknown).
650 BC: Saite Goddess Worship
See Katelijn Vandorpe, « “Persian” Mercenaries with Egyptian Traditions and Hellenizing Intentions: On Native Soldiers in Ptolemaic Thebaid », in Sänger, Scheuble-Reiter (éd.) 2022, p.197-207.
Let us assume Philo's Therapeutae were, as suggested by De Vita Contemplativa c.15 AD, long-resident near Plinthine. There, as the online Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places, 2023 informs us, a "large Ptolemaic temple seems to have been dismantled and built over during the Roman period." And since the only Ptolemaic temple mentioned in ancient sources is the Sanctuary of Arsinoe-Aphrodite, 'Aphrodite-at-Arms,' the obvious question is what relationship these Semitic healers/servants of God had w/ this local temple. IF a strange Semitic cult had affiliated w/ this site, perhaps even using the temple for their pannychis, then its deliberate destruction in the Roman period c.115 AD (indicated by recent archaeological reports) has a rather simple explanation. (Claudius accused Alexandrian Jews of tampering w/ the local Greek cult.) Analogous to a longstanding Jewish temple at Leontopolis in the same period, local Semites at Plinthine may have employed a less-used pagan sanctuary, or an adjacent cult storehouse (like the Centurion’s Synagogue at Capernaum?), for their own forum. Then, some scandal or pogrom brought an end to this sub-culture in its homeland. Philo's defense of this group c.15 AD and later 38 AD makes sense as a rhetorical reply to Roman suspicions about Judeo-Egyptian cultic activity at Plinthine and an attendant period controversy at Alexandria.
Who were these Semites? What were the particulars of their profession? How far back may their cult be traced? These and other unsettled, controversial questions appear instantly; worse still, definitive answers to their exact identity and purpose may be uncertain, lost in time. Regarding these mantic specialists, a (quasi)Jewish caste operating in divers Egyptian temples, I will present a number of possible clues in Philo's DVC to develop this hypothesis.
To begin, I wish to point out that deification of Arsinoe at Plinthine is, in itself, strongly indicative of a trans-cultural continuity: an ancient Libyo-Egyptian goddess cult with a Semitic coloring was present in this area for hundreds of years. Therefore, a brief historical sketch of the deity's lineage is both necessary and informative. Both Egyptian gods Ammon and Neith have ancient Libyan origins; Libyan tribes began settling the Western Delta c.1375 BC, worshipping Amun and Amunet (~Canaanite Baal and Anat) at Siwa among other places. Neith/Nit of the Egyptians, Tanit of the Phoenicians, and Athena of Greeks in Egypt were equivalent expressions for the ancient Libyan Goddess Tannit: a Creator Goddess associated w/ Wisdom and Law. Then, Egyptian goddess Neith becomes the dominant substitution, rising to prominence at the western Delta/Mareotis during the 26th Dynasty (c.685-525 BC), especially in the capital Sais. At Rosetta, King Apries (589-570 BC) erected blocks venerating Neith, stones likely from a building at Sais connected with Neith's cult [43]. Scholars have argued that Naukratis scarabs from Apries reign, manufactured by Phoenicians, have been found at Yavne-Yam (see James [2015] p.362). Also under Apries, a Naukratis temple to the ram-headed Amon-Rê-Baded, ''Zeus-Ammon" (Demetrious [2012], p.116) was situated near a temple to Neith-Aphrodite c.577 BC. Logically, the syncretistic Phoenician deity pair 'Baal Hammon and Anat' was established in the Western Delta, c.600 BC. As yet another another parallel in accord, Philo of Byblos (c.125 AD, but utilizing much older 'Hermetic' sources) suggests a Philistine syzygy Surmubelus and Thuro {Command of Ba'al and Torah} c.600-400 BC. In Semitic communities of the Taenia, the continuity of Anat worship (expressed as Egyptian Neith-Aphrodite or Armed Aphrodite) was tacitly recognized by the construction of a Temple to Arsinoe-Aphrodite at the beginning of the Ptolemaic period.
In 30th Dynasty (380-343 BC), Neith became the state deity of Egypt, a popularity lasting into the Ptolemaic period [16,17]. A stela of Nectanebo I dating to c.380 BC mentions Neith's temple found near Naukratis name the Mareotis nome [72,74,75], and a naos describe that regional king as beloved of Neith [62,63]. In the Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BC), the Greeks identified Neith with Athena and referred to her as "Armed Aphrodite" (Aphrodite Areia) [36]. An Aphrodite temple at Naucratis likely equates with a Neith sanctuary [93]. In short, Neith was the dominant goddess in the Saite western Delta region around Lake Mareotis from c.685 BC into the Ptolemaic Period (c.260 BC, at least). By the Ptolemaic era (305-30 BC), the supreme goddess became syncretized with Greek Athena and Aphrodite in this area [36,93].
Check!
[17] ﻟﺴﺎﺑﻖ، ﻟﻤﺮ ﺎﻟﺢ، ﻟﺰﺰ ﺒﺪ١٩٧٦ ،٢٧٥،٢٧٧
[36] Yoyotte, J., "Guardian of The Nile: Thonis Rediscovered" reports on the recent dramatic discovery of Heracleion made of Egypt by Frank Goddio of the Institut Européen D'Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM), MINERVA, Vol. 13-Number 3 (2002), p. 32; Schmidt, V., Chois Monuments Égyptiens, Deuxiéme Serie (1918), p. 63, fig. 149.
[43] Gauthier, H., Le Livre Des Rois D 'Égypte, Tom. IV (1916),p.109, XVIa, XVII, a,b.
[62] PM, Lower and Middle Egypte, IV (1934), p. 49; Roeder, G., Naos, Câtalogue Géneral des Musée du Caire (1914), p. 57, 58, pl. XVI; Gauthier, H. M., LR VI (I916),p. 189 XXI; El-Sayed, R., op. cit., I (1982), Doc. 404, p. 420;
[63] Peter A. Clayton, op. cit. (London, 1994), p. 203; Beckerath, J. Von, "Königsnamen", LÄ III (1980), 555f./ Dyn. 30-1; Beckerath, J. Von, Handbuch des Ägyptischen Königsnamen, MÄS 20 (1984), 116f.; Gauthier, H. M., Le Livre des Rois, IV (1916), pp. 183.
[72] Erman, A., "Die Naukratis Stelle", ZÄS 39, 12ff.; Maspero, G., Guide des Musèe du Caire (1914), pl. IX; PM IV (1934), p. 50; Wilcken, U., "Die Naukratis Stelle", ZÄS 38 (1900), 130ff.; Gauthier, H. M., LRVI (1916),p. 184 (II); El-Sayed, R., op. cit., 1 (1982), p. 416: 418, Doc. 481;
[74] El-Sayed, R., La Déesse Neith des Sais, BdE 86/2 (1982), p. 417, 418, Doc. 481.
[75] Mysliwiec, K., Royal Portraiture of the Dynasties XXI: XXX(1988), p. 79, pi. LXXIX, a, b, d.
[93] Noshy, I., The Arts in Ptolemaic Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Influences in Ptolemaic Architecture and Sculpture, 1937, Reprinted by Ares Publishers, 1980.
It is curious that 'Queen Isis' was associated instead w/ Hecate.
The conflation of Aphrodite Areia with several Semitic goddesses is highly probable; see Andrew Stewart, "Two notes on Greeks Bearing Arms" in Ortwin Dally, et al. Medien der Geschichte - Antikes Griechenland und Rom [2014], p.241:
Branko van Oppen de Ruiter, Berenice II Euergetis: Essays in Early Hellenistic Queenship [2015],pp.37-8:
'Armed Aphrodite' may be the same as "Venus Victrix," a popular motif on signet rings of the period:
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Anat was a Northern Israelitish female deity recognized for over 1,000 years; in Egypt, Anat was syncretized to Neith. At Elephantine, (Proto)Jews still worshipped Anat-Yahu c.550 BC, the consort oddess had been fused to YWH. The Ptolemies erecting statues to their deified female ruler (c.270 BC) as the Warrior Maiden, i.e. in high resemblance to Anat, speaks to the persistence of a more ancient Semitic cult at Plinthine which had previously syncretized to an Egyptian cult of Neith and Greek cult of Athena.
M.E. Mondriaan, 'Anat-Yahu and the Jews at Elephantine', Journal for Semitics, vol. 22, no. 2 [2013], pp.546-7:
Papyrus Chester Beatty records a mythology known in the 20th Dynasty (c.1150 BC), when Anat (Baal's Sister) was known as the Daughter of Amon-Re (Bull On), she was given to Seth as Wife; here is one interesting combination of Seth-Baal.
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.2 [1973], p.215:
Mofida Hassan El-Weshahy and Samar Mohammed Mosleh, "The Relationship between the Main Gods of EI-Baharyah Province and the Goddess Neith during the Late Period," in Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality, Vol. 11, No. 2, December 2014, p.30:
At Naukratis, the Temple of Aphrodite/Neith can be dated c.600 BC. A purported conflation of Greek Hera, Athena, Aphrodite corresponds to the conflation of Semitic Qudšu, Astarte and Anat ~700 years earlier. 'Armed Aphrodite' (or Athena-Aphrodite) conceptualizing Neith of Sais suggests Wisdom as 'Neith' (Aphrodite) likewise. Bi-sexual Herm-aphrodite suggests another blending whose characteristics need to be studied more carefully.
