Editing Atargatis (section)

== Classical period ==
{{See also|#Mythology|#Cultus}}

Various Greek and Latin writers have written about the goddess Atargatis or Derketo.<ref>The modern repertory of literary allusions to her is [[Paul-Louis van Berg|van Berg, Paul-Louis]] (1973) ''Corpus Cultus Deae Syriae (C.C.D.S.): les sources littéraires'', Part I: ''Répertoire des sources grecques et latines''; Part II: ''Études critiques des sources mythologiques grecques et latines'', Leiden: Brill.</ref>

<!--start-->Atargatis generally appears as the wife of [[Hadad]]. They are the protecting deities of the community.{{efn|Cf., the Tyche of the city.}} Atargatis, wearing a [[mural crown]], is the ancestor the royal house, the founder of social and religious life, the goddess of generation and fertility (hence the prevalence of [[phallic symbol|phallic]] emblems), and the inventor of useful appliances.<!--end, of copy&paste from:--><ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Atargatis|volume=2|page=823}}</ref>
[[File:Kircher oedipus aegyptiacus 28 derceto.png|thumb|Derceto, from [[Athanasius Kircher]]'s ''[[Oedipus Aegyptiacus]]'', 1652.]]

Derceto was venerated in mermaid form, i.e., with "a face of a woman, and otherwise the entire body of a fish" in a shrine by [[Ashkelon]], Syria, according to [[Diodorus Siculus|Diodorus]] (1st century BCE), drawing on [[Ctesias]] (5th century BCE); the attached myth explaining that Derceto transformed into a fish, after drowning herself in a nearby lake.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|The full myth is that Derceto drowned herself in a lake near Ashkelon, in shame, after giving birth to a daughter [[Semiramis]] in an illicit love affair with a youth named Simios.<ref name="macalister"/><ref name="ringgren"/> See [[#Mythology|§Mythology]], infra.}}<ref name="macalister"/>{{sfnp|Cowper|1865|p=3}}{{sfnp|Smith, W. Robertson|1887|pp=305, 313}} The goddess was presumably revered in that fish-form at Ashkelon. It has been conjectured that the veneration of the goddess did indeed occur at Ashkelon and may have originated there.<ref name="barton"/> {{citation needed span|However, there is no evidence that Atargatis was worshipped at Ascalon.|date=April 2022}}

The image of Derceto as half-woman half-fish was also witnessed by Lucian (2nd century) somewhere in Phoenicia (i.e., [[Phoenice (Roman province)|Phoenice Syria]]), but at the Holy City of Phoenicia ([[Hierapolis Bambyce]]), she was depicted entirely as a woman. This temple was nominally dedicated to "Hera", but some thought it actually consecrated Derceto.{{Refn|Lucian. ''De Dea Syria'' 14; {{harvp|Lightfoot ed.|2003|pp=254–255 (text)}}; 352–356 (commentary); 352–356 (fish imagery). Cited and translation quoted by {{harvp|Hasan-Rokem|2014|p=182}}.<ref name="hasan-rokem"/>}}
<ref name="d-syra14-cowper">''De Dea Syra'', 14 ''apud'' {{harvp|Cowper|1865|pp=9–10}}</ref> Lucian in a later passage gives a description at length of this "Hera" whom the locals "call by a different name" (Atargatis), at Hierapolis.{{Refn|group="lower-alpha"|"Hera" is just the tentative Greek designation Lucian used for this goddess, which must be Atargatis, but he was wavering on his decision, because aspects of many Greek goddesses were exhibited, in his words, those of "Athena and Aphrodite and Selene and Rhea and Artemis and Nemesis and the Fates".<ref>{{harvp|Rostovtzeff|Bellinger|1929|p=}}, ''The Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1st season'', p. 120; Lucian quoted in {{harvp|Fowlkes-Childs|Seymour|2019|p=198}}.</ref>}} The goddess was posed seated with two lions on her sides,{{efn|And at her side was "Zeus", with a bull beneath him.}} "In one hand she had a scepter, in the other a spindle, and on her head she wears rays, a tower [mural crown]..", and she wore a girdle ({{langx|grc|κεστός}}) as well. The head was set with a gemstone called ''{{linktext|lychnis}}'' which glowed by night.<ref>''De Dea Syra'', 32 , quoted in English in: {{harvp|Downey|1977|p=175}}. A more extensive quote is given in {{harvp|Fowlkes-Childs|Seymour|2019|p=198}}</ref><ref name="fowlkes-childs&seymour"/>

The worship of Atargatis going back to the [[Hellenistic Phoenicia]] ([[Seleucid Syria]]) is evidenced by inscriptions at Akko<!--Hellenistic Palestine period-->.<ref name="berlin"/>