Some account of the temple and rites of the Paphian Aphrodite is given oy Tacitus {Hist. ii. •2. 3).§ Kivvpas, a personage who plays a consider- able part in Cyprian mythology (cf. II. xi. 19-23), was its reputed founder ; the priests of the goddess, who were also kings, were styled KiKupaSoi. Only male victims were oflered in sacrifice to her, kids being accounted the best for purposes of exti- npicium, for their skill in which her priests were f.imed. No blood, however, was shed upon the altar, which, though standing in the open air, was supposed never to be rained upon. "The goddess herself was symbolised by a cone.H Her devotees were initiated with impure rites. H Doves were
• Preller, Orifch. ilijtholfi i. iip. 2791 >, 2B0», 281'.
t Votive tablets found at £ry.\ bear also the inscription VlNEREl Eriicinai (CIL 7253-5, 7257).
t See further, Preller, Rom. ili/thol.s i. pp. 435, 437, 442 f., 44S.
f On the site, dimensions, etc. of the ancient temple, in so far as they can be recovered by excavation, the report of tlie Cv^ms Exploration Fund in the Journal of Udlenic Studies, 1888. pp. 145*-224, supersedes evervthing that had been previously written. (Tlie st-itements of Di Cesnola in his work on Cj-prus are hiirhly untrustworthy; see ib. p. 204 f.; Gardner, A'ew Cftapteri in (JtctUc lliitory, p. 175.) The principal ancient notices respecting the temple are collected by M. B. James, ib. p. 176-192.
II Simulacrum den non efilf^e hamana, continuus orbis latiore initio tenuem in ambitum metffi modo exsurgens, et ratio in obscuro. Upon the coins of Cj'prus, struck under the Rom. emperors, in the name of the «(»•» Ki/tp/»*, this sacred cone, standing in its temple, with a dove, or doves, on the roof, ia a constant feature ; see I'errot et Chipiez, i/wrt. of A rt in Cyprus and Phoen. fi^-s. 68, 199. 202 (Enp. tr. i. pp. 123, 276, 281) ; Rawlin- son. Hist, of Phoen. p. 145 ; or Ilead. p. 628. Stone cones about a vard in hei;:ht, also, no doubt, sjinbolisinff the goddess, have bt-en found at Athidnau (Golpi), and in Gozzo (Gaulus) and Halta (Perrot et Chip. (iirs. 205, 223) ; and a cone is often fij^ured on gems, etc. (ib. figs. 29, 232, ch. iv. end).
•f Clem. Alex. Protrep. pn. 12, 13 ; Amob. adv. Omtes, v. 19 ; Justin, xWii. 6. Of. the close of tiie passage of Hdt (!• 199) referred to ftbOT*, ivaxV ^* **^ ^ lUmfw irri wmfmmX^tH
sacred to her.* A large number of inscri|.tioDi have been found at Paphos, headed Ila0((i A^^ oirQ : in many of these parents dedicate theu children to the goddess.t
'Ashtart appears to have been generally repre- sented as a female figure, somewhat short in stature, usually naked, with rounded limbs, but sometimes draped, the hands supporting the breasts,^ or some- times with one holding a dove in her bosom ; § terra-cotta statuettes of this description are found not only in Cyprus, but also upon most of the isles and coasts of the .^gean Sea. Figs. 381, 382 in Perrot and Chipiez' work are particularly interesting. The right hand here supports the breast, whUe the left hand is extended downwards in front : may figures of this kind, one is tempted to ask, have formed the type out of which the Venus of Medici was ultimately developed! II Clay figures, of the same general type, usually con- sidered to represent Ishtar, are also found in large numbers in the ruins of Mesopotamia, and at Susa.1I
In some localities 'Ashtart seems further to have been regarded as a moon-goddess. Thus Lucian (Z)e dea Syria, § 4), speaking of the temple at Sidon, mentioned above, says, us iiiv a.\rro\ X^7ou<riv, 'AardpTTj^ icyrlv 'AoTdpr^v d' ^u) Sok^i* XeXTjvaitjw (filitvai ; and Herodian declares (v. 6. 10) that Ovpaviav 0oiviK€S 'Aarpodpxijv dvofid^ovffif ffeKi^vTjv elvat eaofTiS."
How this transformation of the character of Ishtar tt took place is not perfectly certain. It is conceivable that Ba'al, as Ba'al Shamaim (Ba'al of heaven), was identified with the sun ; and hence his consort 'Ashtart might not unnaturally be regarded as the moon. Another explanation is, however, possible. There was great intercourse in antiquity between Phoenicia and Egypt ; and the influence of Egypt is palpably impressed upon Phoen. art. The Egyp. godds«ses Isis and Hatbor, now, are habitually represented as supporting upon
• Cf. Antiphanes, ap. Athen. vi. 71, p. 267, xiv. 70, p. 655 ; and the PaphiEB columba of Martial (viii. 28), etc. Many representa- tions of doves in marble and terraH;otta have been found in and about the site of the temple. The dove is also often figured on the coins of Paphos, sometimes with the head of Aphrodite on the obverse : see J. P. Six's Essay on the Coins of C}'prus in the Revu^ Xumismatique, 1883 (p. 2699.), pp. S55-357, 364 (where No. 86 = Gardner, Types of Greek Coins, x. 47), and PI. vu. 18.
t Le Bas and Waddington, Inscriptions recueiUies en Grice, etc., 2794, 2798 (here o i^yof t<wf Kitupai^r dedicates his grand* son), 2801 : Joum. of Hell. Studies, I.e. p. 225 B. Nos. 8, 33, 35, 39, 41, 42, etc. ; p. 2.59.
J Perrot et Chipiez, fig. 291, from Tharros in Sardinia; flg. 321, from C^T>rus ; figs. 374, 375, with strange heads, and huge ears and earrings ; figs, 379, 380 ; fig. 417-Eawl. p. 204 (four well-modelled figures, on a sarcophagus, from Amathus) ; fig. 550 (two figures, on a decorated patera, now at Athens, with an Aram, inscription, ya'D 12 uj"? i Euting, Punische Steine, p. 33 f.). In fig. 160, from Cj-prus, the hands are on the waist; similarlv in a bas-relief from Ashkelon, fig. 314 (Eng. tr. IL fl^. 38 [fig. 277 of the orig.=flg. 1, vol. ii. of tr.]).