Aphrodite Euploia ("Aphrodite of Good Sailing"), YES; but 'Aphrodite of fluids' I doubt. However, how do we understand Isis, on the wine-producing Taenia? Herodotus tells that Osiris was worshipped as Dionysus(-Bacchus-Liber), and several hundred years later Mark Antony was styled Dionysus-Osiris, alongside his Cleopatra as Isis-Aphrodite. Numerous sources have identified Jews with Dionysios worship, and some "Jews" were reportedly expelled from Rome with the Isis cult. An Isis-Aphrodite cult logically explains orgiastic fertility rituals, in any case. But can that be demonstrated, from any archaeological evidence? The historically-valid interpretation may pass back to the much older local (Egyptian) goddess Neith.
In so scandalous an environs, Philo's apologetic for the sober Therapeutides' sexuality (DVC 68), chaste of course, was a diametrically-opposed prerequisite. But perhaps his details of the Pannychis were also necessary, to counter insinuations or rumors regarding certain drunken orgies which did occur nearby (Strabo 1.17)? Philo's defense of the Therapeutae makes sense, especially in this light.
Alessandria e il mondo ellenistico-romano: Studi in onore di Achille Adriani, Vol.1, edited by Nicola Bonacasa, Antonino Di Vita [1983/1992], p.123:
Patai (1968) correctly grasps the essential truth, but errs badly on the chronology. Some uncertainty remains; 'Asherah' might mean 'residence' or 'consort', or it could be the goddess' name. In any case, Astarte and Anat pre-existed the Yahwehist cult and co-existed w/ older male Semitic deities before 'Jews' were a people. For Judaic Semites, returning to 'The Queen of Heaven' was backsliding to a more ancient faith, apparently.
Raphael Patai, The Hebrew Goddess, [1968], p.25-6:
More information and additional insights my be gleaned from Egyptianizing tombs, dating from the 2nd century BC, have also been identified in the necropolis of Plinthine located on the north shore of Lake Mareotis.
F.O. Hvidberg-Hansen, “Uni-Ashtarte and Tanit-Iuno Caelestis: Two Phoenician Goddesses of Fertility Reconsidered from Recent Archaeological Discoveries,” pp.170-195 in Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean, ed. Anthony Bonanno [1986], p.176:
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.23: "In Kythira, Scandeia {=Kapsali} is a harbor on the coast; and Kythira, the town {near Chora}, is about ten stades up from Scandeia. The Sanctuary of Ourania (Heavenly Aphrodite) is most holy: the oldest of all Aphrodite sanctuaries among the Greeks; and the Goddess Herself is represented by a wooden image, wearing armor."
Hesychius, ῎Εγχειος, Αφροδίτη Κύπριοι 233 (134): "Enkheios {i.e. The Spear-holding One}: Aphrodite [according to the] Cypriots"
Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire [1996], p. :
Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire [1996], p. :
also THIS https://books.google.com/books?id=qY973Ah43qoC&pg=PA173
Phanebalos as a Mercenary God.
Link:
A few important inferences may be drawn from von Bomhard (2012): at Naukratis, the cult of Amon-Re-Baded occupied a hilltop, and this Amon cult controlled the Agathodaimon serpent. Also, the Naukratis pantheon was four-fold: Amon, Agathodaimon, Mut and Khonsu-Thoth. Amon's Son, Khonsu-Thoth, was identified with a child form of Herakles; Mut was Hera. Amunet was syncretized to Neith, suckling Pharaoh Philip III of Macedon (323–317 BC) as a divine child, later carved on a wall at Karnak.
See Anne-Sophie von Bomhard, The Decree of Saïs: The Stelae of Thonis-Heracleion and Naukratis [2012], pp.6-7:
(Amun-Ra Baded, Amun Baded, Ammon Badet, etc.) In the tripartite pantheon, Amon is the chief male deity (Father), Mut (Mother) and Khonsu-Thoth/Herakles (Son).
von Bomhard, [2012], p.23
Among the priestly caste at the Temple of Amon, in Thebes during the 21st Dynasty (c.1000 BC), one title was 'Female Chorist of Amon' and 'Choral Singer and Musician of Great Mot, Nurse of Khonsu' ; see Saphinaz-Amal Naguib, Le clergé féminin d'Amon thébain à la 21e dynastie [1990].
Bubastis became the royal residence when Shoshenq I, founder of the 22nd Dynasty and a Meshwesh ruler w/ Libyan origins and Canaanite connections, became Pharaoh in 943 BC. Although commercial power shifted towards Sais c.664–525 BC, Bubastis remained a central authority in the region until the Persian conquest by Cambyses II in 525 BC. Incidentally, the Jewish temple at Leontopolis (c.170 BC-73 AD) was built on the site of a ruined temple of Bubastis. In rulership and commerce, the Saite Dynasty is therefore tied up historically w/ Judeo-Egyptian politics and culture, so a Jewish temple in this Egyptian center is not as strange as it might seem at first: this is the land of 'Moses the Egyptian' after all.
Investigate:
Ariel G. López, "The Western Delta in Late Antiquity: History and Archaeology" in Studies in Late Antiquity (2023) 7 (3): pp.445–473.
Mostafa Elshamy, The Primal Age of Divine Revelation: Volume II Our Roots in the Great Pyramid [2019], pp.158-9:
Maciej Paprocki, Roads in the Deserts of Roman Egypt [2019], pp.201-5 explains the significance of the coastal road along the Mareotic Strip traveled by Libyan traders, which Herodotus records as a 'Persian'-staffed guard post on the Libya-Egypt border during the 26th Dynasty.
Stephanus of Byzantium's Ethnica (c.525 AD) § P527.17 informs us that in Antiquity, a resident of Plinthine was called a Plinthinite (Πλινθινίτης); inhabitants of the Strip were called Taeniotai (Ταινιῶται).
The Imperial librarian Gaius Julius Hyginus (c.10 AD) reports ancient sources. Known from Antiquity, the Goddess at Plinthine was a both a War-Goddess and Patron Saint of Voyagers c.245 BC. What is most extraordinary -- recalling what we already know about the ancient practice of Adonia among Egyptian Jews, into the 20th C -- the 'Greek' Pharaoh-Queen herself shaved her head in the same offering as followers of Byblian Aphrodite, at Aphaka, Lebanon: a connection to the ancient and sacred prostitution for Astarte (ʿAṯtart,ʿAštōret, Ishtar + the Queen of Heaven). Jewish mytholgy knows this divinity as Qadesh (Qedesh, Kadesh, Qetesh, ...) or Qudshu/Astarte/Anat, Aphrodite Palaestina (the Sex-Maiden); the Chronos Myth ties in, also.
Where one myth has Anat joining El's wife, Mother of the Gods (Hera), 'Lady Asherah of the Sea', two goddesses are apparent. "Lady Asherah of the Sea" = Ashtoreth, Baalat, Astarte: Yahweh's mature Asherah.
It is unclear how Anat (worshiped by Jews at Elephantine as Anat-Yahu) was distinct or different -- both Yahu-Anat and Baal-Anat appear to be the common/late Semitic deity pairing -- but (Saite) Neith gave both Anat and Astarte to 'outsider god' Seth as two brides. Logically, the Egyptian Seth-Baal culture recognized both goddesses.
Astronomers were associated w/ the folklore of this Plinthine Temple, recorded in famed poetry, so 'Aphrodite Zephyritis' was certainly significant for the first generations of Ptolemies. Recalling the Chaldean series, what was the significance of 'The Seven' resolution?
c.10 AD: Hyginus, De Astronomia § 2.24.1f
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125 AD: in Byblos, Lucian of Samosata confirms the 'Aphrodite' mystery cult (of the Syrian Goddess) was still closely affiliated with Osiris "for some Byblians."
75 AD: in the early Roman Period, a pottery workshop near Plinthine produced clay figurines to the Goddess(es), archaeological site Tabet Mutawah, in Al-Ameriya).
55 BC: the sanctuary at Cape Zephyrion (at Plinthine) was known to Romans as Venus Arsinoe Zephyriti: Catullus, Carmina 66 (c.55 BC) identified Berenice with "Venus, Zephyritis."
270 BC: the deified Pharaoh-Queen Arsinoë was called 'Aphrodite Akraia Arsinoe' ; the sanctuary at Cape Zephyrion (at Plinthine) was dedicated to her as 'Aphrodite Zephyritis'.
400 BC: Anat-Yahu (=Anat-Baal, Baalat-Baal, Amunet-Amon) worshiped by Northern Israelitish mercenaries at Elephantine.
600 BC: Herodus (450 BC) reported Semitic frontier mercenaries "Persians" under Wahibre Psamtik I at Marea, at the Libyan frontier (religion unknown).
