The Temple of Cybele
January 2009 Newsletter
The Goddess Artemis
By Priestess Jean
In this brief essay, I will try to trace the historical origins of Artemis , as I did with Cybele on our main website. Artemis, like so many other deities, comes to us through the Greeks... and as we know, they seem to have a passion for fabricating all sorts of amusing mythology about their deities. Although such stories may be very entertaining, our focus in this article will be on verifiable facts concerning the origins and worship of the goddess.
Those who are familiar with Greek deities know that most of them are not actually native to Greece. As the Greeks explored the ancient world, primarily in the Aegean area and the Near East, they encountered and adopted many foreign deities. Artemis is one of a later group of deities known as the 12 Olympians , which indicates that she was adopted sometime during the classical era, long after the Ionian colonization of western Turkey began. As a matter of fact, the Greeks characterized Artemis as the sister of Apollo, who has already been demonstrated (on our main website) to be an adopted Turkish deity (Apaliunas).
Early evidence about Artemis comes to us from the records of the sacred perfumes found in the Palace of Nestor at Pylos , in the southern Peloponnese. The tablets, written in Mycenaean Greek (Linear B) , date to about 1450 BCE. In them we see that several popular deities of that time are to receive between 2-6 quarts of perfume each, however two particular deites are to receive far more... one referred to as "Matere Teija" (the Great Mother) is to receive fully 100 quarts, while the other, "Potnia Aswiya" is to receive 94 quarts.
By careful analysis, Sarah P.Morris, in her paper presented at the 8th International Aegean Conference, at Goteborg University (April 2000) investigates the identity of Potnia Aswiya. Her name translates as "mistress of Assuwa". Assuwa is the Hittite name for the area near the delta of the Cayster river, which we call Lydia. As we know, Lydia is on the central west coast of Turkey. It's capitol city is none other than the world famous Ephesus , location of the great Temple of Artemis.
Interestingly, the Greeks knew little about the Turkish goddesses at the time. The perfume allotment was for captured Turkish slave women, who formed the bulk of the workforce at the palace. The real value of these old perfume records lies primarily in demonstrating the existance of a second goddess, close in popularity and status to the Great Mother Herself... and to connect this second goddess to Ephesus.
Ephesus in Lydia has been a sacred place of worship since late Neolithic times. The first known temple of significance was built in the early bronze age, circa 2500 BCE. It was originally dedicated to Cybele. In her book on the Amazons , Florence Bennett describes them as great patrons of the temple... indeed, they may even have been it's founders. The Amazons were devoted to Cybele, and were quite wealthy and powerful in 2500 BCE... in addition, the original temple contained many statues honoring the Amazons.
By about 1700 BCE, the Amazons came under heavy attack by a number of other kingdoms, and their society entered into a period of retreat and decline. Outnumbered, the last Amazons were killed at the battle of the Thermodon, in 1500 BCE.
The appearance of a warlike version of the Great Mother, in conjunction with the re-dedication of the temple of Ephesus to her, seems to correspond with the change in the fortunes of the Amazons, which occured around 1700 BCE. Therefore, we might speculate that a modified version of the Goddess was created for the Amazons, at a time of great need, in order to assist them in their battles.
Of course there is no doubt that the new goddess was later called Artemis by the Greeks, but what she was originally called is somewhat of a mystery. Naturally, the older events are less well-recorded than things which happened in the classical period. As the worship of Artemis became widespread, different names were used in each locality, adding to the confusion.
A few things that we know for certain are that during the time the temple was dedicated to Cybele, She was served by a mix of female and transsexual Priestesses, and this practice continued unchanged after the re-dedication. The images of Artemis bear strong resemblence to those of Cybele, and the essential beliefs and practices of the religion remained much the same. Obviously, after the Greeks adopted the goddess, she became westernized, and the religion was significantly altered, to fit into patriarchal Greek society and culture.
It appears then, that the goddess we know today as Artemis was derived from the Great Mother, at the temple of Ephesus in Lydia, about 1700 BCE, in order to assist the Amazons in battle. She was known throughout the Aegean as early as 1450 BCE, although she was most often referred to by titles such as Potnia Aswiya (mistress of Lydia) and Potnia Theron (mistress of animals). She was adopted into the Greek pantheon circa 1000 BCE under the name of Artemis, and was later worshipped by the Romans as Diana.
The Temple of Artemis
about 400 BCE
In addition to Artemis, many of the other goddesses of antiquity are descended from the Great Mother... in the Greek pantheon alone we find the primordial goddess Gaia, and later the Olympians Hera, Athena, Hestia, Demeter and Aphrodite.
Next month I will write briefly about Hecate, yet another descendent of our beloved Great Mother. Until then, I wish all of you health, happiness, and a very calm and restful winter...
Bright Blessings,
Priestess Jean