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Dossier: Nommer les dieux en Syrie gréco-romaine. Paysages onomastiques et dynamiques religieuses

Representing and Naming the Gods. Iconography and Nomenclature of the Goddess Allat in Palmyra and Hatra

Représenter et nommer les dieux. Iconographie et nomenclature de la déesse Allat à Palmyre et Hatra
Lucinda Dirven

Résumés

En partant des vestiges cultuels de la déesse Allat à Palmyre et Hatra, cette contribution explore ce que la coexistence des représentations iconographiques signifie par rapport au caractère d’une divinité du Proche-Orient gréco-romain. On peut montrer que à la fois à Palmyre et Hatra l’image de culte originelle est d’une importance cruciale dans les temples dédiés à la déesse. Cette iconographie est typique du temple, elle change peu et ne se combine pas facilement avec des représentations alternatives de la déesse. Même l’interpretatio graeca du nom de la déesse n’a pas de conséquences sur sa forme originelle. La statue de culte personnifie le caractère unique de la déesse qui était l’objet d’un culte dans un sanctuaire particulier.

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  • 1 The literature on the meaning of representations in the Near East is extensive. See, for example, B (...)
  • 2 On cult images in the Graeco-Roman world, see Mylonopoulos 2010; on cult images in the ancient Near (...)
  • 3 Van der Toorn 1997, 236; Berlejung 1998, 94-134.
  • 4 Literary sources present reproduction as a duplication of the archetype. One illustrative example i (...)
  • 5 On Greek religion and the Near East, see Noegels 2007. On religious dynamics in the region in this (...)
  • 6 On this process and its consequences for cult statues, see Dirven 2015.

1Throughout history, cult statues in the Near East had an extraordinary position that was markedly different from the status of cult statues in Greece and Rome. 1In Mesopotamia, cult images were considered living entities that could breathe, eat, and sleep, whereas in Greece and Rome they functioned as a potential point of contact between the god and his worshippers.2 In the ancient Near East, priests were in charge of the sacred nature of these statues, and together with the king they safeguarded the sacred lore concerning the outward appearance of the gods.3 The iconography of such statues was often considered god-given and was thus slow to change.4 In Greece and Rome, on the other hand, the rules concerning the iconography of the gods were considerably more flexible. Here different iconographic types of a god or goddess could co-exist, as was the case with statues of the goddess Athena on the acropolis in Athens, for example. With the advent of the Greeks and Romans in the Near East, the religious situation changed dramatically.5 It can be shown, for example, that cult statues became more visible, because most temples were now freely accessible to the public.6 At the same time, the iconography of traditional deities became more diverse, as gods were now worshipped in Graeco-Roman form alongside their conventional representations. It was not just the form that changed: the new looks were frequently accompanied by new names, narratives, and rituals.

2This article explores the significance of co-existing iconographic representations for the character of a given deity in the Graeco-Roman Near East and asks how these forms relate to the different names that were given to such gods. In answering these questions, I focus on the cultic remains of the goddess Allat in the cities Palmyra and Hatra during the first centuries of the Common Era. The remains that testify to the cult of Allat in these two cities provide us with an excellent case study. Not only is Allat worshipped here under different names, in various iconographic manifestations, but the material is accurately dated and can be contextualised both spatially and chronologically.

  • 7 Starcky 1981a. Cf. also Starcky 1981b and the material assembled by Krone 1992, 257-328.
  • 8 Krone 1992, 323-328, largely inspired by the analysis of Invernizzi 1989 of the material from Hatra (...)
  • 9 Krone 1992,329-336. Note that some of the material from Palmyra and Hatra is missing from Krone’s c (...)
  • 10 This holds true for the many representations of Athena found in the Hauran. Since Allat is not freq (...)

3The material from Palmyra and Hatra is by no means exceptional for the region in this period. As is clear from Jean Starcky’s excellent entry on Allat in the Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, Allat was worshipped in Syria, Northern Arabia, and Mesopotamia in the shape of a betyl, in the guise of the Greek goddess Athena, and in the figure of an unarmed goddess in civilian dress who is frequently accompanied by lions and camels.7 Several examples represent the figure of Athena together with one or two lions, thereby combining two types. Moreover, according to some, the list of representations of Allat should also include the iconography of the Greek goddess Nemesis.8 Like most lexicographic iconographic entries, Starcky’s article groups the available representations of Allat according to the possibilities listed above. To this iconographic multiformity we may add a plethora of divine names. Frequently called Athena in Greek, but occasionally identified as Artemis or Nemesis, the goddess Allat is further described and identified by various epithets in both Greek and Aramaic inscriptions.9 It goes without saying that the identification of all these forms and names as Allat is far from straightforward. There are several cases in which the figure of Greek Athena is explicitly identified in Aramaic as Allat, but more frequently the identification is based on circumstantial evidence and is not certain.10 The identification of certain iconographic types is not fixed but a matter of interpretation.

  • 11 On the identification of Nabu and Nanaia as Apollo and Artemis, see Dirven 1999, 135-146; On Nergal (...)
  • 12 Kaizer 2000. Less critical: Mazzilli 2018, 72-73.

4Allat is, of course, not the only indigenous god worshipped in the region simultaneously in various forms. Many deities that are occasionally identified with Greek gods in name are sometimes also represented as such. The Babylonian Nergal and Nabu, for example, are sometimes personified by Greek Heracles and Apollo, and Nanaia and Arsu are occasionally depicted as Artemis and Ares.11 Traditionally, this phenomenon has been ascribed to the ethnic background of the worshippers; however, this hypothesis considerably oversimplifies the historical situation and is problematised in modern research.12

  • 13 Already Seyrig 1970, 82-83. Cf. Krone 1992, 329-330.
  • 14 Drijvers 1979.
  • 15 Herodotus 3.8
  • 16 Above, note 8.

5In earlier research, Allat’s variety of forms have frequently been explained with reference to her multifaceted character. It is argued, for instance, that the iconography of the goddess Athena bears out Allat’s belligerent and vengeful characteristics, as also expressed by many Safaitic graffiti that call upon Allat for revenge.13 The two lions are commonly thought to derive from the iconography of the famous Atargatis of Hierapolis and to demonstrate the fertility aspects of Allat’s personality.14 In this context, reference is made to Herodotus, who equated Arab Allat with Aphrodite.15 Allat’s assimilation to Nemesis is supposedly related to her role in determining human destiny.16 Along these lines, identification is presented as a fairly straightforward process. It remains to be seen if this was indeed the case.