650 BC: Saite Goddess Worship
See Katelijn Vandorpe, « “Persian” Mercenaries with Egyptian Traditions and Hellenizing Intentions: On Native Soldiers in Ptolemaic Thebaid », in Sänger, Scheuble-Reiter (éd.) 2022, p.197-207.
Let us assume Philo's Therapeutae were, as suggested by De Vita Contemplativa c.15 AD, long-resident near Plinthine. There, as the online Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places, 2023 informs us, a "large Ptolemaic temple seems to have been dismantled and built over during the Roman period." And since the only Ptolemaic temple mentioned in ancient sources is the Sanctuary of Arsinoe-Aphrodite, 'Aphrodite-at-Arms,' the obvious question is what relationship these Semitic healers/servants of God had w/ this local temple. IF a strange Semitic cult had affiliated w/ this site, perhaps even using the temple for their pannychis, then its deliberate destruction in the Roman period c.115 AD (indicated by recent archaeological reports) has a rather simple explanation. (Claudius accused Alexandrian Jews of tampering w/ the local Greek cult.) Analogous to a longstanding Jewish temple at Leontopolis in the same period, local Semites at Plinthine may have employed a less-used pagan sanctuary, or an adjacent cult storehouse (like the Centurion’s Synagogue at Capernaum?), for their own forum. Then, some scandal or pogrom brought an end to this sub-culture in its homeland. Philo's defense of this group c.15 AD and later 38 AD makes sense as a rhetorical reply to Roman suspicions about Judeo-Egyptian cultic activity at Plinthine and an attendant period controversy at Alexandria.
Who were these Semites? What were the particulars of their profession? How far back may their cult be traced? These and other unsettled, controversial questions appear instantly; worse still, definitive answers to their exact identity and purpose may be uncertain, lost in time. Regarding these mantic specialists, a (quasi)Jewish caste operating in divers Egyptian temples, I will present a number of possible clues in Philo's DVC to develop this hypothesis.
To begin, I wish to point out that deification of Arsinoe at Plinthine is, in itself, strongly indicative of a trans-cultural continuity: an ancient Libyo-Egyptian goddess cult with a Semitic coloring was present in this area for hundreds of years. Therefore, a brief historical sketch of the deity's lineage is both necessary and informative. Both Egyptian gods Ammon and Neith have ancient Libyan origins; Libyan tribes began settling the Western Delta c.1375 BC, worshipping Amun and Amunet (~Canaanite Baal and Anat) at Siwa among other places. Neith/Nit of the Egyptians, Tanit of the Phoenicians, and Athena of Greeks in Egypt were equivalent expressions for the ancient Libyan Goddess Tannit: a Creator Goddess associated w/ Wisdom and Law. Then, Egyptian goddess Neith becomes the dominant substitution, rising to prominence at the western Delta/Mareotis during the 26th Dynasty (c.685-525 BC), especially in the capital Sais. At Rosetta, King Apries (589-570 BC) erected blocks venerating Neith, stones likely from a building at Sais connected with Neith's cult [43]. Scholars have argued that Naukratis scarabs from Apries reign, manufactured by Phoenicians, have been found at Yavne-Yam (see James [2015] p.362). Also under Apries, a Naukratis temple to the ram-headed Amon-Rê-Baded, ''Zeus-Ammon" (Demetrious [2012], p.116) was situated near a temple to Neith-Aphrodite c.577 BC. Logically, the syncretistic Phoenician deity pair 'Baal Hammon and Anat' was established in the Western Delta, c.600 BC. As yet another another parallel in accord, Philo of Byblos (c.125 AD, but utilizing much older 'Hermetic' sources) suggests a Philistine syzygy Surmubelus and Thuro {Command of Ba'al and Torah} c.600-400 BC. In Semitic communities of the Taenia, the continuity of Anat worship (expressed as Egyptian Neith-Aphrodite or Armed Aphrodite) was tacitly recognized by the construction of a Temple to Arsinoe-Aphrodite at the beginning of the Ptolemaic period.
In 30th Dynasty (380-343 BC), Neith became the state deity of Egypt, a popularity lasting into the Ptolemaic period [16,17]. A stela of Nectanebo I dating to c.380 BC mentions Neith's temple found near Naukratis name the Mareotis nome [72,74,75], and a naos describe that regional king as beloved of Neith [62,63]. In the Ptolemaic Period (305-30 BC), the Greeks identified Neith with Athena and referred to her as "Armed Aphrodite" (Aphrodite Areia) [36]. An Aphrodite temple at Naucratis likely equates with a Neith sanctuary [93]. In short, Neith was the dominant goddess in the Saite western Delta region around Lake Mareotis from c.685 BC into the Ptolemaic Period (c.260 BC, at least). By the Ptolemaic era (305-30 BC), the supreme goddess became syncretized with Greek Athena and Aphrodite in this area [36,93].
Check!
[17] ﻟﺴﺎﺑﻖ، ﻟﻤﺮ ﺎﻟﺢ، ﻟﺰﺰ ﺒﺪ١٩٧٦ ،٢٧٥،٢٧٧
[36] Yoyotte, J., "Guardian of The Nile: Thonis Rediscovered" reports on the recent dramatic discovery of Heracleion made of Egypt by Frank Goddio of the Institut Européen D'Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM), MINERVA, Vol. 13-Number 3 (2002), p. 32; Schmidt, V., Chois Monuments Égyptiens, Deuxiéme Serie (1918), p. 63, fig. 149.
[43] Gauthier, H., Le Livre Des Rois D 'Égypte, Tom. IV (1916),p.109, XVIa, XVII, a,b.
[62] PM, Lower and Middle Egypte, IV (1934), p. 49; Roeder, G., Naos, Câtalogue Géneral des Musée du Caire (1914), p. 57, 58, pl. XVI; Gauthier, H. M., LR VI (I916),p. 189 XXI; El-Sayed, R., op. cit., I (1982), Doc. 404, p. 420;
[63] Peter A. Clayton, op. cit. (London, 1994), p. 203; Beckerath, J. Von, "Königsnamen", LÄ III (1980), 555f./ Dyn. 30-1; Beckerath, J. Von, Handbuch des Ägyptischen Königsnamen, MÄS 20 (1984), 116f.; Gauthier, H. M., Le Livre des Rois, IV (1916), pp. 183.
[72] Erman, A., "Die Naukratis Stelle", ZÄS 39, 12ff.; Maspero, G., Guide des Musèe du Caire (1914), pl. IX; PM IV (1934), p. 50; Wilcken, U., "Die Naukratis Stelle", ZÄS 38 (1900), 130ff.; Gauthier, H. M., LRVI (1916),p. 184 (II); El-Sayed, R., op. cit., 1 (1982), p. 416: 418, Doc. 481;
[74] El-Sayed, R., La Déesse Neith des Sais, BdE 86/2 (1982), p. 417, 418, Doc. 481.
[75] Mysliwiec, K., Royal Portraiture of the Dynasties XXI: XXX(1988), p. 79, pi. LXXIX, a, b, d.
[93] Noshy, I., The Arts in Ptolemaic Egypt: A Study of Greek and Egyptian Influences in Ptolemaic Architecture and Sculpture, 1937, Reprinted by Ares Publishers, 1980.
It is curious that 'Queen Isis' was associated instead w/ Hecate.
The conflation of Aphrodite Areia with several Semitic goddesses is highly probable; see Andrew Stewart, "Two notes on Greeks Bearing Arms" in Ortwin Dally, et al. Medien der Geschichte - Antikes Griechenland und Rom [2014], p.241:
In these circumstances, to place the Ptolemaic kingdom’s pretensions to hegemony over land and sea and to pre-eminence in both war and peace under the sign of the deified Arsinoe/Aphrodite was more than a stroke of near genius32. At that time and place, perhaps it was all but inevitable.
n.32 As Tonio Hölscher remarks per litteras, all this in turn prompts a reconsideration of Aphrodite Areia’s possible links, on the one hand, with the ancient Near Eastern goddesses Inanna, Ishtar/Astarte (largely bracketed by Pironti (2007) 12, 154ff.), Anat, Anahita, Tanit, and especially in the present context the Egyptian war goddess Neith; and on the other, to the Roman Venus Victrix, as represented, for example on Julius Caesar’s signet ring, Octavian’s Alexandrian victory coins, and so on: Dio 43,43,3; Flemberg (1991) 110ff., figs. 56ff. Limitations of space prohibit me from pursuing these inquiries here.
n.32 As Tonio Hölscher remarks per litteras, all this in turn prompts a reconsideration of Aphrodite Areia’s possible links, on the one hand, with the ancient Near Eastern goddesses Inanna, Ishtar/Astarte (largely bracketed by Pironti (2007) 12, 154ff.), Anat, Anahita, Tanit, and especially in the present context the Egyptian war goddess Neith; and on the other, to the Roman Venus Victrix, as represented, for example on Julius Caesar’s signet ring, Octavian’s Alexandrian victory coins, and so on: Dio 43,43,3; Flemberg (1991) 110ff., figs. 56ff. Limitations of space prohibit me from pursuing these inquiries here.
