Dear Friends of ancient mythology! Asia Minor is known as home of an infinite number of deities. Here I would like to tell something about the Phrygian Apollo Lairbenos. 1st coin: Phrygia, Hierapolis, pseudo-autonomous, 2nd-3rd century A.D. AE 24, 7.34g, 180° obv. ΛAIP - BHNOC Bust of Apollo Lairbenos, draped and laureate, r. rev. IEPAΠOΛEITΩN / NEΩKOPΩ / N Roman she-wolf l., suckling he twins Remus and Romulus, above a star ref. BMC 95 var. about VF, dark green patina Hierapolis: The name means "holy city" and it is said to have been founded by Apollo. It was famous for its holy hot springs, whose gases were associated with Pluto, the underworld god. Hierapolis had an important Jewish community and is mentioned by Paul in his letters to the Colossians. Today it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The white sinter terraces of Pamukkale are world famous. Pammukale with sinter terraces (own photo, March 2011) In 1889 Ramsay and Hogarth were the first to discover the ruins of a small temple near Badliner near Dionysopolis in Phrygia, dedicated to a native god identified with Apollo. According to the inscriptions found, he was also worshipped in Dionysopolis. in Hierapolis, Motella and Atyochorion. His name is not uniform. In Hierapolis he was called Lairbenos. In the inscriptions, however, also occur: Lairmenos, Larmenos, Larbenos, Leimenos and Luermenos. This epithet of the Asia Minor Apollo is not Greek. In former times some have derived it from Greek labrys (= double axe), others from Hittite labarnas (= "Lord"). But rather a toponym or an ethnicon underlies it. The name can come from the place name Lyrbe near the found inscriptions. It was probably the case that the pronunciation of this Phrygian sound could not be accurately reproduced in Greek. Ramsay assumes that he might have been similar to the German "ö". In the inscriptions he is often called Apollon Lairbenos or Apollon Helios. Epiphanes (the shining one) and Megas (the great one) are also mentioned, all references to his solar character. He was worshipped together with the maternal goddess Leto, who had an extensive cult in the southern and western Asia minor. Ramsay saw him as her son. A coin from Hierapolis with the legend ΛΗΤΩΕΙΑ.ΠΥΘΙΑ shows that there must have been a common celebration in both honours. Ramsay writes that the couple Leto and Lairbenos Apollo had their equivalent in Kybele and Atys in northern Asia Minor. In the course of time it became a triad through the arrival of Artemis. The priests of their cult also called themselves "Priests of Asklepios Soter", which shows that he additionally had the qualities of a healer god and that he must have been closely related to the god Sozon (Roscher). Inscriptions in the temple of Badliner show that slaves were released in his name if they placed themselves for some time or forever as hieroi in the service of the deity (as so-called hierodouls, temple servants). But there were also steles which spoke of terrible punishments for those who had sinned against him in the service of God. This could also have been malaria, which was endemic in this valley. As offences that had been punished, are described: A woman had slept with her husband although she was a hiera. A man had not let his wife go, although she was a hiera (actually understandable!). A man had eaten the meat of a goat, which was intended as a sacrificial animal. The purpose of these steles was to warn others. A building connected to the Apollo-Lairbenos cult was excavated in Hierapolis in 1960. It stands above the Plutonion (an entrance to the underworld), which was a cave filled with poisonous gases, of which Pliny writes that only the priests of the Great Mother (the so-called Galli) could come out of it undamaged. With Great Mother (= Kybele) Leto is meant here with security, who was called also MHTHP LHTΩ. Somehow in this time many deities were mixed with each other! Hierapolis, Plutonion (Mach, Wikipedia) On coins Lairbenos is regularly depicted with a crown of rays, which proves his function as sun god. The twins suckled by a she-wolf on the reverse of the coin are deliberately not called Remus and Romulus by Roscher, because exposed children who are raised by an animal are also found in many other myths. Stele with riding Lairbenos Lairbenos also occurs on a horse riding r., not only on steles, but also on coins: 2nd coin: Phrygia, Hierapolis, pseudo-autonomous, 3rd century A.D. AE 24, 8.16g, 0° obv. BOVΛΗ Bust of Boule (= council), draped and