|
|
| |
Palaipaphos |
| |
The ancient said that Paphos was the navel of the earth as the Delphi.
They meant that the holy altar of Venus of Palaipaphos was so much
important as the holy altar of Apollon at Delphi. From 1200 B.C the
Palaipaphos was a big religious center that became with time a place
of adoration for crowds of faithful people , not only from all the
places of Cyprus, but also from other countries of the Mediterranean.
The residents of Paphos and particularly those at Kouklia worshipped
a goddess of fertility who protected life. They depicted her as a
woman with obvious the characteristics of maternity. They manufactured
from stone or clay, figurines of this goddess, certain bigger as objects
of adoration and other smaller, that the women wore on their neck
as amulets and other that they placed in the graves in order to protect
the dead people. Thus it appears that the adoration of a goddess of
fertility was presented first in the region of Paphos. The fable that
says that Venus was given birth at its coasts perhaps is reported
in the adoration of the goddess, which began to be worshipped here.
The adoration of this goddess becomes resplendent especially from
the 12th century B.C. It appears that already before the arrival of
"Acheoi", Palaipaphos was a rich city with one rich holy
altar of the goddess. The king Kinyras of Paphos, as tradition says,
was very rich and he was at the same time priest of Venus. But exists
also one other tradition that says that Agapinoras, the king of Tegea
of Arcadia, came to Paphos after the Troika war and founded both the
city and the holy altar of Venus. It appears that the Greeks were
impressed by the greatness of the goddess of Paphos and they built
a great holy altar, from which they are saved some architectural residues.
They worshipped her at its holy altar. It was never built a temple
for her, but the holy altar was out door, encircled by walls, closed
with bright doors, as Omiros says . The view was not worshipped in
the form of statue, but in the form of conical stone. The ancient
report it as something strange " a white pyramid which the material
is not known ». Without fail this symbolic stone existed in this place
from the ancient years. The adoration of the standing stones is acquaintance
in the eastern religions. Perhaps the standing rocks in the locality
"Petra tou Romiou'" is what created the fable that Venus
was given birth there.
It is this mysterious conical stone that was found near the holy altar
and it is exposed in a room of the museum of Kouklia, with the difference
that it is black while the ancient described it as white. Perhaps
it was white and preened. It remained in the holy altar until the
Roman season, placed in the intermediate part of a tripartite open
building. In the space there was found the altar of the goddess, being
famous already in the season of Omiros as an incensed altar. It is
said that, as by marvel the altar was never rained by the rain.
They existed also votive pillars, with symbols as the horns of a bull,
and columns in form of a tree of life. There would exist also various
buildings for the needs of the holy altar, where they perhaps lived,
the priest of the goddess with the other people.
It is likely that existed a holy garden from which it has taken its
name the village of Geroskipou. We should imagine perhaps a part of
the holy altar as a garden with trees and bushes, dedicated in Venus,
where they flew birds as the pigeons that were her beloved birds.
Representations on vessels show us people between bushes, flowers
and birds.
The goddess was worshipped as follows: a priest directed the ceremonies.
As first priest is reported the fabulous Kinyras. His descendants
continued being priests and were buried in holy altar of the goddess.
We know also that the kings of Paphos, were simultaneously priests.
Perhaps these priests took place the "holy marriage", as
it became from the Eastern religions to honor Astartis. That is to
say one day the priest took place a marriage with the female priest
so that it ensures for the coming time fertility of the earth and
people.
It would also exist a priest of the goddess that lived perhaps in
the holy altar. We can shape an idea from her appearance, from findings
of the archaic season, that present a woman, rich embellished. It
is the goddess that is represented from her priest.
The adoration of Venus was particularly brilliant and famous in the
archaic season. Religious ceremonies are painted with a lot of details
on old findings such as vases or bronzed vessels.
For the offers to Venus we have information from ancient writers.
It appears that the offers from "Myra", tobacco or balm,
were accepted. The faithful people brought also pies from flour and
oil and produced libations from honey. They offered branches from
trees, liked by the goddess, like "myrsini" and flowers,
windflowers and roses, because they came out from the blood of Adonis
and the teardrops of Venus.
With regard to the sacrifices of animals, the information does not
agree. Certain say that the altar of the goddess was not wetted with
blood. Certain supported that was never a scarification of pig to
Venus, because she disgusted pigs, after the death of Adonis caused
by a wild pig.
Others insisted that they sacrificed pigs to Venus. Faithful people
dedicated things that presented worshippers or the goddess herself,
either in the form of a decent woman richly dressed, or in the form
of naked "Astartis". Others dedicated columns with signs,
statues, precious gifts, gold. We know that holy altar of Venus was
very rich. The Romans took many from the treasures in Rome.
The Ptolemaioi and the Roman, in order to give particular glamour
to the holy altar, they tried they to import the adoration of emperors
and other gods. The currencies of the season show the holy altar with
the conical stone still in its place.
Every year, men and women from all over Cyprus, organize events, musical,
theatrical, poetic and athletic, from the harbor of New Paphos to
Palaipaphos. The goddess was worshipped for a lot of centuries at
Palaipaphos, because the persons knew that she had enormous force
and that she gave life and charms, but that it could be also malicious
if they did not respect her.
The adoration of the goddess lost its glamour with the rise of Christianity.
From the 2nd century AC they began to abandon the altars of the goddess.
The big earthquakes of the 4th century AC destroyed the holy altar.
With the building material of the idolatrous buildings, they built
great royal ones. It was the end of big adoration of the ancient world.
|
|