Branko van Oppen de Ruiter, Berenice II Euergetis: Essays in Early Hellenistic Queenship [2015],pp.37-8:
Berenice II and Cleopatra I shared Egyptian titles such as “Heqat (Female Ruler),” “Tjatyt (Female Vizier),” “Neb(t) Tauy (Lady of the Two Lands),” and “Pera‘at (Female Pharaoh),” that had rarely if ever been conferred upon Egyptian queens before.102 Additionally, both were considered the “Daughter of Thoth,” the “Sister-Wife of the Son of Ra,” and “Female Horus.”103 Furthermore, Berenice II and Cleopatra I were given an otherwise unique, nearly identical “Name of the Two Ladies of the (Brave or Beautiful) Subjects.”104 Her Two Ladies Name describes Berenice as “Made strong by Neith, the Lady of Saïs, and honored by Bastet, Mut and Hathor with their beauty,” and she is called “Effective of Counsel.”105 For Cleopatra I, the Two Ladies Name is (strangely) abbreviated to “Neith, Lady of Saïs, Makes Her Brave, Hathor Honors Her with Her Love.”106 Neith, Bastet, and Hathor were each identified with Tefnut, who in the myth of the Solar Eye was fetched from far-off by her brother Shu-Harueris to rejoin her father Ra and the gods of Egypt — just as Berenice and Cleopatra came from outside Egypt.107 The priests who bestowed these titles doubtless chose this abundance of associations to express the nature of the queens’ divine authority. More concretely, the Canopus Decree issued after the synod of Egyptian priests (238 BCE) praised the benevolence of the royal couple, their efforts in relieving the suffering of the populace when famine threatened after a low Nile inundation, their abundant provisions for the sacred animals (particularly Apis and Mnevis), and their rich endowments of the native temples.108 Consequently, the priests decreed to multiply the honors paid to the Benefactor Gods, and their “parents (Gk. goneis; Eg. qema-zen),” the Sibling Gods, as well as to their “ancestors (Gk. progonoi; Eg. iry-zen),” the Savior Gods.109 We thus see a close connection between benefactions, consanguinity, and salvation expressed in the divinity of the ruling king and queen.
102. For example, see: Thes. Inscr. 857–858, 863; Urk. II: 122, 206; Pestman 1967, 28, 42 n. d; von Beckerath 1984, 118–121 = 1999, 236–239; Quaegebeur 1978, 254–255; id. 1989a, 98, n. 27; id. 1989b, 102–103; Pomeroy 1984, 23; Troy 1986, 179 (P.5, 7); Huß 1994, 102, n. 154; Hölbl 2001, 85, 167; Tait 2003, 7.
103. Urk. II: 122, l. 3: nj, Ḥr.t (Berenice II); LdR IV: 287 (Cleopatra I); LD IV: 42c (Cleopatra III); LdR IV: 417 (Cleopatra VII); Troy 1986, 139–143, 179, 193–196; Tait 2003, 7; Minas 2005, 135. The title “Sister of the Son of Ra” is the equivalent of “Daughter of Ra”; from Berenice II to Cleopatra Berenice III, queens tend to have either one of these two titles; for example, LdR IV: 304 (Cleopatra II); ibid. 389 (Cleopatra Berenice III).
104. Urk. II: 122, l. 9 (rdἰ n-s Nb.tj rḫjt ḳn); LdR IV: 287 (rdἰ n-s Nb.tj rḫjt n nfr.w); Troy 1986, 179, 197.
105. Urk. II: 122, ll. 10–12 (swśr-s Nt nb Sȝw tn-s Bȝśt.t Mw.t Ḥtḥr m nfr.wsn ȝḫ-sḥ); Troy 1986, 179, 184 (P.5: A4/9; reading ȝḫj, “Marsh?Forecourt”; ȝḫ-sḥ lit. means “splendid/ glorious/ effective hall/ council/ counsel”). I would like to express my thanks to Katelijn Vandorpe and Harco Willems (Louvain) for their assistance with the translation of Berenice’s Two Ladies Name. Maria Nilsson (Gothenburg) adds a more esoteric interpretation (pers. corr.), in which the hieroglyphs of Tatenen (÷) and Mut (ǘ) respectively invoke the primordial Father God and Mother Goddess.
106. LdR IV: 287 (ḳn-s Nt nb.t Sȝw ṯn-s Ḥtḥr m mrw.t-s); von Beckerath 1984, 119, no. 5a = 1999, 238, no. 5a; Troy 1986, 179, 184 (P.7: A4/9).
107. RÄRG s.v. “Sonnenauge,” “Tefnut”; LÄ s.v. “Hathor,” II: 1026; Junker 1911, 1–87; Spiegelberg 1917; J. G. Griffiths 1960, 28–34; Allam 1963, 120–121; Bleeker 1973, 48–51, 65, 120–121; Pinch 1993, 191–197. The priestly synod, likewise, identified Berenice Parthenus with the Solar Eye in the Canopus Decree: Urk. II: 146, l. 28: ἰrt-Rʽ Mḥnt m ḥȝt-f; OGIS 56, ll. 55–56 (ὅτε μὲν βασιλείαν ὅτε δὲ ὅρασιν αὐτοῦ); Koenen 1993, 28, n. 8; S. Pfeiffer 2004, 168–171.
108. OGIS 56 (Canopus Decree), ll. 7–8: βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος κτλ. . . . καὶ βασίλισσα Βερενίκη ἡ άδελφὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ γυνή, θεοὶ Εὐεργέται, διατελοῦσιν πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα εὐεργετοῦντνες Notes κτλ.; Urk. II: 127–128, ll. 4–5: nśwt-bἰtἰ Ptwlmjś . . . ḥnʽ ḥḳȝ.t Brnjḳȝ.t śn.t-ḥm.t nṯr.wj-mnḫ.wj ḥrἰrj mnẖj.w ḳnw.w wr.w; ibid. 130, ll. 8–9: ḥn-f ḏś.f ḥʽ śn.t-f (absent in Gk. text); I. Cair. No. 22186; cf. Athen. 5.44 (209B: Hiero II sent wheat to Alexandria); Mahaffy 1895, 205; Bouché-Leclercq 1903–1907, I: 254–255; Bevan 1927, 196–197, 209; Bernand 1970, I(3): 989–1036, esp. 1008–1009; Huß 1978, 151–156; Peremans 1981, 628–636; Will 1979–1982, I: 253; Hauben 1990, 34–36; Hazzard 2000, 111; Hölbl 2001, 49; S. Pfeiffer 2004, 82–84. OGIS 56, l. 21; Urk. II: 133, ll. 11–12. Quaegebeur 1988, 48–49, figs. 22–23; Minas 2005, 135, fig. 5. For the relief scene of the Canopus Decree (I.Cair. 22.186), see: Roeder 1959–1961, III: 151; Hölbl 2001, 107, fig. 3.6; S. Pfeiffer 2008, fig. 15; Llewellyn-Jones and Winder 2011, fig. 3; Clayman 2014, fig. 10. For the relief scene of the Euergetes Gate, see: Clère 1961, pl. 43; S. Pfeiffer 2008, fig. 13; Llewellyn-Jones and Winder 2011, fig. 5; Clayman 2014, fig. 9. Bianchi 1978, 95–102; id. 1988, 105; Quaegebeur 1988, 48; Clayman 2014, 162; supra 64. On a stele from Tanis, Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III are shown in identical attire: LBM 1054; Quaegebeur 1971, 201, 216; id. 1983, 115; Bianchi et al. (eds.) 1988, no. 15; Ashton 2001b, 45, fig. 7. Quaegebeur 1978, 254–255; Pomeroy 1984, 23; Hölbl 2001, 85; Minas 2005, 128–133, figs. 1–4.
102. For example, see: Thes. Inscr. 857–858, 863; Urk. II: 122, 206; Pestman 1967, 28, 42 n. d; von Beckerath 1984, 118–121 = 1999, 236–239; Quaegebeur 1978, 254–255; id. 1989a, 98, n. 27; id. 1989b, 102–103; Pomeroy 1984, 23; Troy 1986, 179 (P.5, 7); Huß 1994, 102, n. 154; Hölbl 2001, 85, 167; Tait 2003, 7.
103. Urk. II: 122, l. 3: nj, Ḥr.t (Berenice II); LdR IV: 287 (Cleopatra I); LD IV: 42c (Cleopatra III); LdR IV: 417 (Cleopatra VII); Troy 1986, 139–143, 179, 193–196; Tait 2003, 7; Minas 2005, 135. The title “Sister of the Son of Ra” is the equivalent of “Daughter of Ra”; from Berenice II to Cleopatra Berenice III, queens tend to have either one of these two titles; for example, LdR IV: 304 (Cleopatra II); ibid. 389 (Cleopatra Berenice III).
