Artemis Anahita. Persian Trace in The Culture and Identity of the Roman City
Keywords:
Roman province of Asia, Artemis, Anahita, Greek religion, Persian religion, coins, archaeology.
Abstract
The article analyses historical sources, mainly Greek and Latin, on the goddess Artemis Anahita, of Persian origin, who became an important part of the urban culture of several cities in Asia Minor during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. In terms of functions and visual representations, the Persian goddess Anahita was incorporated into the Greek worldview under the “appearance” of Artemis, not in the iconography of the well-known Hellenistic statue by Leochares, but in a form similar to the statue of Artemis of Ephesus. During the second and third centuries AD, the magistrates of Sardis, Hypaepa, and Philadelphia adopted this goddess as one of the symbols of their cities. Coin types featuring Artemis Anahita appeared not only on issues of autonomous minting but also alongside the busts of emperors. Thus, numismatic sources reveal the visual representation and function of the goddess in maintaining the local identity of city elites of the Roman provinces in Asia Minor.
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Wright, J. H. 1895. A Votive Tablet to Artemis Anaitis and Men Tiamu in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 6, p. 55-74. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/310355.pdf [Accessed: 20 July 2024].
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Altiniluk, S. 2014. HYPAIPA: A Lydian City During the Roman Imperial Period. Istanbul: Ege Yayinlari.
Amandry, M., Burnett, A., Ripollès, P. P., Carradice, I., Spoerri Butcher, M. 2014. Roman Provincial Coinage. Supplement III. New York: The American Numismatic Society.
Babelon, E. (red.) 1898. Inventaire sommaire de la collectionWaddington: acquise par l’Etat en 1897 pour le département des médailles et antiques de la Bibliothèque nationale. Fascicule 1-3. Paris: C. Rollin et Feuardent.
Boyce, M. 1983. “Anāhīd”. In: Yarshater, E. (ed.). Encyclopædia Iranica, 1. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul, p. 1003-1009.
Butcher, K. 2005. Information, Legitimation, or Self-Legitimation? Popular and Elite Designs on the Coin Types of Syria. In: Howgego, Ch., Heuchert, V., Burnett, A. (eds.). Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 143-156.
Dalaison, J. 2007. L’atelier monétaire de Nicopolis en Arménie Mineure. In: Dalaison, J.(ed.). Espaces et pouvoirs dans l’Antiquité De l’Anatolie à la Gaule. Hommages à Bernard Rémy. Cahiers du CRHIPA n° 11, Grenoble: Centre de Recherche en Histoire et Histoire de l'Art: Italie Pays Alpines, S. 203-239.
de Jong, A. F. 1997. Traditions of the Magi. Zoroastrianism in Greek and Latin Literature. Leiden: Brill.
Greaves, A. 2010. Artemis of Ephesus. Minerva, 2010. p. 14 – 15.
Head, B. V. 1901. Catalogue of Greek Coins in the British Museum, Lydia. London.
Jarzęcki, K. 2012. Artemida w antycznym mennictwie greckim. Artemis in ancient Greek coinage. Biuletyn Numizmatyczny 2012, 3 (367), p. 161-172.
Kurth, D. 2020. Greek and Roman Provincial Coins — Lydia. Istanbul; Loxahatchee: Sunrise Publications.
LIMC 1988. Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae. IІ. Aphrodisias-Athena. Zürich; München: Artemis Verlag.
Meriç, R., Merkelbach, R., Nollé, J., Şahin, S. 1981. Die Inschriften von Ephesos 7, 1 Nr. 3001–3500 (Repertorium). Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien, 17, 2. Bonn: Rudolf Habelt.
Nollé, J. 2012. Zum Kult der Anaïtis Artemis von Hypaipa und zu einigen Patriatraditionen der torrhebischen Kaÿstertal-Stadt. Jahrbücher für Numismatik und Geldgeschichte, 62, p. 127-195.
Otto, W. F. 2022. Bogowie Grecji. Obraz boskości w zwierciadle greckiego ducha. Warszawa: Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy.
Pfeiffer, S. 2015. Interpretatio Graeca Der „übersetzte Gott“ in der multikulturellen Gesellschaft des hellenistischen Ägypten. In: Lange, M., Rösel, M. (Hg.). Der übersetzte Gott. Leipzig, p. 37-53. Available at: https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/3699/1/Pfeiffer_Interpretatio_graeca_2015.pdf [Accessed: 2 September 2025].
Price, S. R. F. 1985. Rituals and Power: The Roman Imperial Cult in Asia Minor. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ricl, M. 2002. The Cult of the Iranian Goddess Anahita in Anatolia before and after Alexander. Živa Antika, 52 (2002), p. 197-210. Available at: https://antiquitasviva.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/52.1-2.17.-ricl-m.-the-cult-of-the-iranian-goddess-anahita-in-anatolia-before-and-after-alexander.pdf [Accessed: 2 September 2025].
SNG Cop. 1947. Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Denmark, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum. 27. Lydia I (Acrasus–Saïtta). Copenhagen: Munksgaard.
SNG von Aulock. 1962. Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Deutschland, Sammlung Hans Von Aulock. 2. Caria, Lydia, Phrygia, Lycia, Pamphylia. Berlin: Verlag G. Mann.
Tarn, W. W. 2002. Alexander the Great. II, Sources and Studies 2. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://archive.org/details/dli.pahar.2882 [Accessed: 20 July, 2024].
Tekin, O. 2012 Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum. Turkey 7: Odemis Museum. 1. Roman Provincial Coins of Ionia, Lydia and etc. Istanbul: n. p.
Wikander, S. 1946. Feuerpriester in Kleinasien und Iran, Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup.
Wilamowitz-Moellendorff, U. V. 1924. Hellenistische Dichtung in der Zeit des Kallimachos. 2. Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung.
Williamson, G. 2005. Aspects of Identity. In: Howgego, Ch., Volker, H., Burnett, A. (eds.). 2005. Coinage and Identity in the Roman Provinces. Oxford: Oxford Academic. p. 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199265268.001.0001
Wójcikowski, R. S. 2010. Religia Achemenidów. In: Olszaniec, S., Wojciechowski, P. (red.). Społeczeństwo i religia w świecie antycznym. Toruń: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika, p. 9-18.
Wright, J. H. 1895. A Votive Tablet to Artemis Anaitis and Men Tiamu in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 6, p. 55-74. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/310355.pdf [Accessed: 20 July 2024].
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