Atargatis

Atargatis was a goddess worshipped in the ancient Near East, principally in northern Syria and parts of Anatolia from the late Bronze Age into the early Iron Age. She was associated with fertility, water, and motherhood, and was revered as a life-giving and protective deity for cities and agricultural communities. In some local traditions her cult occupied a high status, and over time she often overlapped with the worship of Astarte (Ishtar); in Greco-Roman contexts she was frequently identified with Artemis or Aphrodite, reflecting broader religious syncretism.

Iconography and monuments vary. Early representations show Atargatis as a veiled goddess holding a scepter or offering bowl. A later and widely cited image presents a goddess with a fish tail, a form that contributed to later mermaid legends. A famous statue of this fish-tailed deity was found at Hierapolis Bambyce (modern-day Syria), dating to the Hellenistic period, and it became a focal point for discussions of her cult.

Myth and influence: In late antique and medieval sources a tale circulated in which Atargatis transforms a mortal lover into a fish, a narrative frequently cited as an origin for mermaid lore. The story's details vary by source and are understood as legendary rather than historical. The cult’s influence persisted through Hellenistic and Roman periods and left a mark on the wider Mediterranean imagery of sea-born and fertility deities.

Worship and centers: Primary cult centers included Hierapolis Bambyce and other urban settlements in Syria and Cilicia. Although the formal cult declined in late antiquity, inscriptions and remains attest its importance in the region during the first millennium BCE and into the early centuries CE.