104. Urk. II: 122, l. 9 (rdἰ n-s Nb.tj rḫjt ḳn); LdR IV: 287 (rdἰ n-s Nb.tj rḫjt n nfr.w); Troy 1986, 179, 197.
105. Urk. II: 122, ll. 10–12 (swśr-s Nt nb Sȝw tn-s Bȝśt.t Mw.t Ḥtḥr m nfr.wsn ȝḫ-sḥ); Troy 1986, 179, 184 (P.5: A4/9; reading ȝḫj, “Marsh?Forecourt”; ȝḫ-sḥ lit. means “splendid/ glorious/ effective hall/ council/ counsel”). I would like to express my thanks to Katelijn Vandorpe and Harco Willems (Louvain) for their assistance with the translation of Berenice’s Two Ladies Name. Maria Nilsson (Gothenburg) adds a more esoteric interpretation (pers. corr.), in which the hieroglyphs of Tatenen (÷) and Mut (ǘ) respectively invoke the primordial Father God and Mother Goddess.
106. LdR IV: 287 (ḳn-s Nt nb.t Sȝw ṯn-s Ḥtḥr m mrw.t-s); von Beckerath 1984, 119, no. 5a = 1999, 238, no. 5a; Troy 1986, 179, 184 (P.7: A4/9).
107. RÄRG s.v. “Sonnenauge,” “Tefnut”; LÄ s.v. “Hathor,” II: 1026; Junker 1911, 1–87; Spiegelberg 1917; J. G. Griffiths 1960, 28–34; Allam 1963, 120–121; Bleeker 1973, 48–51, 65, 120–121; Pinch 1993, 191–197. The priestly synod, likewise, identified Berenice Parthenus with the Solar Eye in the Canopus Decree: Urk. II: 146, l. 28: ἰrt-Rʽ Mḥnt m ḥȝt-f; OGIS 56, ll. 55–56 (ὅτε μὲν βασιλείαν ὅτε δὲ ὅρασιν αὐτοῦ); Koenen 1993, 28, n. 8; S. Pfeiffer 2004, 168–171.
108. OGIS 56 (Canopus Decree), ll. 7–8: βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος κτλ. . . . καὶ βασίλισσα Βερενίκη ἡ άδελφὴ αὐτοῦ καὶ γυνή, θεοὶ Εὐεργέται, διατελοῦσιν πολλὰ καὶ μεγάλα εὐεργετοῦντνες Notes κτλ.; Urk. II: 127–128, ll. 4–5: nśwt-bἰtἰ Ptwlmjś . . . ḥnʽ ḥḳȝ.t Brnjḳȝ.t śn.t-ḥm.t nṯr.wj-mnḫ.wj ḥrἰrj mnẖj.w ḳnw.w wr.w; ibid. 130, ll. 8–9: ḥn-f ḏś.f ḥʽ śn.t-f (absent in Gk. text); I. Cair. No. 22186; cf. Athen. 5.44 (209B: Hiero II sent wheat to Alexandria); Mahaffy 1895, 205; Bouché-Leclercq 1903–1907, I: 254–255; Bevan 1927, 196–197, 209; Bernand 1970, I(3): 989–1036, esp. 1008–1009; Huß 1978, 151–156; Peremans 1981, 628–636; Will 1979–1982, I: 253; Hauben 1990, 34–36; Hazzard 2000, 111; Hölbl 2001, 49; S. Pfeiffer 2004, 82–84. OGIS 56, l. 21; Urk. II: 133, ll. 11–12. Quaegebeur 1988, 48–49, figs. 22–23; Minas 2005, 135, fig. 5. For the relief scene of the Canopus Decree (I.Cair. 22.186), see: Roeder 1959–1961, III: 151; Hölbl 2001, 107, fig. 3.6; S. Pfeiffer 2008, fig. 15; Llewellyn-Jones and Winder 2011, fig. 3; Clayman 2014, fig. 10. For the relief scene of the Euergetes Gate, see: Clère 1961, pl. 43; S. Pfeiffer 2008, fig. 13; Llewellyn-Jones and Winder 2011, fig. 5; Clayman 2014, fig. 9. Bianchi 1978, 95–102; id. 1988, 105; Quaegebeur 1988, 48; Clayman 2014, 162; supra 64. On a stele from Tanis, Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III are shown in identical attire: LBM 1054; Quaegebeur 1971, 201, 216; id. 1983, 115; Bianchi et al. (eds.) 1988, no. 15; Ashton 2001b, 45, fig. 7. Quaegebeur 1978, 254–255; Pomeroy 1984, 23; Hölbl 2001, 85; Minas 2005, 128–133, figs. 1–4.
'Armed Aphrodite' may be the same as "Venus Victrix," a popular motif on signet rings of the period:
Anat was a Northern Israelitish female deity recognized for over 1,000 years; in Egypt, Anat was syncretized to Neith. At Elephantine, (Proto)Jews still worshipped Anat-Yahu c.550 BC, the consort oddess had been fused to YWH. The Ptolemies erecting statues to their deified female ruler (c.270 BC) as the Warrior Maiden, i.e. in high resemblance to Anat, speaks to the persistence of a more ancient Semitic cult at Plinthine which had previously syncretized to an Egyptian cult of Neith and Greek cult of Athena.
M.E. Mondriaan, 'Anat-Yahu and the Jews at Elephantine', Journal for Semitics, vol. 22, no. 2 [2013], pp.546-7:
Anat evidently developed amongst the North-Syrian Aramaeans and was introduced into Egypt during the mid-Second Millennium B.C.E. by the Hyksos who infiltrated Egypt {c.1800 BC} and eventually took over {1650 BC}.28 After the expulsion of the Hyksos, Anat’s cult continued to flourish in Egypt (Guirand 1996:76). During the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Dynasties {c.1570-1185 BC}29 she appeared in the Egyptian sources as a significant goddess of war who was incorporated into the Egyptian mythology.30 It seems that Ramesses II {c.1250 BC} had a special preference for Anat. An inscription on a relief from Thebes refers to Qudšu, Astarte and Anat, indicating a fusion of these goddesses (Day 1986:389).
28 The Hyksos were Semitic-speaking people who infiltrated Egypt from the Levant (Hoffmeier 1994:270).
29 Eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties: 1570-1185 B.C.E. (Clayton 1994:98).
30 Day (1986:388-389). Violent quarrels between the Egyptian gods Horus, the sky god who took on the form of a falcon, and Seth, the evil brother of the Egyptian god Osiris, were occasionally central elements in Egyptian myths. In a letter to the divine council during such a quarrel, Neith, goddess of war and hunting, proposed that two foreign goddesses, Anat and Astarte, be given to Seth as compensation for his renouncing of the throne to Horus (Willis 1993:44, 51).
28 The Hyksos were Semitic-speaking people who infiltrated Egypt from the Levant (Hoffmeier 1994:270).
29 Eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties: 1570-1185 B.C.E. (Clayton 1994:98).
30 Day (1986:388-389). Violent quarrels between the Egyptian gods Horus, the sky god who took on the form of a falcon, and Seth, the evil brother of the Egyptian god Osiris, were occasionally central elements in Egyptian myths. In a letter to the divine council during such a quarrel, Neith, goddess of war and hunting, proposed that two foreign goddesses, Anat and Astarte, be given to Seth as compensation for his renouncing of the throne to Horus (Willis 1993:44, 51).
Papyrus Chester Beatty records a mythology known in the 20th Dynasty (c.1150 BC), when Anat (Baal's Sister) was known as the Daughter of Amon-Re (Bull On), she was given to Seth as Wife; here is one interesting combination of Seth-Baal.
Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, Vol.2 [1973], p.215:
{P. Chester Beatty Recto, c.3.3:} Then Neith the Great, Divine Mother, sent a letter to the Ennead, stating: “Give the office of Osiris to his son Horus, and don’t do those great misdeeds that are disorderly. Or I shall get angry and the Sky will crash to the ground! And let it be said to the All-Lord, Bull of On: 'Double Seth’s possessions. Give him Anat and Astarte, your two daughters. And place Horus on the seat of his father!'"
Mofida Hassan El-Weshahy and Samar Mohammed Mosleh, "The Relationship between the Main Gods of EI-Baharyah Province and the Goddess Neith during the Late Period," in Journal of Association of Arab Universities for Tourism and Hospitality, Vol. 11, No. 2, December 2014, p.30:
Doc. 12: The priest of Athena at Naukratis, where Herodotus identified the divinities of Egypt with those of Greece.91 Such identification became much more general and complete in later years when they were masters in Egypt. In Naukratis itself, excavation has revealed the remains of the early temple of Hera, Apollo and Aphrodite.92 I. Noshy suggested that the Greek associated 'Athena' with 'Neith' and the statue of Aphrodite at Sais should have been dedicated for the goddess 'Neith',(93) not for the goddess Hathor.94 It also associated her with Hera.95 The priest of Athena at Naukratis had an additional "Law orders" (syngraphophylax).96 Neith also was known as "Herm-Aphrodite", as she had taken the functions of Hermes and Aphrodite.97
91) El-Sayed, R., BIFAO 76 (1976), p. 95, 96, pi. XVII (CG. 427); El-Sayed, R., op. cit., I (1982), p. 129, Doc. 564 .
