Templum Atargatis, Hierapolis Bambyce
About
Syria's grandest sanctuary to Atargatis, the fish-tailed mother goddess, its walls stretching over 600 feet according to the 2nd-century writer Lucian, who left the fullest surviving account of any pagan temple's daily rituals. A sacred lake inside the precinct, said to be bottomless, held fish so holy that only priests could touch them, some wearing gold rings. The sanctuary was already ancient, ruled by Commagenian and Seleucid kings before Rome, when Trajan died in 117 CE.
What happened here
The building itself is a house for the god, and most people never go inside. Everything public happens on the steps and at the altar in front: an animal led up, examined, killed cleanly, its organs read, the meat divided and eaten. The priest covers his head and a flute player keeps up a noise so no ill-omened word is heard. Worshippers leave what they can afford — a terracotta figure, a coin, a model of the body part they want healed — and the accumulated clutter is periodically cleared and buried on site. On festival days the doors are opened and the cult statue is dressed, garlanded, and sometimes carried out through the streets. The temple also holds money, which is why towns keep their treasury in one.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →