To the student of oriental religions the Dea Syria is brimful of
interest. It describes the cult and worship of the goddess of
Northern Syria, Atargatis, at her sacred city, Hierapolis, now
Mumbij. The time when Lucian wrote would be the middle of the
second century B.C. We do not see any reason to reject the
traditional authorship of the treatise: on the contrary, the work
seems to reveal the famous satirist at home, taking a natural
interest in local memories and institutions, while making,
doubtless, mental notes that were to prove of use in the works for
which he is best known. Of the many writers who refer to the Dea
Syria, no one dwells upon the fundamental character of the cult at
Hierapolis, nor deals with the problem of its historical origins.
It is this aspect of inquiry, therefore, with which we chiefly deal
in the Introduction and the foot notes. Lucian's description,
amplified by the later account of Macrobius, and further
illustrated by the local coinage of Hierapolis, reveals the central
cult as that of a divine pair. The male god, a form of Hadad, is
symbolised by the bull, and is hence both Lord of Heaven and
Creator. The female deity is shown by her very name, "Atargatis,"
to be a form of Ishtar or Astarte. Being mated with the god, whom
Lucian calls Zeus, she is called by him Hera: but she wears a mural
crown, and is symbolised by the lion; and Lucian recognises in her
traces of Kybele, Aphrodite, Artemis, and other aspects of the
Mother Goddess. An examination of the materials which modern
research has made available, shows this cult to be attributable
historically to the Hittites, the earliest known masters of the
soil. The argument is developed in our Introduction.
General
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