Silver Patera/Disc found at Lampsacus (ancient Lapseki, Turkey)
6th century BC
Goddess served by priestesses, Amazons, or women devotees
Gazette Archéologique, 1877:
“The plate represents a silver patera found in Lampsacus and currently housed at the Museum of Sainte-Irène in Constantinople. According to General Freund (Said Pasha), who found it at Lampsacus while excavating a tomb, this patera is an object of significant archaeological interest. It provides one of the most beautiful depictions of Artemis. The goddess is seated facing forward on a golden throne. Her skin is black enamel, and her hair is styled in symmetrical braids reminiscent of the Amazons. She wears a turban adorned with two small deer horns. Her garment is a single golden robe speckled with stars, finely engraved into the metal. Her right breast is left bare, in the fashion of the Amazons.
The goddess holds a bow in her right hand, while in her left she holds an arrow and a cornucopia. To her left is a guinea fowl, and to her right is a hawk. The throne is decorated with a variety of animals. These animals were gifts from Pan, offered to the goddess as symbols of courage: lions, deer, and dogs. The scene evokes the imagery of ancient Amazons living in caves, taming wild animals. The patera from Lampsacus also depicts black-skinned women dressed in golden robes, leading lions. These lions symbolize “the great destruction of monsters,” a key aspect of Artemis’ iconography
Many Asiatic monuments—both Greek and non-Greek—depict Artemis victorious. Sometimes she appears on a chariot, as in the ancient artifact published by Montfaucon, or lying at rest at the feet of lions, as in the bas-reliefs from Kurdistan. Pausanias describes Artemis on a Cretan chest with wings, holding a panther in one hand and a lion in the other. The image resembles jewelry in the Louvre, particularly the jewels from Camirus studied by M. de Saulcy. While the winged representations of Artemis ceased over time, these representations were later replaced with other symbols, like the crescent moon. In this way, Artemis transitioned from her role as an Amazonian huntress to a lunar deity associated with fertility and life
Greek artists struggled to reconcile the Asiatic symbols with their understanding of Artemis. The crescent moon replaced the deer horns on her head, symbolizing fertility. Over time, even these symbols were abandoned, and Artemis transformed into one of the Olympian gods, distant from her original meaning. It is evident that the Asiatic Artemis was associated with fertility, often appearing in primitive forms. The Lampsacus patera highlights this connection: her right hand is raised, perhaps gesturing toward fertility, echoing symbols from Ida and ancient cults involving the Curetes and Dactyls. These cults celebrated Artemis as the Great Mother of all living things, akin to Rhea and Cybele
Primitive forms of Artemis were especially evident in Asia, where she was often worshipped as a fertility goddess. In Phrygia, Artemis was known as the goddess of love and fertility, but her chest was often depicted as wilted or withered, resembling depictions of Venus. Residents of Pontus even nicknamed Artemis “Priapus” and dedicated obscene images to her. In the Greek tradition, Artemis evolved to represent the earth and fertility but was reinterpreted to fit the Olympian pantheon. This transformation highlights the complex interplay between Asiatic and Greek religious traditions
Attempts to depict Artemis with wings were replaced with other artistic innovations. On some vases, she was depicted with Niobids, or black-skinned figures, who symbolize the dramatic myth of Niobe’s children slain by Artemis and Apollo. This interpretation recalls the punishment of hubris, with Apollo representing solar divinity and Artemis a chthonic, lunar force. The presence of the Niobids emphasizes the mythological contrast of light and darkness in representations of Artemis. In the artwork featuring Artemis with the Niobids, the figures are characterized by dramatic motion, sadness, or grief, heightening the tragic narrative of their punishment
The Asiatic Artemis, as depicted on the Lampsacus patera, demonstrates how symbols such as deer horns and fertility gestures were later adapted into Greek art. The crescent moon, for example, became a dominant symbol of Artemis as a lunar goddess. At one point, Artemis was understood as the “Great Mother” or the Earth itself. Her consort was Apollo, who represented the Sun. This duality mirrors Etruscan myths and even the Orphic tradition, further connecting Artemis to broader Mediterranean religious tradition”
~1877 edition of the Gazette Archéologique, a 19th-century French archaeological journal that documented and analyzed ancient artifacts, artworks, and inscriptions~
An 1,800 year old oil lamp with a seven-branch menorah found in Usha along the Sanhedrin Trail, Israel. Displayed in the Yigal Allon Center. Photo by Yaniv Berman/Israel Antiquities Authority.
