Hekate and the the Pergamon Table / Altar

Bronze "magic tablet," aka altar, aka the Pergamon Table, Asia Minor, 3rd century CE. The inscription invokes Melinoë, Persephone, and Leucophryne, but the three goddesses shown are clearly labeled Dione, Phoibe and Nyche (Nyx). (from Wünsch, Antike Zaubergerät, taken from this article about Dionē, which is decent). I'll post my excerpt on Dione later.

What astonished me is the similarity of this bronze offering plaque to one I already have pictures of. It came labeled as devoted to Hekate (someone was going by the triune goddess, plus torch and maybe some of the other symbols).

At first I thought that this new find was similar but a different artifact. Now that I've compared them, I am pretty certain that they are the same artifact; they are just rotated differently.

The drawing also renders the censer-platform (for burning incense or whatever) much smaller than it actually is (probably so that the inscriptions below it could be shown. The Greek text on the background doesn't stand out as much on the color photo, shown below:

Dionē is at the top of the drawing (first picture), with a whip and a torch (or conceivably a bundle of plants), but on the second, above, Nux / Nukhi is at top, holding a snake and dagger. The third figure is Phoibe ("shining one"), again holding a torch and another object which i think may be a temple key. It's possible that these three titanides were syncretized with Hekate's triune form in late antiquity.

Around the edges are inscribed magical sigils, which are also engraved along the sides (spread out to view on the drawing, but not visible on the photo.

Below, view from another angle, showing how the circular platform is elevated.

So that is an interesting find. But it turns out there's more, three of them altogether, with one from Sardis, another from Apamea, all in what is now Turkey. Below is a very poor quality image from the article below, which appears to be an edit of another triangular plate, to put the goddesses side by side.

I'm hunting for this pdf, by William Bruce and Kassandra Jackson Miller. "Towards a typology of triangular bronze Hekate bases: contextualizing a new find from Sardis." Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 November 2017

Excavations in Field 49 at Sardis in the summer of 2015 recovered a bronze triangle inscribed with three images of the goddess Hekate, Greek epithets, and magical symbols (Gr. χαρακτῆρες). The Sardis triangle is the third example of this design known from Roman Anatolia, the other two having been recovered from Pergamon and Apamea. This article aims to situate the new find within its archaeological and historical contexts and, through comparisons with the Pergamon and Apamea finds, to refine our interpretations of the forms and functions of these objects. Field 49 at Sardis is a flat plateau just north of the acropolis. Supported by a series of monumental limestone terrace walls, this part of the city was inhabited almost continuously from the Lydian period through late antiquity. Journal of Roman Archaeology , Volume 30 , 2017 , pp. 509 - 516

Here's a treat: this page has an exhaustive listing of the eponyms of Hekate, followed by the sources. (What a huge amount of work went into this!) Sampling:

Abronoe: Gracious: PGM IV 2441-2621. See Pachoumi’s “A List of Epithets from the Greek Magical Papyri…”.

Admetos: Unconquered: PGM IV 2708-2784. Also said of Atalanta.

Aenaos: Eternal, Ever-flowing: PGM IV 2785-2890.

Agallomenen elaphoisi: Rejoicing in Deer: The Orphic Hymn to Hekate.

Agia: Sacred, holy, saint: PGM IV 2241-2358.

Aglaos: Radiant, bright, beautiful, pleasing: PGM IV 2241-2358. As a term, aglaos connotes festivity and song.

Agriope : Wild-eyed, Fierce-faced, Savage-watcher, wild-voiced : A name associated with Eurydice, Orpheus’ wife, likely came to be attached to Hekate when the two were  conflated. From Orpheus and His Lute: Poetry and the Renewal of Life by Elisabeth Henry, SIU Press, 1992 p. 3. Also, Maass’ Orpheus, 1895. 

PGM refers to the Magical Greek Papyruses, which could be called Hekate's last stand (not that other deities weren't invoked, but these are an important later source for invocations, prayers, spells)

You may already be aware of Goddess litanies in other traditions, notably India, which has at least ten surviving Sahasranamas (Thousand Names praise shlokas) of Devi, as Kali, Lakshmi, Lalitāmbikā and others. I'm going to record excerpts from the latter in the coming week (it will be in the India section).

I really love this Hecate from the House of Publius Fannius Synistor in Boscoreale, Naples, circa 40-30 BCE. She's wearing a feathered (or leafed) diadem of Archaic type, and holds torches in each hand. What I find interesting is the yarn she wears draped over her head, held in her hands, and then flung over her arms. It may be crossing over her breast as well, but that may be a separate cord from which whatever she's wearing on her back is suspended. Positioned like a quiver, but it has a lid. Maybe a bottle.

Above, the Sardis Triangle, which names Dione, Phoibe, and Lykia ("Wolf"). The authors of the paper identify them as aspects of Hekate, since most of the symbols, including the torch and key, are connected to her. All have lunar crescents over their heads, which is characteristic of the Hellenistic view of Hekate as a triune moon goddess.

Closeup of the Dionē corner of the Sardis Triangle. Next up, I've found some images of Dionē.

Here's the third triangular bronze, the Apamea Table. A single goddess, but three-headed, labeled Dione, and underneath her, Amibousa, "She Who Changes," or the "Changer." More on this soon, when I've read the article by Kate Jackson "‘She who changes’ (Amibousa): a re-examination of the triangular table from Pergamon"

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