Aphacitis

Aphacitis (Ancient Greek: Ἀφακῖτις) was an epithet of the goddess Aphrodite from Greek mythology, derived from the town of Aphaca (modern Afqa) in Coele-Syria, where she had a celebrated temple with an oracle, which was destroyed by the command of the emperor Constantine.[1]

At the temple there was a small pool into which worshippers would throw offerings. If the offerings sank, it was proof they were acceptable to Aphrodite.[2] Delegations would be sent from quite far away to the shrine during festivals to offer donations to the goddess here.[3]

Notes
  1. Zosimus, Historia Novia 1.58
  2. White, John F. (2015). The Roman Emperor Aurelian: Restorer of the World. Casemate Publishers. p. 91. ISBN 9781473844797. Retrieved 2016-02-21.
  3. Kennedy, David (2013). Gerasa and the Decapolis. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781472537744. Retrieved 2016-02-21.

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Aphacitis". In Smith, William (ed.). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. 1. p. 224.


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