Greek Asia: ANCIENT GREEK MEDALLION OF GODDESS APHRODITE DISCOVERED IN RUSSIA

Tuesday 27 December 2022

ANCIENT GREEK MEDALLION OF GODDESS APHRODITE DISCOVERED IN RUSSIA

(Photo: Nikolay Sudarev )

Archaeologists have unearthed a silver medallion depicting the Greek Goddess Aphrodite in a 2100-year-old grave of a priestess on the northeast coast of the Black Sea. The grave is among a number of striking finds unearthed in the summer of 2022 at a site near the shore of the Taman Peninsula in southern Russia, east of the Crimean Peninsula and between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. According to the Oleg Deripaska Volnoe Delo Foundation’s spokesman Ruben Bunyatyan, archaeologists Nikolay Sudarev and Mikhail Treister discovered the grave of the woman during the Phanagoria archaeological expedition.

Apart from the unique medallion, other artifacts and jewelry found buried with the woman make the artchaeologists conclude that she was probably a priestess of Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of beauty and love. The rings, silver earrings, and other grave goods that were dedicated to the Goddess led to these conclusions.

The large medallion is made of silver and shows the Goddess Aphrodite in the center, surrounded by symbols portraying 10 signs of the zodiac. The embossed female figure is Aphrodite, based on other contemporary iconographic portrayals.

The medallion is about 7 centimeters (2.75 inches) in diameter and 15 millimeters thick. Medallions of this sort were used in many ways: as brooches, as hair accessories, and as pendants.

Such medallions were common in the territory of the Bosporan Kingdom as early as 2,300 years ago, said Maria Chashuk, senior research associate of the Phanagoria archaeological expedition.

According to archaeologists, the inclusion of the zodiac indicates the medallion is a portrayal of “Aphrodite Urania” — the heavenly aspect of the Goddess, as distinct from her Earthly aspect, “Aphrodite Pandemos.” However, the symbols for the zodiac signs Aquarius and Libra are missing, and the researchers don’t know why. This absence is intriguing,as it can provide insight into religious practices at the time of the creation of the medallion. It also highlights the importance of astrology during those times.

Greek historian Hecataeus of Miletus, said that Phanagoria was founded in the sixth century BCE by refugees from Teos, a Greek city on the coast of Anatolia, now part of modern-day Turkey.