  • 17 Friedland 2008.
  • 18 See now Gawlikowksi 2017. Gawlikowksi published a preliminary report on the statues from this sanct (...)

6In a recent article, Elisa Friedland argues that different representations of the goddess Allat co-existed both geographically and chronologically.17 In this way, she argues, they not only bear witness to the ingenuity and personal taste of the patrons, but also reflect the experimental nature and fluidity of religious syncretism in the region. Friedman’s hypothesis leans heavily on finds from the sanctuary of Allat in Palmyra, which provides her with one of the few instances in which several representations of the goddess can be studied in context.18 To test Friedman’s hypothesis, the present article also examines the material from Palmyra. Since context is indeed crucial in establishing the interpretation of certain images, the material from Palmyra will be complemented with material from Hatra, another site where well-dated material pertaining to the goddess can be interpreted in the context of temples dedicated to her worship. Particularly interesting is that the goddess is worshipped in Hatra in several sanctuaries simultaneously.

Allat and Atargatis

  • 19 Literature on this short treatise is extensive, not least on the question of whether or not it was (...)
  • 20 Most recently, Andrade 2017. In the following, I shall refer to the goddess of Hierapolis by her lo (...)
  • 21 Drijvers 1979 and idem, 1986.

7Before we turn to the cult of Allat in Palmyra and Hatra, however, I would like to linger on the assumption that specific iconographic types or motives are bound up with particular characteristics of gods. In the past, this topic has been profoundly influenced by Lucian of Samosata’s account on the statue of a Syrian goddess in Hierapolis.19 Although Lucian never identifies the goddess by her local name, calling her Hera, on the basis of local coinage she can be identified with certainty as Ataragatis.20 The iconography of Atargatis is commonly thought to have influenced the iconography of local goddesses, Allat included.21 Though well known, Lucian’s description of the Hierapolitan cult statues in pars. 31-32 deserves to be quoted in full (fig. 1):

  • 22 Translation after Lightfoot 2003.

In it (the naos) are enthroned the cult statues, Hera and the god Zeus, whom they call by a different name. Both are golden, both are seated. Though Hera is borne on lions, the other sits on bulls. Certainly, the image of Zeus looks entirely like Zeus in features and clothes and seated posture; you could not identify it otherwise even if you wished. But when you examine Hera, her image appears to be of many forms. While the overall effect is certainly that of Hera, she also has something of Athena and Aphrodite and Selene and Rhea and Artemis and Nemesis and the Fates. In one hand she has a sceptre, in the other a spindle, and on her head she wears rays, a tower, and the kestos with which they adorn Ourania alone. Outside she is coated with more gold and extremely precious stones …. 22

Fig. 1: AR Tetradrachm struck in Hierapolis during the reign of Caracalla, AD 215-217, figuring the divine statues as described by Lucian on its reverse. https://www.numisbids.com/​n.php?p=lot&sid=2937&lot=540

Fig. 1: AR Tetradrachm struck in Hierapolis during the reign of Caracalla, AD 215-217, figuring the divine statues as described by Lucian on its reverse. https://www.numisbids.com/​n.php?p=lot&sid=2937&lot=540
  • 23 Kaizer 2013, 59.
  • 24 At stake here is the influence this text has exercised on the iconographic analysis of Syrian-Mesop (...)
  • 25 This follows from the shorter description of the goddess in DDS par. 15; Cf. Macrobius Sat. 1.23.20 (...)
  • 26 As rightly noted by Lightfoot 2003, 436. Consequently, Polanski 1998, 113 suggests that Lucian is a (...)
  • 27 The same idea is discussed in detail by Oggiano 2021.

8Lucian’s account illustrates the well-known practice of interpretatio Graeca, whereby a divine name of another religious system is taken as a translation of a divinity in the author’s own. Since the author wants to illustrate the uniquely local, indigenous character of Atargatis from Hierapolis, she is presented to the reader as a deity in which a great number of Greek goddesses may be recognised.23 Since Lucian is actually describing the cult statue, it has frequently been thought that specific iconographic motifs refer to the qualities of various Greek goddesses that are combined in Atargatis.24 It is indeed beyond question that the kestos is typical of (Aphrodite) Ourania, and that the lions and mural crown are characteristic of the Lydian Rhea, i.e., Kybele.25 It is far more problematic, however, to recognise iconographic features of Athena and Selene in the cult statue described by Lucian.26 What is more, it is an oversimplification to view a divine image as a logically composed construction kit.27 Not only are the reasons to borrow iconographic features from other deities many and various, but such features may have another meaning in a different context.

  • 28 The influence of the Hierapolitan cult probably started earlier, as may be inferred from the materi (...)
  • 29 Pointed out, for example, by Drijvers 1986, 358; Hörig 1985, 1550; and Lightfoot 2003, 35 and 56 (m (...)
  • 30 Andrade 2017, with references to earlier publications.
  • 31 Contra Will 1985, 151-157.
  • 32 As rightly noted by Blömer 2014, 158.

9As is well known, during the first centuries of the Common Era the city of Hierapolis in northern Syria grew into a major cult centre for the whole of Syria.28 In the context of Syrian religious representations, it is commonly held that the statue of Atargatis of Hierapolis exercised a profound influence on the iconography of numerous local goddesses that were modelled upon the statue of their famous sister.29 Although it is clear that the iconography of Atargatis was popular throughout Syria, the theory of the statue’s influence is not without problems when it comes to local Syrian goddesses in general, and Allat in particular. First, there is the question of chronology. The statue of Hera/Atargatis described by Lucian is only attested from the second century CE onwards. Hellenistic coins from Hierapolis dated before the Common Era do not concur with this image and represent a variety of different iconographic types of the goddess.30 Information on the Hellenistic cult statue of Atargatis at Delos is extremely meagre and cannot be used to reconstruct the iconography of Atargatis in Hierapolis before the Common Era.31 For all we know, the cult statue of Hierapolis may have been a fairly recent creation. In fact, many of the statues of local goddesses from the remainder of Syria are at least as old or older than their presumed Hierapolitan prototype. Thus we cannot exclude that possibility that both derive from a common prototype. The iconography of Atargatis from Hierapolis is very similar to that of Kybele or Mater Magna. This iconography dates back to the fifth century BCE and may have been the main source of inspiration for the statue of Atargatis described by Lucian. This possibly also holds true for the other goddesses in the region: they too may have developed independently of Hierapolis.32

10Second, we should be critical about the influence of the Hierapolitan prototype on the iconography of Allat. In the case of Allat, it is clear that the possible influence is limited to the lions that are regularly associated with the goddess. Other attributes typical of Atargatis of Hierapolis – her consort Hadad, the mural crown, the spindle, kestos, and rays around her head – are absent. To infer from the lions alone that both goddesses are mother goddesses with important fertility aspects is pushing the evidence too far. At most, one can debate the meaning of the lion in the context of both cults.