92) Lurker, M. Göiter und Symbol (1991), 199f.; Sauneron.S., Esna, III, p. 263, 265; El-Sayed, R., op. cit., (1982), p.58,59. {Lloyd, Alan B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II: Introduction [1975], p.111 explains 2.28 "scribe of the Treasury of Neith" is what's meant by 'officer of Athena.'}
93) Vernus, P., Lessing, E., The Gods of Ancient Egypt (1998), p. 118, 188.
94) Petrie, W. F., Gardiner, E, Naukratis I (1886), p. 94, pi. XXXVI-l.A.B.C; El-Sayed, R., op. cit, li (1982), p. 467
and also Doc. 498, Doc. 507.
95) Spence, L., Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends (New York, 1990), p. 303; Cerny, J., Ancient Egyptian Religion
(London, 1957), p. 134. 92
96) Černý, J., op.cit (1957), p. 134
97) ...?
91) El-Sayed, R., BIFAO 76 (1976), p. 95, 96, pi. XVII (CG. 427); El-Sayed, R., op. cit., I (1982), p. 129, Doc. 564 .
92) Lurker, M. Göiter und Symbol (1991), 199f.; Sauneron.S., Esna, III, p. 263, 265; El-Sayed, R., op. cit., (1982), p.58,59. {Lloyd, Alan B. Lloyd, Herodotus, Book II: Introduction [1975], p.111 explains 2.28 "scribe of the Treasury of Neith" is what's meant by 'officer of Athena.'}
93) Vernus, P., Lessing, E., The Gods of Ancient Egypt (1998), p. 118, 188.
94) Petrie, W. F., Gardiner, E, Naukratis I (1886), p. 94, pi. XXXVI-l.A.B.C; El-Sayed, R., op. cit, li (1982), p. 467
and also Doc. 498, Doc. 507.
95) Spence, L., Ancient Egyptian Myths and Legends (New York, 1990), p. 303; Cerny, J., Ancient Egyptian Religion
(London, 1957), p. 134. 92
96) Černý, J., op.cit (1957), p. 134
97) ...?
At Naukratis, the Temple of Aphrodite/Neith can be dated c.600 BC. A purported conflation of Greek Hera, Athena, Aphrodite corresponds to the conflation of Semitic Qudšu, Astarte and Anat ~700 years earlier. 'Armed Aphrodite' (or Athena-Aphrodite) conceptualizing Neith of Sais suggests Wisdom as 'Neith' (Aphrodite) likewise. Bi-sexual Herm-aphrodite suggests another blending whose characteristics need to be studied more carefully.
Aphrodite Euploia ("Aphrodite of Good Sailing"), YES; but 'Aphrodite of fluids' I doubt. However, how do we understand Isis, on the wine-producing Taenia? Herodotus tells that Osiris was worshipped as Dionysus(-Bacchus-Liber), and several hundred years later Mark Antony was styled Dionysus-Osiris, alongside his Cleopatra as Isis-Aphrodite. Numerous sources have identified Jews with Dionysios worship, and some "Jews" were reportedly expelled from Rome with the Isis cult. An Isis-Aphrodite cult logically explains orgiastic fertility rituals, in any case. But can that be demonstrated, from any archaeological evidence? The historically-valid interpretation may pass back to the much older local (Egyptian) goddess Neith.
In so scandalous an environs, Philo's apologetic for the sober Therapeutides' sexuality (DVC 68), chaste of course, was a diametrically-opposed prerequisite. But perhaps his details of the Pannychis were also necessary, to counter insinuations or rumors regarding certain drunken orgies which did occur nearby (Strabo 1.17)? Philo's defense of the Therapeutae makes sense, especially in this light.
Alessandria e il mondo ellenistico-romano: Studi in onore di Achille Adriani, Vol.1, edited by Nicola Bonacasa, Antonino Di Vita [1983/1992], p.123:
In fact, already during the 3rd century BC there are elements which demonstrate how in some cases {Arsinoe’s} identification with Isis is complete. In Sais as early as 266 BC, Arsinoe II is indeed associated with Neith as Isis Arsinoe Philadelphos, and on the Pithom stele of 264/3 BC she appears alongside her husband in the guise of Isis (29). A statuette from New York (30), which the hieroglyphic inscription on the back attests to be an image of Arsinoe II, also depicts her as Isis: the work, though dated by von Bothmer (31) to the end of the 2nd century BC, merely demonstrates the continuity of a cult of Arsinoe-Isis already attested to immediately after her death.
29. Thomson, p.59
30. Kyrieleis, pp.82,178, 71 1-2.
31. Bothmer [1960], p.159, n.123, 114-5.
29. Thomson, p.59
30. Kyrieleis, pp.82,178, 71 1-2.
31. Bothmer [1960], p.159, n.123, 114-5.
Patai (1968) correctly grasps the essential truth, but errs badly on the chronology. Some uncertainty remains; 'Asherah' might mean 'residence' or 'consort', or it could be the goddess' name. In any case, Astarte and Anat pre-existed the Yahwehist cult and co-existed w/ older male Semitic deities before 'Jews' were a people. For Judaic Semites, returning to 'The Queen of Heaven' was backsliding to a more ancient faith, apparently.
Raphael Patai, The Hebrew Goddess, [1968], p.25-6:
Were Asherah, Astarte and the other goddesses served by the Biblical Hebrews, Hebrew goddesses or merely foreign abominations as labeled by the prophets? Gods are rarely invented or discovered; rather they are taken over by one group from another. Even Yahweh had pre-Hebrew antecedents, and so had the deity called El and identified by the Hebrews with Yahweh. The Roman Jupiter goes back to the Greek Zeus pater, who, in turn, is derived from the Sanskrit Diaus pitar. As long as a god is alive, he can easily cross international frontiers and establish himself in a new country in superficially changed but basically identical image and function. This is what probably happened to Asherah, Astarte and Anath: they arrived, at different times no doubt, among the Hebrews, and, although foreign in origin, they soon adopted the Hebrews as their children, and allotted them all the benefits man finds in the worship of a goddess. There can be no doubt that the goddess to whom the Hebrews clung with such tenacity down to the days of Joshiah, and to whom they returned with such remorse following the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, was, whatever the prophets had to say about her, no foreign seductress, but a Hebrew goddess,the best divine mother the people had had to that time. Following the death of the “spirit of idolatry" in the days of Nehemia, the Hebrew goddess succeeded in surviving. She underwent, to be sure, an astounding metamorphosis, but then that too, is the mark of a living deity. In one of her manifestations she penetrated — in what period we can only conjecture—the rebuilt sanctuary as a female Cherub, poised in marital embrace with her male partner in the dark cell of the Holy of Holies. In another, she became the manifestation\of Gods presence, the Shekhina — a feminine name just as God 's' is masculine—the loving, rejoicing, motherly, suffering,mourning, and, in general, emotion-charged aspect of deity.
More information and additional insights my be gleaned from Egyptianizing tombs, dating from the 2nd century BC, have also been identified in the necropolis of Plinthine located on the north shore of Lake Mareotis.
F.O. Hvidberg-Hansen, “Uni-Ashtarte and Tanit-Iuno Caelestis: Two Phoenician Goddesses of Fertility Reconsidered from Recent Archaeological Discoveries,” pp.170-195 in Archaeology and Fertility Cult in the Ancient Mediterranean, ed. Anthony Bonanno [1986], p.176:
The Nabatean goddess Allat (from al-ilat, cf. the Ugaritic ilt) , called "Mother of the gods" in a Nabatean inscription (CIS II, 185), whom Herodutus calls Alilat, is the goddess of Ascalon, whom he too calls Aphrodite Ourania whose temple Herodotus considers the eldest and the one from which the cult of Aphrodite Ourania has been spread westwards, to Cyprus and Cythera (Herod. I, 105.131; III,8). But this goddess is stated as being armed (Pausanias III,23; Hesychius, s.v. ἐγχείος); this aspect, however, corresponds to the cult at Ascalon, where the coinage of Roman imperial time shows the armed goddess called Phanebalos, occasionally with the so-called 'Sign of Tanit'. These coins are thus supposed to have the aspect of Anat, the cult of whom is indicated from the very name Derceto, having now been documentated as an Ugaritic epithet of Anat (drkt=“rule, dominion"), and from the mention of "Anat at Gaza" (near Ascalon) in an Egyptian text from the 12th C. BC. (Grdseloff 1942: 35sq.; Hvidberg-Hansen 1979: I,85,95 with note 210). The Oriental (Ascalonite) Aphrodite Ourania, alias Anat plus Ashtarte added to the maritime functions of Athirat, is an important contribution to the cult and religion of the Occident (cf. M.P. Nilsson considering the Aphrodite Euploia as an Oriental characteristic, 1967:521).2
Pausanias, Description of Greece 3.23: "In Kythira, Scandeia {=Kapsali} is a harbor on the coast; and Kythira, the town {near Chora}, is about ten stades up from Scandeia. The Sanctuary of Ourania (Heavenly Aphrodite) is most holy: the oldest of all Aphrodite sanctuaries among the Greeks; and the Goddess Herself is represented by a wooden image, wearing armor."
