Temple of Aphrodite at Palaipaphos ("Old Paphos," her oldest temple), Cyprus. Silver tetradrachm of Vespasian, 77–78 CE.

Countless coins show us what Goddess temples and statues looked like before their destruction in the Christian era. Here we look at Cyprus, but others show us Lebanon, Syria, Anatolia, Greece, Italy, Sicily, Carthage and more. Here we'll look at the Cypriot and Phoenician forms.

The actual stone of the Goddess at Old Paphos has survived, unlike most others. Like the Black Stone at Mecca, she is black. This is from a museum in Cyprus, utter devoid of any sacramental context. A captive, but a survivor.

New evidence on the aniconic iconography of Astarte-Aphrodite in Cyprus

by Pavlos Flourentzos, Former Director, Department of Antiquities, Cyprus

The full article is visible at the link, with photos, but text copying is difficult, so i won't quote from it, only summarize key points.

Roman coins of 1st to 3rd centuries depict Astarte’s black stone in the Holy of Holies in her temle at Palaipaphos. Gold finger rings of the 2nd century show her as well.

New excavations have turned up clay shrines with the aniconic stone of 'Ashtart from burials at Amathous and nearby Pentakomo, painted in red and black. Several are adorned with “pellets probably representing stars,” and Astarte’s disc-and-crescent symbol is shown (the planet Venus combined with the moon god, a sign found in Semitic cultures from Phoenicia to Carthage to Arabia and Ethiopia). 

"The cult of Astarte was evidently related primarily to baetyls. The Phoenician mythological background of this goddess is very eloquent with regard to this practice. Astarte was the daughter of the Sky and Earth and according to the myth, while she was wandering across the world, she touched a star that had fallen from the sky (a meteorite) and consecrated it at Tyre."

The naiskos (shrine) of Astarte-Aphrodite, found in a burial at Amathou, Cyprus. The crescent and star of Venus sit atop the lintel. Author thinks the clay tabs at top of the image represent stars.

This fits both the Greek form of Aphrodite Ourania ("of the heavens") and the Phoenician-Punic form of Tanit whose title was latinized as Juno Caelestis ("of the heavens"). Her great temple at Carthage lasted well into the christian era, to the dismay of bishop of Augustine of Hippo (yes, that Augustine). Attempts to christianize the temple failed, as people attended to be in the presence of the Goddess, and authorities finally razed it.

He failed to label this terracotta shrine, but it would have been either from Amathou or Pentakomo, Cyprus. Again the crescent and star are prominent. This pairing is carried through into Ethiopian churches and, most famously, into Islam out of the ancient Arabian past.

Terracotta naiskos of Astarte-Aphrodite from Amathou, Cyprus. People tend to think of Cyprus as Greek, and it was colonized by Hellenes, but its older cultural connections are with Phoenicia. If you look at a map you'll see that it lies south of Turkey and due west from Lebanon, and only 100 miles from the Syrian coast.

This naiskos clearly shows the stone of 'Ashtart, with a wrapping. The clay tabs could represent garlands or other offerings, repeatedly renewed in ceremony. The top of the shrine resembles crowns on goddess figurines.

Portable baetyl of marble from Kourion, Cyprus, with aniconic "face." Compare to clay tabs on the terracotta naiskoi.

This Cypriot coin shows the close links of Astarte to Dea Syria and the Goddess in Ashkelon, near the Gaza strip. Both these forms were associated with doves and a pool of sacred fish. Again the star and crescent, but inverted from what we saw earlier. Next we'll look at the Phoenician Goddess.

"Sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia was the center of the worship of the goddess, not for Cyprus alone, but for the whole Aegean world. The Cinyradae, or descendants of Cinyras, of Phoenician origin but Greek by name, were the chief priests. Their power and authority were very great; but it may be inferred from certain inscriptions that they were controlled by a senate and an assembly of the people. There was also an oracle here. Few cities have ever been so much sung and glorified by the poets. ...

"The remains of the vast sanctuary of Aphrodite are still discernible, its circumference marked by huge foundation walls.

"The Homeric Hymns written between 7th-4th centuries B.C. and spuriously ascribed to Homer in antiquity mention the sanctuary in Hymn 5 to Aphrodite: 'She [Aphrodite] went to Kypros, to Paphos, where her precinct is and fragrant altar, and passed into her sweet-smelling temple.' ...

"Tacitus described the altar and aniconic black stone worshipped at the sanctuary as the simulacrum of Venus:

  'Blood may not be shed upon the altar, but offering is made only with prayers and pure fire. The altar is never wet by any rain, although it is in the open air. The representation of the goddess is not in human form, but it is a circular mass that is broader at the base and rises like a turning-post to a small circumference at the top. The reason for this is obscure.'

"It was also referred to by Apuleius in The Golden Ass: 'You [Aphrodite] are venerated at the wave-lapped shrine of Paphos.'"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanctuary_of_Aphrodite_Paphia