  • 33 Irrespective of the precise interpretation of Qedeshet: Cornelius 2008, esp. 97-98. On Nanaia, see (...)
  • 34 One of the earliest testimonies originates from the Hauran and depicts the goddess in a chariot pul (...)
  • 35 Damascius, Life of Isidorus in Photius, cod. 242, 203 (Athanassiadi 1999). Cf. the translation and (...)
  • 36 In this respect it is important to bear in mind that the animal is by no means confined to Allat, o (...)

11It is by no means certain that Allat’s lions derive from the Hierapolitan goddess. Not only is her association with lions at least as old as that of Atargatis, but lions had long been customarily associated with several young, bellicose goddesses worshipped in Syro-Palestine and Mesopotamia. This holds true for both the Phoenician and Syrian Anat and Astarte, especially when worshipped as Qedeshet, and for Babylonian Ishtar and Nanaia.33 From which of these deities Allat borrowed her lions – if they were borrowed at all – cannot possibly be established at present. Allat’s association with lions dates back to at least the first century CE and is attested in a region that stretches from the Hauran to Mesopotamia.34 Throughout, lions are associated with the Athena figure as well as with the figure of the civilian goddess. The animals are present in a variety of ways: sometimes they flank the goddess’s throne, but in other representations Allat is shown sitting on the back of a lion, standing on a lion, or riding a chariot drawn by lions. On occasions the association with the goddess is so strong that the lion seems to embody or represent her, as is the case in the vision of the temple guardian Eusebius (in the late fourth century), who sees a flaming betyl accompanied by a gigantic lion coming down from a mountain near Emesa where Allat has a sanctuary.35 Clearly, the lion often symbolises a fundamental aspect of Allat’s personality in the Roman period. For a proper interpretation of this motif, the local significance of this animal is more telling than the comparison between two goddesses that are geographically or chronologically far apart.36

Allat in Palmyra

  • 37 Gawlikowski 2017. Cf. the summary pp. 191-200.
  • 38 Gawlikowski 2017, 244, no 12. Cf. 30-31.

12The temple of Allat in Palmyra, excavated by a Polish-Dutch mission in the 1970s and 1980s and recently published by Michael Gawlikowski, provides us with a unique opportunity to study a local manifestation of Allat. The finds enable us to follow the development of this sanctuary with its goddess and worshippers for more than four centuries.37 It follows from the dedicatory inscription on an altar dated to 115 CE, that the first shrine was built around the middle of the first century BCE, by a certain Mattanai, as a repository of the mṣb’ of the ‘Lady of the temple’.38 The altar erected for the mṣb’ by one of the descendants of the founder proves that the original cult image was still in place almost two hundred years later. The excavators were able to show that this was still the case when the temple and its original cult image were destroyed by Aurelian’s soldiers in reaction to Zenobia’s revolt in CE 272. Even when the original temple was changed into a Vitruvian temple in the middle of the second century CE, the original altar with the ḥamana (the designation for the small, primitive shrine) and its cult statue were preserved (fig. 2). After the destruction and rebuilding of the temple at the end of the third century, the original statue was replaced by an imported marble statue of Athena. This imported statue dates back to the second century CE and probably once adorned one of the public buildings in Palmyra. By then the temple was located inside the Roman military camp and its worshippers had changed.

Fig. 2: Reconstruction of the cross-section through the Antonine Temple of Allat containing the archaic chapel and cult statue. Drawing by Michal Gawlikowski, after Gawlikowski 2017, fig. 32

Fig. 2: Reconstruction of the cross-section through the Antonine Temple of Allat containing the archaic chapel and cult statue. Drawing by Michal Gawlikowski, after Gawlikowski 2017, fig. 32
  • 39 For the history of the cult statue, see Gawlikowski 2017, 53-58.
  • 40 Dirven 1999, 81-86. Cf. Gawlikowski 2017, 212 who doubts my interpretation, arguing that some of th (...)
  • 41 Gawlikowski 2017, 212, Sculpture 12. Cf. Tanabe 1986, pls. 155-156.

13The history of the temple and its cult statue illustrates the traditionalism in this cult and the immense religious importance attached to the original cult image. It is highly significant that the manifestation of Allat worshipped in this temple – referred to as ‘the Lady of the temple’, and represented by her mṣb’ or cult image – remained unaltered until the temple was destroyed by the Romans and changes hands.39 The arrival of this mṣb’ was possibly commemorated in the well-known relief depicting a religious procession with a camel that decorated one of the beams in the temple of Bel.40 A fragment of a relief dating to the first century BCE and showing a similar scene was found buried in the temple of Allat.41 The more recent relief from the temple of Bel clearly derived from this prototype, which obviously illustrates an event related to Allat’s temple and cult.

  • 42 Gawlikowski 2017, 53-58.
  • 43 Gawlikowski 2017, 95-98.
  • 44 Gawlikowski 2017, 203-204, sculpture 3. It is apparent from the description on p. 199, no. 8 that i (...)

14Unfortunately, the original mṣb’ of the goddess was lost, and no fragments have been found that can be ascribed to it with certainty. The excavators did, however, find the base of the cult image, bearing the marks of where it was attached. Given this find, combined with fragmentary reliefs representing the goddess found in the sanctuary of Allat, the associated temple of Baalshamin, and elsewhere in Palmyra, Michael Gawlikowksi convincingly proposes that the image of Allat can be reconstructed as that of a goddess clad in civilian attire, shown enthroned between lions.42 The huge sculpture of the lion with the antelope between its legs that was once encased in the wall of the temenos confirms the intimate connection of the goddess with the lion, which here symbolises protection rather than aggression.43 Inside the cella of the sanctuary, four heads of lions were found. These may be the remains of lions that formerly flanked Allat’s throne, as Gawlikowski suggests, or (perhaps more likely) may have decorated the base of her statue, similarly to the niche that was found in the Temple of Baalshamin.44

  • 45 Gawlikowski 1996. Gawlikowski has changed his opinion in idem, 2008, 409.
  • 46 Drijvers 1978 and Friedland 2008.
  • 47 Gawlikowksi 2017, 155-166. Depending on the background of the soldiers who used the sanctuary, one (...)
  • 48 Contra Drijvers 1978 and Starcky 1981a. The only fragmentary relief of an Athena figure dated by Dr (...)
  • 49 Ingholt 1955, nos 123, 164 and 165. Dunant 1959, no. 11. It is noteworthy that Athena is represente (...)