laureate, r. rev. [IE]PAΠOΛEITΩN Apollo Lairbenos trotting on horse r., with l. hand holding the reins, in r. hand holding double axe ref. BMC 240, 77 F+, black-brown patina, flan crack at 7h, perforated at 6h From Thyatira there are coins on which a figure rides on a horse and holds a double axe (labrys) over the shoulder. For a long time this figure was thought to be an Amazon. Gerhard then realized that it had to be a male deity, but thought it was Men. Only Pick realized that it was Apollo Tyrimnaios. Also here it concerns the Lydo-Phrygian sun god, who appears on the coins of many cities in Lydia and Phrygia in this representation. This god is also depicted on coins of Eumeneia in Phrygia, here standing frontally with a double axe and a raven: 3rd coin: Phrygia, Eumeneia, Nero as Caesar, 50-54 A.D. AE 20, 4.60g, 0° issued under the Archiereus Julius Kleon obv. NEPΩN - ΣEBAΣTOΣ Bust, draped, bareheaded, r. rev. from right to left, always from top to bottom: EVMENEΩN / IOVΛIOΣ / KΛ - EΩN / APXIEPEVΣ AΣIAΣ Apollo Tyrimnaios, nude, chlamys over left shoulder, standing frontal, looking l., holding double axe in left arm and in extended r. hand raven ref. SNG Copenhagen 394; SNG by Aulock 3591; SNG Munich 207; RPC 3149; BMC 41 Rare, VF, black, shiny patina Note: Julius Kleon was together with his wife Bassa high priest of Asia. Excursus: The double axe The double axe (Greek labrys, Latin bipennis) served for craft purposes, but also as a weapon, in Homer's case, however, only for the opponents of the Achaeans, above all for the Amazons. It had its special meaning in the cult. Originally coming from the Near East and then in Asia Minor, especially in Caria, it was the attribute of numerous native gods until the latest time. In Crete it became one of the most important religious symbols. There only goddesses are represented with the labrys. This is seen partly as evidence of a matriarchy, but partly also as an indication of the male partner of the Great Goddess and as insignia of the priest prince. Double axes were set up as cult symbols and consecration gifts, partly made of precious material, and carved into the supporting foundation stones of the Cretan palaces as divine protection. In Asia minor, besides Demeter and Kybele, many male deities also carry a labrys, e.g. Zeus as Labraundos, Men and Apollo, as here on the coin. This is often interpreted as a sign of the weather and thunderstorm god, but without sufficient reason. On the Greek mainland the Labrys passes completely into the hands of male figures. Since the so-called geometrical time the Labrys appears as a sign of holiness, e.g. with Herakles, Theseus, Hephaistos etc. In Italy it plays, except in eastern cults, no big role. The axe in the Fasces bundle has nothing to do with the Labrys. The Kleiner Pauly thinks that the actual character and the ritual use of the labrys needs further clarification. Unfortunately the esotericism has taken over again this device. On the Internet you will find the most peculiar explanations, especially from so-called feminists. I have attached: (1) a picture of the sinter terraces at Pammukale (own photo from March 2011) (2) a picture of the Plutonion (Mach, Wikipedia) (3) the picture of a stele with the riding Lairbenos (Wikipedia) Sources: (1) W. M. Ramsay, Artemis-Leto and Apollo-Lairbenos, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. 10 (1889) (via jstor.org) (2) Kevin M. Miller, Apollo Lairbenos, in Numen, Vol. 32, No. 1 (Jul., 1985) (via jstor.org) (3) Wilhelm Heinrich Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und römischen Mythologie, 1895 (4) Der Kleine Pauly (5) Wikipedia Best regards
i've read about that cave..they postulated that the fumes most likely were heavy and killed anything closer to the ground, leaving the cult members intact..not that i'd venture in with them tho...kool coins and write up..
Dear ominus1! Thank you for your post. From Wikipedia: "In 2018 the German volcano biologist Hardy Panz from the University of Duisburg-Essen published a study in which he proves that in the morning and evening hours carbon dioxide accumulates near the ground of the shrine, which are deadly for animals that cannot keep their heads high enough. The priests of the time knew the effect and could both use it and protect themselves from it by holding their head up or climbing a stone." From Colin Barras: This Roman ‘gate to hell’ killed its victims with a cloud of deadly carbon dioxide. In: Sciencemag.org, 16. Februar 2018 Best regards