Hesychius, ῎Εγχειος, Αφροδίτη Κύπριοι 233 (134): "Enkheios {i.e. The Spear-holding One}: Aphrodite [according to the] Cypriots"
Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire [1996], p. :
According to Herodotus (II.30-O), the Persians retained the Saite installations, not only at Elephantine, but also "in Daphne at Pelusium against the Arabs and Assyrians, and a third at Marea to keep a watch on Libya." It is likely that the granting of land to garrison soldiers, especially well attested at Elephantine, was also inherited by the Persians from the Saites (cf. 11.152)
Pierre Briant, From Cyrus to Alexander: A History of the Persian Empire [1996], p. :
According to Diodorus, the news of the assassination of Xerxes and the subsequent turmoil incited the Egyptians to try to win back their freedom. Their first rebellious act was to expel the Persian tribute-collectors and to bestow royal authority on a Libyan, Inarus (463-462 BC). He gathered an army conscripted from the Egyptians and Libyans, reinforced by mercenaries from everywhere. He was aware of the disproportionof forces and sent an ambassador to Athens empowered to negotiate an alliance (symma-khia) and to promise the Athenians considerable future benefits and even a share in the control of Egypt (koine basileia). The Athenians responded enthusiastically to Inarus'srequest and soon sent a fleet to the Nile (XI.71.3-6). Thucydides supplies the following details:
Meanwhile Inarus, son of Psammetichus, a Libyan king of the Libyans on the Egyptian border, having his headquarters at Marea, the town above Pharos, caused a revolt of almost thewhole of Egypt from King Artaxerxes, and placing himself at its bead, invited the Atheniansto his assistance. Abandoning a Cyprian expedition upon which they happened to be engaged with two hundred ships of their own and their allies, they arrived in Egypt and sailed from the sea into the Nile, and making themselves masters of the river and two-thirds of Memphis, addressed themselves to the attack of the remaining third, which is called 'White Wall'. Within it were Persians and Medes who had taken refuge there, and Egyptians whohad not joined the rebellion. (I.104O)
Meanwhile Inarus, son of Psammetichus, a Libyan king of the Libyans on the Egyptian border, having his headquarters at Marea, the town above Pharos, caused a revolt of almost thewhole of Egypt from King Artaxerxes, and placing himself at its bead, invited the Atheniansto his assistance. Abandoning a Cyprian expedition upon which they happened to be engaged with two hundred ships of their own and their allies, they arrived in Egypt and sailed from the sea into the Nile, and making themselves masters of the river and two-thirds of Memphis, addressed themselves to the attack of the remaining third, which is called 'White Wall'. Within it were Persians and Medes who had taken refuge there, and Egyptians whohad not joined the rebellion. (I.104O)
also THIS https://books.google.com/books?id=qY973Ah43qoC&pg=PA173
Phanebalos as a Mercenary God.
Link:
Archaeological Sites
The ancient sites of Mareotis were for many years given scarcely any attention, even though they were far better preserved and more accessible than those of Alexandria itself. In the early 20th century, when work at Abu Mina started, much was still in place. The renewed growth of Alexandria and its region led to removal of ancient stone blocks, and as recently as the 1960s, the area could for the most part be described as barely explored, with the significant exception of Abu Mina. W. Müller-Wiener’s survey work in the 1960s distinguished two types of settlements: (1) those near the lake, with dense complexes of buildings with heavy superstructures of a “normal” type, whether regularly or irregularly laid out, with the last visible phase almost always of the 5th-7th cent.; and (2) a type of ring-settlement, formed like rough enclosures of various sizes and shapes, lying farther from the lake, mostly lying on higher and stonier, but still cultivable, ground, locally called karm (vineyard, garden) in Arabic.
The ancient sites of Mareotis were for many years given scarcely any attention, even though they were far better preserved and more accessible than those of Alexandria itself. In the early 20th century, when work at Abu Mina started, much was still in place. The renewed growth of Alexandria and its region led to removal of ancient stone blocks, and as recently as the 1960s, the area could for the most part be described as barely explored, with the significant exception of Abu Mina. W. Müller-Wiener’s survey work in the 1960s distinguished two types of settlements: (1) those near the lake, with dense complexes of buildings with heavy superstructures of a “normal” type, whether regularly or irregularly laid out, with the last visible phase almost always of the 5th-7th cent.; and (2) a type of ring-settlement, formed like rough enclosures of various sizes and shapes, lying farther from the lake, mostly lying on higher and stonier, but still cultivable, ground, locally called karm (vineyard, garden) in Arabic.
A few important inferences may be drawn from von Bomhard (2012): at Naukratis, the cult of Amon-Re-Baded occupied a hilltop, and this Amon cult controlled the Agathodaimon serpent. Also, the Naukratis pantheon was four-fold: Amon, Agathodaimon, Mut and Khonsu-Thoth. Amon's Son, Khonsu-Thoth, was identified with a child form of Herakles; Mut was Hera. Amunet was syncretized to Neith, suckling Pharaoh Philip III of Macedon (323–317 BC) as a divine child, later carved on a wall at Karnak.
See Anne-Sophie von Bomhard, The Decree of Saïs: The Stelae of Thonis-Heracleion and Naukratis [2012], pp.6-7:
We know that at Naukratis a cult of Amon Re, Lord of Shena, was practised on a mound named Shena, which also housed the Agathodaimon serpent Shena. This sanctuary is mentioned on the fragment of the Florence water clock22 and on the coffin of Panehemise who was a citizen of Naukratis (supposedly in the latter half of the 2nd C BC), and was a priest of Amon Re, Lord of Shena, and of the ‘Hill of Defense’ (Sna).23 As the Egyptians used the term Sna (wab) for the temples hauts described by Traunecker, one may wonder if the hillock on which the one at Naukratis was placed would not, from then on, have been called 'Shena' for that very reason, and might then have become the place of the cult of a particular Amon. However, some opinions suggest that the so-called 'temple haut' at Naukratis may not actually have had a ritual function. Spencer took up the subject of the case-mate foundations, thinking that those of Defenna and of Naukratis were not intended for ritual purposes: they could have been secure centres for local administration and control.24 Also, before coming round to Traunecker’s view of the function of temples hauts, Yoyotte had suggested that the Naukratis structure, like those of Memphis,Tanis and Defenna, could have been the place of the king’s sojourn when he came to officiate in the temple.25 Regarding the god to whom the main temple was consecrated, on the base of some monuments mentioning Amon and known to have originated in Naukratis, Edgar suggested that an Amon temple existed in the town, probably within the Great Temenos described by Petrie, a notion later supported by von Bissing.26 Later, Yoyotte demonstrated that the Amon of Naukratis was a particular form of the god called ‘Amon Lord of Batet’, which constituted a triad together with Mut and Khonsu, especially in the latter’s form of Khonsu-Thoth.27 Guermeur published the hieroglyphic texts mentioning Amon Batet as they appear on monuments from Naukratis, with their translations.28 The ‘Amon Lord of Batet’ sanctuary is {p.7} documented from the beginning of the 6th C BC,in Year 2 or 12 of the reign of Apries.29 The name of the temple was ‘the Beautiful Temple’, Hwt nfrt.30 This building must have been of considerable size, since Ptolemy II Philadelphus’ pylon would have measured close on 100 m. The Greeks living in Naukratis identified this god Khonsu, son of the god Amon of Naukratis, with their god Herakles, whom they adored in that town. Höckmann noted: ‘… some votive inscriptions to Herakles … firmly establish that Herakles was venerated at Naukratis from the 6th C BC on through to the Ptolemaic period’.31
22 Neugebauer and Parker 1969: 60–1, pl. 22D.
23 Yoyotte 1994–5: 678–80; Guermeur 2005: 132–3; Leitz 2011: 369.
24 Spencer 1999: 298, 300.
25 Yoyotte 1994–5: 681; 1982–3: 132 note 28.
26 Edgar 1922: 4; von Bissing 1951: 61–2.
27 Yoyotte 1982–3: 129–36; 1993–4: 689.
28 Guermeur 2005: 127–37
29 Ibid.: 128–9.
30 Yoyotte 1993–4: 684.
22 Neugebauer and Parker 1969: 60–1, pl. 22D.
23 Yoyotte 1994–5: 678–80; Guermeur 2005: 132–3; Leitz 2011: 369.
24 Spencer 1999: 298, 300.
25 Yoyotte 1994–5: 681; 1982–3: 132 note 28.
26 Edgar 1922: 4; von Bissing 1951: 61–2.
27 Yoyotte 1982–3: 129–36; 1993–4: 689.
28 Guermeur 2005: 127–37
29 Ibid.: 128–9.
30 Yoyotte 1993–4: 684.
(Amun-Ra Baded, Amun Baded, Ammon Badet, etc.) In the tripartite pantheon, Amon is the chief male deity (Father), Mut (Mother) and Khonsu-Thoth/Herakles (Son).
von Bomhard, [2012], p.23
The two back-to-back images of Neith on the decree probably do not represent a single cult statue shown twice, but rather two distinct statues: a fragment of a naos of the time of Apries, published by Capart, shows the divinities of the Neith temple at Saïs.25 There, two statues exactly corresponding to those of the decree a replaced one behind the other instead of back-to-back.26The first one is captioned nt xnt tA anx, which Capart translated as ‘Neith, Prefect of the Land of Life’.27 ‘Land of Life’, according to Habachi, was the name of a necropolis situated near Saïs.28 El-Sayed placed it north-west of the town, and Leclère to the north-east.29 The second image of Neith on this naos is called nt pHw nb mrt,translated by Capart as ‘Neith of the Marshes, of the Master of Meret’, and by El-Sayed as ‘Neith of Women, Lady of Love’.30 A third, identical statue called ‘Neith, the Opener of the Roads’, nt wp wAwt, is shown on this naos.31 The goddess’s epithets are different on the Decree of Saïs.