15At first, the excavators thought that the cult image of the enthroned goddess flanked by lions was worshipped jointly with the larger-than-life-size marble statue of Athena that was discovered in the temple (fig. 3).45 This resulted in the hypothesis – first advanced by Han Drijvers and later expanded upon by Elisa Friedland – that both manifestations of the goddess were worshipped simultaneously in Allat’s temple.46 In more recent publications, however, Gawlikowski points out that the original cult image was only replaced by the life-size classical marble statue of Athena after the temple had been destroyed by the Romans at the end of the third century. After its demolition, the temple was rebuilt inside the Roman camp and used by military rather than the local population.47 Hence, the older view that two iconographic types of the goddess co-existed in this sanctuary has become obsolete. In fact, only a few representations of Greek Athena were found inside the sanctuary of Allat, and none of these can be dated before the third century CE.48 Nor does Athena figure on Palmyrene reliefs found outside the sanctuary. Even the tesserae picture her as a civilian goddess associated with lions, and not as the Greek goddess.49

Fig. 3: Marble statue of Athena in classical style, from the temple that was used by Roman military. Courtesy of Livius.org

Fig. 3: Marble statue of Athena in classical style, from the temple that was used by Roman military. Courtesy of Livius.org
  • 50 Gawlikowski 2017, 207-208, sculptures 7-8. In this respect it is telling that the figure of Athena (...)
  • 51 The oldest certain instance is Gawlikowski 2017, 266-267, no. 36 (IGLS VII 1 127) dated 144 CE. How (...)
  • 52 Gawlikowski 2017, 249, no. 20 (=IGLS XVII 1, 134). The Greek text is commonly read as Αλλαθῃ[κα (...)
  • 53 Above, note 45.

16The absence of images of Greek Athena in the early sanctuary of Allat, however, does not mean that people in Palmyra were unfamiliar with the assimilation of Allat with the Greek goddess. Two votive gifts that were found in Allat’s sanctuary -– both dating to the third century CE -– represent Athena.50 Furthermore, inscriptions from the oasis unequivocally show that Athena was the Greek denomination of the goddess worshipped in this temple, just as it was in many other places in Syria.51 In one of the earliest inscriptions on an altar found in the sanctuary dated 7/6 BCE, the goddess is called Allat in Greek.52 Later Greek inscriptions refer to the goddess as Athena.53 It is noteworthy that, notwithstanding the equation of their names, Allat was not depicted as Athena in the cult statue in her temple, but was worshipped in her original mṣb’. The fact that this goddess is identified as Athena in Greek inscriptions proves that in this particular case the translation of Aramaic Allat with Greek Athena was based upon a wide-spread convention. Clearly, this convention did not have repercussions for the way she was represented. Whether it influenced the way she was interpreted is impossible to say. Of course, it is conceivable that this convention caused the goddess to change later on. Finds from Allat’s sanctuary in Palmyra suggest, however, that the representation of the goddess was characterised by a remarkable conservatism. No doubt this was the result of the sanctity of her cult image.

Allat in Hatra

  • 54 Iraqi archaeologists excavated the Temple of Allat, Walter Andrea’s Building B (Andrae 1908, 23; An (...)
  • 55 For a general introduction into religion in Hatra, see Drijvers 1977, Kaizer 2000b and Dirven 2007.
  • 56 On the role of Hatra’s rulers in the religious organisation of the city, see Dirven 2022.

17Allat was worshipped in Hatra in a sanctuary in the great temenos in the centre of the city.54 This was the last temple to be built in this huge sacred enclosure that was the religious heart of the city.55 Like the other temples in this complex, the temple of Allat was closely associated with Hatra’s rulers: the temple was built by the Hatrene king Sanatruq I, who figures prominently in its architectural decoration and inscriptions.56 Sanatruq ruled in the second half of the second century, which implies that the goddess that was worshipped in this temple arrived in Hatra fairly late (fig. 4).

Fig. 4: Lintel from the temple of Allat in Hatra, picturing the goddess riding a dromedary. Ca. 170 AD. Photo by Krysztof Jakubiak

Fig. 4: Lintel from the temple of Allat in Hatra, picturing the goddess riding a dromedary. Ca. 170 AD. Photo by Krysztof Jakubiak
  • 57 The bust of the goddess probably also figures in a lintel that once decorated the door within her s (...)
  • 58 Dirven 2013. This holds true especially for the goddess, wearing a high polos on which stands an ea (...)
  • 59 Krone 1992, 282-283, no. 51; al-Salihi 1998a, 103-104, figs 1-2.

18Although the cult image of the goddess has been lost, we are informed about her appearance by two extraordinary sculpted lintels that served as decoration of the interior of her temple. The first depicts the goddess riding a dromedary, preceded by a tambourine player who introduces her to several mythological creatures. Among these is an eagle (probably personifying Maren-Shamash, Hatra’s main deity), and a female creature with a fish tail, encircled by a snake, who offers the goddess a set of weighing scales. Although the symbolism of this representation is not entirely clear, Antonio Invernizzi is probably right that it depicts the festive arrival of the goddess in the city, where she is received by the city’s main deities and receives the most significant attribute of the cult in her temple (fig. 5). This may be inferred from a second scene, no doubt a sequel to the first, in which the goddess is shown enthroned on these very scales inside her temple. Since the figure of the goddess probably represents the cult statue, the statue of the goddess can be reconstructed as unarmed, clad in civilian dress -– a tunic topped by a himation – with a high headdress covered by a veil and adorned with chains.57 Unfortunately, the iconography of other important goddesses that were worshipped in Hatra, such as Marten and Nanaia, is very similar, so that for us it is virtually impossible to identify such representations when inscriptions are missing.58 Possibly the scales were an attribute of the goddess Allat worshipped in this temple; they may have figured in the throne or pedestal of the cult statue. The goddess in this temple is also associated with dromedaries: in addition to the relief mentioned above, another sculpture was found that depicts her on camelback.59 Dromedaries also figure prominently in the architectural decoration of this temple. It is noteworthy that none of the finds from Allat’s temple depict her as Greek Athena.

Fig. 5: Lintel from the temple of Allat in Hatra, picturing the goddess enthroned in her temple, worshipped by King Sanatruq I. Ca. 170 AD. After al-Salihi 1985

Fig. 5: Lintel from the temple of Allat in Hatra, picturing the goddess enthroned in her temple, worshipped by King Sanatruq I. Ca. 170 AD. After al-Salihi 1985
  • 60 Invernizzi 1989.
  • 61 As rightly pointed out by Kaizer 2001.
  • 62 Bucci, De Hoz, Kaizer, and Moriggi forthcoming. I am greatly indebted to Ted Kaizer for sharing the (...)
  • 63 Above, note 52.

19According to Invernizzi, in this temple Allat was identified with the Greek goddess Nemesis.60 This hypothesis is based primarily on the iconography of the goddess and is not substantiated by epigraphic evidence. Departing from the idea that the identification of Allat with Nemesis was widespread in the Graeco-Roman Near East, Invernizzi adduces two iconographic features of the Hatrene goddess to substantiate his case: the way the goddess pulls away the veil from her face, and her association with scales. Both iconographic features are indeed among the characteristics of Nemesis elsewhere in the Graeco-Roman world. Within the predominantly Aramaic context of Hatra, however, they are open to different interpretations. Furthermore, the identification of Allat and Nemesis elsewhere in Roman Syria is highly contested and by no means obvious.61 Unlike in Palmyra, which was principally a bilingual city, in Hatra Greek inscriptions are virtually unknown. The only known exception is a dedicatory inscription that in all likelihood originates from Allat’s temple. According to the editors of this remarkable inscription, the Greek text is a dedication to the gods Helios and Allat.62 The fact that the Aramaic name of the goddess is simply transcribed in Greek strongly suggests that she was not identified with Nemesis or any other Greek goddess in her temple in Hatra. The Hatrene inscription recalls the situation in her temple in Palmyra shortly before the beginning of the Common Era, when the name of Allat was also transcribed in Greek.63

  • 64 Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 150 (upper part of a bronze statuette, found at the back of the square (...)
  • 65 In addition to the material found in Temple V, listed below note 68, an Athena figure accompanies a (...)
  • 66 Gad Ramgu (also called the great Gad of Ramgu, or the great Gad) is mentioned in a number of inscri (...)

20Although the goddess that was worshipped in her cult statue in the temple in the Great Temenos has a fairly indistinct iconography, it is likely that the people from Hatra knew that the Greek goddess Athena was Allat’s Greek alter ego. An Athena figure is found in the architectural decoration of some of the other religious buildings in the great temenos, and a few small (imported) bronzes of the goddess were found in its courtyard.64 The figure of the Greek goddess is fairly common in the small shrines in the domestic area around the great temenos.65 Unlike the cult in temples in the city center, which was closely associated with worldly power and served the entire community, these smaller shrines were the domain of smaller social units like families or tribes. Many of the gods worshipped here had a special connection with such groups and played a prominent role in the formation of their group identity. Whereas the iconography of these deities is frequently fairly standard, they are identified in several inscriptions as the tutelary deities of such smaller groups. The figure of Heracles, who is particularly popular in the small shrines, is identified for example in Temple XIII as Gad Ramgu, the protective deity of a group with an ancestor by the name of Ramgu.66

  • 67 The small shrines in Hatra are numbered according to the sequence in which they were found.
  • 68 1. A statue of the goddess, 1.20 m. high, was found in the courtyard, in front of the entrance of t (...)
  • 69 The name is found in three texts inscribed on the pedestals of life-size statues (two of priestesse (...)
  • 70 For an extensive discussion of the statue of this god, who can be identified as Nabu, see Dirven an (...)
  • 71 Milik 1972, 338, who also points out that Assur is written ’sr instead of ’šr in Assur itself. For (...)

21A goddess modelled upon Greek Athena is particularly popular in the so-called fifth shrine.67 Four Athena figures were found in this temple, and the small armed figure that is represented in the arch from the façade of the temple may also be an Athena figure.68 A large relief depicts an Athena figure flanked by two female figures standing on a large lion (fig. 6). The composition resembles a statue in a cult niche flanked by honorary statues of mortal women. Unfortunately, the cult niche was empty when found, so this is bound to remain a hypothesis. Although none of the figures is identified by an inscription, it is very likely that the Athena figure is Iššarbel, the tutelary deity mentioned in several inscriptions from this temple.69 For quite some time, the name was read as Aššurbel and associated with the statue of a bearded god flanked by eagles that was likewise found in this sanctuary.70 Milik convincingly argued that – since in H35 the figure is qualified btlh, virgin – the name is female and should be read Iššarbel, ‘joy of Bel’.71

Fig. 6: Athena-figure (Iššarbel) flanked by two women standing on a lion (first half of the third century AD), found in Temple V in Hatra

Fig. 6: Athena-figure (Iššarbel) flanked by two women standing on a lion (first half of the third century AD), found in Temple V in Hatra

Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin

  • 72 Safar mentions fragmentary statues of two lions, found near the main entrance of the façade: Safar (...)
  • 73 Gawlikowksi 2017, 263, no. 35 (126/7 CE).

22If the hypothesis that the Athena figures from this temple should be identified as Iššarbel is correct, it follows that Iššarbel had the same outward appearance as the Arab goddess Allat in large parts of Syria and Mesopotamia. It is noteworthy that like so many other Athena figures, the goddess worshipped in this temple is associated with lions. In addition to the relief mentioned above, two lions flanked the entrance of her temple.72 Although it is appealing to interpret Iššarbel as an epiteth of Allat, worshipped here as an independent goddess, it is difficult to prove this hypothesis. Intriguingly though, in H35 Iššarbel is typified as a virgin, a qualification also used for Allat in her sanctuary in Palmyra.73 But even if we presume that Iššarbel is a manifestation of Allat, it is clear that the goddess worshipped in Temple V ought to be distinguished from the goddess Allat worshipped in the temple in the great temenos.

  • 74 Dirven 2013.

23Finally, mention should be made of a small relief of Palmyrene fabrication and origin that was found in Temple XIII.74 Stylistically, this relief can be dated to the first century CE, but of course we cannot know when it arrived in Hatra. The goddess, who is identified by a Palmyrene inscription on the plinth as Allat, is represented in a long himation and mantle that covers her head. Two large corkscrew curls flank her face, similarly to representations of the goddess from Palmyra. Her only attribute is the long sceptre that she holds with her left hand. Apart from the absence of lions, the iconography of this goddess is similar to that of her sanctuary in Palmyra. Although this goddess resembles the statue of the goddess Allat that was worshipped in the temple in the Great Temenos, her headdress is markedly different. It is therefore clear that we are dealing with the Palmyrene manifestation of the goddess, who ought to be distinguished from her Hatrene namesake (Fig. 7).