Among the priestly caste at the Temple of Amon, in Thebes during the 21st Dynasty (c.1000 BC), one title was 'Female Chorist of Amon' and 'Choral Singer and Musician of Great Mot, Nurse of Khonsu' ; see Saphinaz-Amal Naguib, Le clergé féminin d'Amon thébain à la 21e dynastie [1990].
Bubastis became the royal residence when Shoshenq I, founder of the 22nd Dynasty and a Meshwesh ruler w/ Libyan origins and Canaanite connections, became Pharaoh in 943 BC. Although commercial power shifted towards Sais c.664–525 BC, Bubastis remained a central authority in the region until the Persian conquest by Cambyses II in 525 BC. Incidentally, the Jewish temple at Leontopolis (c.170 BC-73 AD) was built on the site of a ruined temple of Bubastis. In rulership and commerce, the Saite Dynasty is therefore tied up historically w/ Judeo-Egyptian politics and culture, so a Jewish temple in this Egyptian center is not as strange as it might seem at first: this is the land of 'Moses the Egyptian' after all.
Investigate:
Ariel G. López, "The Western Delta in Late Antiquity: History and Archaeology" in Studies in Late Antiquity (2023) 7 (3): pp.445–473.
Mostafa Elshamy, The Primal Age of Divine Revelation: Volume II Our Roots in the Great Pyramid [2019], pp.158-9:
Day, in his investigation of Anath, said, the available evidence indicates that Anat was originally a north-west Semitic goddess. The main source of information about her in this context is the Ugaritic corpus of texts. The predominant view among scholars is that the Ugaritic texts present Anat as a “fertility goddess” who is the consort of the god Baal. It is also often stated that she is the mother of Baal’s offspring. The description of Anat as a wet nurse denotes her special associations with warriors and with royalty and does not necessitate viewing her as procreative. A 13th c. BCE Egyptian ostracon mentions a festival of Anat at Gaza and a stele depicting Anat was found in a temple built by Ramesses III at Beth Shan. Both Gaza and Beth Shan were important Egyptian military posts of the time. The Beth Shan stele refers to Anat as “the queen of heaven, the mistress of all the gods.” Four Phoenician inscriptions from Idalion, Cyprus, three of which were found in the vicinity of the Athena/Anat temple, mention Anat. Her name is written on an equestrian blinder and on a spearhead thus attesting to her continued martial associations. Also, on Cyprus, Anat is named in the Phoenician portion of a bilingual text from Larnaka that names Athena in the corresponding place in the Greek portion of the {p.159} inscription. Given Athena’s well-known martial associations as well as her characterization as a non-sexually active. Non-reproductive goddess, once again the Cypriot evidence is consistent with the Ugaritic and other mainland evidence. Evidence for Anat in Egypt has been collected by J. Leclant. The available evidence indicates that Anat made her debut in Egypt in conjunction with the Hyksos and she continued to be worshipped in Egypt into the Greek and Roman eras. (26) The inscriptions, stelae and statuary of Ramesses II provide the earliest sustained body of evidence for Anat in Egypt. Ramesses regularly call her the Mistress or Lady of (the) Heaven(s) in the context of claiming Anat’s support in battle and legitimation of his right to ‘universal’ rule. It is in this context that he claims a mother/son relationship with her. Also, in the context of an assertion of Ramesses’ prowess in battle he is called mhr of Anat, most likely to be translated “suckling” on the basis of an Egyptian etymology rather than “soldier” on the basis of an Ugaritic etymology. He had a hunting dog named “Anat is Protection” and a sword inscribed “Anat is Victorious.” In short, the picture that emerges is remarkably consistent with what we know of Anat from the Ugaritic texts.
Maciej Paprocki, Roads in the Deserts of Roman Egypt [2019], pp.201-5 explains the significance of the coastal road along the Mareotic Strip traveled by Libyan traders, which Herodotus records as a 'Persian'-staffed guard post on the Libya-Egypt border during the 26th Dynasty.
The region’s heyday started in the Persian period, when Marea won independence from Egypt and became a capital of the Libyco-Egyptian kingdom comprised of the lands between the Canopic Nile branch and Cyrenaica. The key player in the local trade and politics, the Mareotic monarch Inaros II first ruled with Persian approval, but he eventually revolted against his overlords. [...] {After 450 BC} the prosperous Mareotic kingdom was ultimately divided, with the Mareotic Strip reverting to Egypt... Marea flourished well into the Ptolemaic and Roman periods, eventually becoming an important regional trade hub, thanks to its favourable location.
Stephanus of Byzantium's Ethnica (c.525 AD) § P527.17 informs us that in Antiquity, a resident of Plinthine was called a Plinthinite (Πλινθινίτης); inhabitants of the Strip were called Taeniotai (Ταινιῶται).
The Imperial librarian Gaius Julius Hyginus (c.10 AD) reports ancient sources. Known from Antiquity, the Goddess at Plinthine was a both a War-Goddess and Patron Saint of Voyagers c.245 BC. What is most extraordinary -- recalling what we already know about the ancient practice of Adonia among Egyptian Jews, into the 20th C -- the 'Greek' Pharaoh-Queen herself shaved her head in the same offering as followers of Byblian Aphrodite, at Aphaka, Lebanon: a connection to the ancient and sacred prostitution for Astarte (ʿAṯtart,ʿAštōret, Ishtar + the Queen of Heaven). Jewish mytholgy knows this divinity as Qadesh (Qedesh, Kadesh, Qetesh, ...) or Qudshu/Astarte/Anat, Aphrodite Palaestina (the Sex-Maiden); the Chronos Myth ties in, also.
Where one myth has Anat joining El's wife, Mother of the Gods (Hera), 'Lady Asherah of the Sea', two goddesses are apparent. "Lady Asherah of the Sea" = Ashtoreth, Baalat, Astarte: Yahweh's mature Asherah.
It is unclear how Anat (worshiped by Jews at Elephantine as Anat-Yahu) was distinct or different -- both Yahu-Anat and Baal-Anat appear to be the common/late Semitic deity pairing -- but (Saite) Neith gave both Anat and Astarte to 'outsider god' Seth as two brides. Logically, the Egyptian Seth-Baal culture recognized both goddesses.
Astronomers were associated w/ the folklore of this Plinthine Temple, recorded in famed poetry, so 'Aphrodite Zephyritis' was certainly significant for the first generations of Ptolemies. Recalling the Chaldean series, what was the significance of 'The Seven' resolution?
c.10 AD: Hyginus, De Astronomia § 2.24.1f
Above [Leo's] image, near Virgo, there are seven other stars arranged in a triangle near the Lion's tail, which Conon of Samos, the mathematician, and Callimachus say are the Tresses of Berenice.
When Ptolemy III Euergetes married Berenice II {246 BC}, his own sister, daughter of Ptolemy and Arsinoe,and a few days later set out to attack Asia, Berenice vowed that if Ptolemy returned victorious, she would cut off her hair. Bound by this vow, she placed her cut-hair {c.May 245 BC} in the Temple of Venus Arsinoe Zephyritis {Templo Veneris Arsinoes Zephyritidis}, but the next day it had disappeared. When the King was distressed by this, as mentioned before, Conon {of Samos} the Mathematician, wishing to gain the King's favor, claimed that the lock of hair could be seen placed among the stars, and pointed out seven stars, without definite configuration, which he pretended to be the tresses of hair.
When Ptolemy III Euergetes married Berenice II {246 BC}, his own sister, daughter of Ptolemy and Arsinoe,and a few days later set out to attack Asia, Berenice vowed that if Ptolemy returned victorious, she would cut off her hair. Bound by this vow, she placed her cut-hair {c.May 245 BC} in the Temple of Venus Arsinoe Zephyritis {Templo Veneris Arsinoes Zephyritidis}, but the next day it had disappeared. When the King was distressed by this, as mentioned before, Conon {of Samos} the Mathematician, wishing to gain the King's favor, claimed that the lock of hair could be seen placed among the stars, and pointed out seven stars, without definite configuration, which he pretended to be the tresses of hair.
Statistics: Posted by billd89 — Thu Aug 01, 2024 2:58 pm