Fig. 7: Relief of Palmyrene origin picturing Allat and a dedicant (end of first century AD), found in Temple XIII in Hatra

Fig. 7: Relief of Palmyrene origin picturing Allat and a dedicant (end of first century AD), found in Temple XIII in Hatra

Drawing by Lucinda Dirven

Conclusion

  • 75 Above, note 17.
  • 76 Elsewhere, this exclusiveness was sometimes also expressed by means of epitheta that in turn referr (...)

24No doubt the people in the Roman Near East were free to represent the deities they worshipped as they pleased. In practice, however, the material from Palmyra and Hatra pertaining to the cult of the goddess Allat shows that people’s choices were not as spontaneous and experimental as Elisa Friedland suggests.75 Instead, individual choices were largely determined by the cultic situation in which people operated. The determining factor was the cult image of Allat in a particular sanctuary. The iconography of a cult image was not necessarily a code that expressed the character or theology of the goddess. Cultic reality was far more muddled and complicated than this. In a sense, the deity of each sanctuary was unique.76 Thus in Hatra, the goddess Iššarbel is represented in the guise of Greek Athena, whereas the statue of the goddess Allat worshipped in her temple in the great temenos is devoid of classical features. Finds from Allat’s temple in Palmyra show that the later interpretatio graeca of the goddess’s name did not affect her cult image. Although Allat was later called Athena in Greek inscriptions, her cult image remained the same and was not influenced by classical iconography. The determining factor for the sanctity of all these cult images, therefore, was their venerable origin. As highly traditional representations with agency, such images were much more than a simple blueprint of the goddess’ character. There is no fixed relationship between the ethnic origin of a god’s name or iconography and their divine character. It is the material manifestation of the deity that is important, rather than iconographic motifs. This explains why Allat is sometimes worshipped in the form of a betyl, and why the great goddesses in Hatra all look so much alike. The study of the cult of gods should therefore not only focus on their local context, but should be narrowed down to their manifestations in particular sanctuaries or cult places.

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Notes

1 The literature on the meaning of representations in the Near East is extensive. See, for example, Bahrani 2003 and Winter 2007.

2 On cult images in the Graeco-Roman world, see Mylonopoulos 2010; on cult images in the ancient Near East, see Dick 1999 and Walls 2005. The distinction made above is, of course, a generalisation. Some people in certain places in the Greek and Roman world doubtlessly also appreciated the living and powerful character of cult statues. However, otherwise than in ancient Mesopotamia, the rituals that brought about the statues’ living condition (notably the ceremony of the opening of the mouth) were unknown here. The daily rituals of feeding and washing the statues, typical of their cult in Mesopotamia, are likewise absent in Greece and Rome.

3 Van der Toorn 1997, 236; Berlejung 1998, 94-134.

4 Literary sources present reproduction as a duplication of the archetype. One illustrative example is the so-called Sun God tablet found at Sippar, dated to the mid-9th century BCE. The inscription records that the original cult image of the god had been lost and was refashioned on the king’s orders after a clay model found on the banks of the Euphrates (Woods 2004). The tablet is now in the British Museum, London (BM 9100). Another illustrative example is Nabonidus’ restoration of the cult statue of Sin of Harran in the second half of the sixth century BCE, which was based upon a representation of the lost statue on a seal of Assurbanipal that was kept in Esagil in Babylon (Seidl 2000).

5 On Greek religion and the Near East, see Noegels 2007. On religious dynamics in the region in this period, see Dirven 2014 and 2019.

6 On this process and its consequences for cult statues, see Dirven 2015.

7 Starcky 1981a. Cf. also Starcky 1981b and the material assembled by Krone 1992, 257-328.

8 Krone 1992, 323-328, largely inspired by the analysis of Invernizzi 1989 of the material from Hatra.

9 Krone 1992,329-336. Note that some of the material from Palmyra and Hatra is missing from Krone’s catalogue, since it had not yet been published. On the identification of Allat with Artemis and Nemesis (both controversial), see below, notes 52 and 61.

10 This holds true for the many representations of Athena found in the Hauran. Since Allat is not frequently attested here in epigraphy, the figure of Athena may well represent the Greek goddess.

11 On the identification of Nabu and Nanaia as Apollo and Artemis, see Dirven 1999, 135-146; On Nergal and Heracles, Kaizer 2000a, but see also Dirven 2009.

12 Kaizer 2000. Less critical: Mazzilli 2018, 72-73.

13 Already Seyrig 1970, 82-83. Cf. Krone 1992, 329-330.

14 Drijvers 1979.

15 Herodotus 3.8

16 Above, note 8.

17 Friedland 2008.

18 See now Gawlikowksi 2017. Gawlikowksi published a preliminary report on the statues from this sanctuary in Eliav, Friedland, and Herbert (eds) 2008.

19 Literature on this short treatise is extensive, not least on the question of whether or not it was written by Lucian of Samosata. For now, Lightfoot 2003 has settled the discussion in favour of Lucian. See this ground-breaking study for references to earlier publications. Since then, Andrade 2013, 288-313 has made a substantial contribution to the discussion.

20 Most recently, Andrade 2017. In the following, I shall refer to the goddess of Hierapolis by her local name and not by the name that was given to her by an outsider.

21 Drijvers 1979 and idem, 1986.

22 Translation after Lightfoot 2003.

23 Kaizer 2013, 59.

24 At stake here is the influence this text has exercised on the iconographic analysis of Syrian-Mesopotamian deities in the past. For such an approach, see for example Hörig 1985, 1543-1546, Polanski 1998, 113-117, and Lightfoot 2003, 436-438. The latter rightly notes that not all goddesses can be explained as a reference to the iconography of Hera’s cult statue. Some (such as Athena) are the result of theological speculation. Of course, as was pointed out by Pisano 2011 (esp. 121), we should be extremely cautious about taking this playful and satirical description at face value. An extra complicating factor is that the description does tally with contemporary representations of the statue: Dirven 1997, 160-161.

25 This follows from the shorter description of the goddess in DDS par. 15; Cf. Macrobius Sat. 1.23.20, for whom the lions are equally important for the comparison with the Phrygian Mother of the gods.

26 As rightly noted by Lightfoot 2003, 436. Consequently, Polanski 1998, 113 suggests that Lucian is actually referring to the iconography of Allat. This, however, clearly contradicts Lucian’s identification of the goddess as Rhea, and furthermore presupposes non-Greek readers, well acquainted with the iconography of Allat in Syria.

27 The same idea is discussed in detail by Oggiano 2021.

28 The influence of the Hierapolitan cult probably started earlier, as may be inferred from the material remains of a sanctuary dedicated to Atargatis at Delos: Will 1985. Unfortunately, the situation in both Hierapolis and Syria before the Common Era is largely unknown.

29 Pointed out, for example, by Drijvers 1986, 358; Hörig 1985, 1550; and Lightfoot 2003, 35 and 56 (more cautious).

30 Andrade 2017, with references to earlier publications.

31 Contra Will 1985, 151-157.

32 As rightly noted by Blömer 2014, 158.

33 Irrespective of the precise interpretation of Qedeshet: Cornelius 2008, esp. 97-98. On Nanaia, see Goodnick Westenholz 2014. On Kubaba and Kybele, Dexter 2009.

34 One of the earliest testimonies originates from the Hauran and depicts the goddess in a chariot pulled by lions: Weber 2009, 25-27.

35 Damascius, Life of Isidorus in Photius, cod. 242, 203 (Athanassiadi 1999). Cf. the translation and discussion in Aliquot 2010, 312-312.

36 In this respect it is important to bear in mind that the animal is by no means confined to Allat, or to goddesses, but is also frequently associated with powerful deities in the region. For examples, see Colledge 1976, 80.

37 Gawlikowski 2017. Cf. the summary pp. 191-200.

38 Gawlikowski 2017, 244, no 12. Cf. 30-31.

39 For the history of the cult statue, see Gawlikowski 2017, 53-58.

40 Dirven 1999, 81-86. Cf. Gawlikowski 2017, 212 who doubts my interpretation, arguing that some of the details on the relief from the Bel temple cannot be explained along these lines.

41 Gawlikowski 2017, 212, Sculpture 12. Cf. Tanabe 1986, pls. 155-156.

42 Gawlikowski 2017, 53-58.

43 Gawlikowski 2017, 95-98.

44 Gawlikowski 2017, 203-204, sculpture 3. It is apparent from the description on p. 199, no. 8 that in fact fragments of four, rather than two, more or less identical lion’s heads were found. This rule out the hypothesis that these were the lions that flanked the goddess’s throne. For the niche from the temple of Baalshamin in Palmyra: Dunant and Stucky 2000, Tafel 11. 30-31.

45 Gawlikowski 1996. Gawlikowski has changed his opinion in idem, 2008, 409.

46 Drijvers 1978 and Friedland 2008.

47 Gawlikowksi 2017, 155-166. Depending on the background of the soldiers who used the sanctuary, one could even argue it had now become a Temple of Minerva.

48 Contra Drijvers 1978 and Starcky 1981a. The only fragmentary relief of an Athena figure dated by Drijvers in the first century CE is dated much later by Gawlikowski 2017, 207, no. 7, who points out it is not made of soft yellow limestone).

49 Ingholt 1955, nos 123, 164 and 165. Dunant 1959, no. 11. It is noteworthy that Athena is represented on a number of bullae: Ingholt 1955, nos 1005, 1118, 1120. It is illustrative for the different functions of both objects.

50 Gawlikowski 2017, 207-208, sculptures 7-8. In this respect it is telling that the figure of Athena is particularly popular on representations found in the Palmyrene. Cf. Starcky 1981a, 565-566, nos. 14-22. In my view, it suggests that the goddesses worshipped in these small local sanctuaries were in turn local manifestations of Allat that were not identical with the Lady that was worshipped in the temple in Palmyra. As such, the exceptions confirm the rule.

51 The oldest certain instance is Gawlikowski 2017, 266-267, no. 36 (IGLS VII 1 127) dated 144 CE. However, many scholars assume that idem 58, no. 31 = IGLS VII 1, 124, dated to 64 CE already mentions the Temple of Athena. Unfortunately, the Greek is too badly damaged to permit firm conclusions about this. On the remainder of Syria, Krone 1992, 329-330.

52 Gawlikowski 2017, 249, no. 20 (=IGLS XVII 1, 134). The Greek text is commonly read as Αλλαθῃ[καὶ ]ρτέμιδ[ἔτους] Ϛτ´, and used as evidence that Allat was identified with Artemis at an early date at Palmyra. This is, however, the only attested instance of this identification, both inside and outside Palmyra. Drijvers 1978, 347 argues that Artemis is a name given to Atargatis/ Dea Syria in Hierapolis (DDS par. 32), which explains the association of Allat’s cult statue with lions and expresses her character as a potnia therôn. According to Gawlikowski 2017, 191, this identification is the result of a personal choice. In contrast, Jean-Baptiste Yon, IGLS XVII.1, 145, no. 134, following a correction in SEG, proposes reconstructing [] instead of [, from which it follows that the dedication was made for two goddess. I am inclined to follow Yon’s reading, which solves the riddle of this highly unusual identification.

53 Above, note 45.

54 Iraqi archaeologists excavated the Temple of Allat, Walter Andrea’s Building B (Andrae 1908, 23; Andrae 1912, 116-118, pls 30-31, figs 184-185, pl. 35), in 1974-5, in a campaign supervised by Hazim Najafi. So far, the results of this excavation have only been partially published: al-Najafi 1983, 175-199 (plan of the temple); al-Salihi 1985, 131-146; Ibrahim 1986, 127, pls 59 and 104a-b; Invernizzi 1989 and 1991; al-Salihi 1998a; Allara 2000, 143-157.

55 For a general introduction into religion in Hatra, see Drijvers 1977, Kaizer 2000b and Dirven 2007.

56 On the role of Hatra’s rulers in the religious organisation of the city, see Dirven 2022.

57 The bust of the goddess probably also figures in a lintel that once decorated the door within her sanctuary: al-Salihi 1989, 21-24, fig. 1. Another relief from this temple depicts an anonymous female with a Heracles figure. Attributes are missing, but she is probably to be identified as the tutelary deity of the sanctuary: al-Salihi 1982, 138-140, fig. 1.

58 Dirven 2013. This holds true especially for the goddess, wearing a high polos on which stands an eagle with spread wings, who is shown enthroned between lions on the so-called Kerberos relief that was found in Temple I. In a previous publication, I proposed identifying her as Allat, arguing that lions and fish are associated with this goddess. Allat is also the only goddess depicted with an eagle on her head; moreover, she is frequently associated with Nergal-Heracles.

59 Krone 1992, 282-283, no. 51; al-Salihi 1998a, 103-104, figs 1-2.

60 Invernizzi 1989.

61 As rightly pointed out by Kaizer 2001.

62 Bucci, De Hoz, Kaizer, and Moriggi forthcoming. I am greatly indebted to Ted Kaizer for sharing the information on this very important text with me before publication.

63 Above, note 52.

64 Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 150 (upper part of a bronze statuette, found at the back of the square temple in the great temenos) and Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 151 (upper part of a bronze statuette, found in the temenos of the great temple). The small bronze of an armed god, Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 149, here identified as Apollo, should perhaps be identified as Athena as well. The half-figure in relief of a military figure with a lance and a small round shield on the second stone of the central iwan of the so-called Triad Temple is probably also an Athena figure. On a door lintel from the central iwan complex, Athena figures in a centauromachia: Sommer 2003, 71, Abb. 96.

65 In addition to the material found in Temple V, listed below note 68, an Athena figure accompanies a Heracles figure fighting a centaur on an offering box from Temple VII: Downey 1969, 88-89, pls. XX.1, XX, 3; Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 260. She is also represented on the lid of an offering box that was found in Khirbet Qertan but probably originates from Hatra: IM 59945. Downey 1977, pl. XXIV.1. From Temple X comes a small incense altar on which an Athena figure is depicted riding a lion: Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 304; Starcky 1981a, 568, no. 48; Krone 1992, 279, no. 46. One striking aspect is the recurrent association of this goddess with a Heracles figure. It is clear that in the other small shrines, unlike in Temple V, she is a sunnaos theos.

Twice, she is represented on sculptures found at the North Gate: al-Salihi 1980, figs. 27 and 28. Lastly, Athena figures in the decoration of clothing or weapons of life-size statues: Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 5 (shaft of a sword of a life size statue of a king) and fig. 9 (decoration of the tunic of a life-size statue of a young man, probably a prince).

66 Gad Ramgu (also called the great Gad of Ramgu, or the great Gad) is mentioned in a number of inscriptions from this sanctuary: H406, 408, 409, 413 and H1053. Ramgu is a personal name that is also used as a denomination for a group of people. Hence Gad Ramgu is the protective deity of a group or clan. It follows from a relief found in one of the rooms along the court that this god was represented as a Heracles figure: al-Salihi 1990, 33-34, fig. 21 (with H413).

67 The small shrines in Hatra are numbered according to the sequence in which they were found.

68 1. A statue of the goddess, 1.20 m. high, was found in the courtyard, in front of the entrance of the pronaos (Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 226 (he thinks it may have been an architectural element); Starcky 1981a, no. 42; Krone 1992, 278, no. 44). 2. A large relief depicts an Athena figure flanked by two women standing on a huge lion (Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 224; Drijvers 1978, 349; Starcky1981a, 568, no. 47; Krone 1992, 277–278, no. 43); 3. Stela representing an Athena figure and a bearded god with dagger and snake in relief (Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 225; Downey 1974, 176, fig. 2; Starcky 1981a, 567, no. 38; Krone 1992, 278–279, no. 45, fig. 6). 4. Upper part of stela with Athena figure in relief (al-Salihi 1970, 188, fig. 3). For the arch, see Safar and Mustafa 1974, fig. 238.

69 The name is found in three texts inscribed on the pedestals of life-size statues (two of priestesses) found in the pronaos (H34, H35 and H38), all referring to the deity ’šrbl, thereby suggesting this was the most important deity of the main shrine. H35 records that this divinity ordered Qayamay to erect a statue, and H38 is an honorary statue of Martabu, priestess of ’šrbl. The same individual is mentioned in H31, inscribed on a relief found in the room on the southern side of the court, on which Athena-Allat is represented together with a god with a snake.

70 For an extensive discussion of the statue of this god, who can be identified as Nabu, see Dirven and Messina 2020, with references to previous publications.

71 Milik 1972, 338, who also points out that Assur is written ’sr instead of ’šr in Assur itself. For Iššarbel as ‘Joy of Bel’, Milik 1972, 344. For a different view, Beyer 1998, 152 and 170; idem 2002, 89, and idem 2013, 51.

72 Safar mentions fragmentary statues of two lions, found near the main entrance of the façade: Safar and Mustafa 1974, 357 with fig. 15. A small incense altar that was found in Temple X represents an armed Athena figure with helmet and spear riding a lion: above, note 65.

73 Gawlikowksi 2017, 263, no. 35 (126/7 CE).

74 Dirven 2013.

75 Above, note 17.

76 Elsewhere, this exclusiveness was sometimes also expressed by means of epitheta that in turn referred to cult statues that impersonated these manifestations. In other words: here cult statues were the visual embodiments of such traditional, local epithets: Parker 2017, 12.

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Table des illustrations

Titre Fig. 1: AR Tetradrachm struck in Hierapolis during the reign of Caracalla, AD 215-217, figuring the divine statues as described by Lucian on its reverse. https://www.numisbids.com/​n.php?p=lot&sid=2937&lot=540
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-1.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 280k
Titre Fig. 2: Reconstruction of the cross-section through the Antonine Temple of Allat containing the archaic chapel and cult statue. Drawing by Michal Gawlikowski, after Gawlikowski 2017, fig. 32
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-2.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 744k
Titre Fig. 3: Marble statue of Athena in classical style, from the temple that was used by Roman military. Courtesy of Livius.org
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-3.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 807k
Titre Fig. 4: Lintel from the temple of Allat in Hatra, picturing the goddess riding a dromedary. Ca. 170 AD. Photo by Krysztof Jakubiak
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-4.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 3,3M
Titre Fig. 5: Lintel from the temple of Allat in Hatra, picturing the goddess enthroned in her temple, worshipped by King Sanatruq I. Ca. 170 AD. After al-Salihi 1985
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-5.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 598k
Titre Fig. 6: Athena-figure (Iššarbel) flanked by two women standing on a lion (first half of the third century AD), found in Temple V in Hatra
Crédits Photo by Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-6.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 174k
Titre Fig. 7: Relief of Palmyrene origin picturing Allat and a dedicant (end of first century AD), found in Temple XIII in Hatra
Crédits Drawing by Lucinda Dirven
URL http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/docannexe/image/5538/img-7.jpg
Fichier image/jpeg, 104k
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Lucinda Dirven, « Representing and Naming the Gods. Iconography and Nomenclature of the Goddess Allat in Palmyra and Hatra »Mythos [En ligne], 16 | 2022, mis en ligne le 15 décembre 2022, consulté le 05 décembre 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/mythos/5538 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/mythos.5538

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Auteur

Lucinda Dirven

Radboud University Nijmegen. Faculty of Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies, Erasmusplein 1 6525 HT Nijmegen The Netherlands. lucinda.dirven(at)ru.nl

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