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<p>[QUOTE="Silverlock, post: 6996018, member: 98181"]These Baetyls caught my interest because they are likely meteorites, another hobby of mine. I should imagine a stone falling from the sky would be as impressive then as it is today. In Bronze Age and earlier times, meteorites were the only source of native iron on earth. A pharaoh had a treasured (sacred?) dagger made from meteoritic iron in an age before iron smelting.</p><p><br /></p><p>Elagabalus attempted to convert the empire to Astarte worship, with himself as chief priest and eventually the god. He used to parade the temple stone around as proof of his divinity and the source of his power. The Sidon coin portrays a simplified version of the cart, there is another more elaborate quadriga version on a denarius as well. I suspect the Sidon version is an earlier portrayal.</p><p><br /></p><p>Another omphalos, associated with Apollo and Delphi, as depicted on a coin, signifies the navel (center) of the world. The stone Apollo is seated is on is of unknown composition, but it possibly is a meteorite.</p><p><br /></p><p>Meteorites aren’t all that rare. How did they decide which was worth housing in a temple? Perhaps it had to be a witnessed fall? Or a witnessed fall that resulted in damage or even death? The stories around the meteorites are unfortunately lost, but I’ll bet they were good ones. Given the significance of these “black stones” (the black probably referring to the fusion crust) to many cultures it’s disappointing how few survived through the ages.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>
[QUOTE="Silverlock, post: 6996018, member: 98181"]These Baetyls caught my interest because they are likely meteorites, another hobby of mine. I should imagine a stone falling from the sky would be as impressive then as it is today. In Bronze Age and earlier times, meteorites were the only source of native iron on earth. A pharaoh had a treasured (sacred?) dagger made from meteoritic iron in an age before iron smelting. Elagabalus attempted to convert the empire to Astarte worship, with himself as chief priest and eventually the god. He used to parade the temple stone around as proof of his divinity and the source of his power. The Sidon coin portrays a simplified version of the cart, there is another more elaborate quadriga version on a denarius as well. I suspect the Sidon version is an earlier portrayal. Another omphalos, associated with Apollo and Delphi, as depicted on a coin, signifies the navel (center) of the world. The stone Apollo is seated is on is of unknown composition, but it possibly is a meteorite. Meteorites aren’t all that rare. How did they decide which was worth housing in a temple? Perhaps it had to be a witnessed fall? Or a witnessed fall that resulted in damage or even death? The stories around the meteorites are unfortunately lost, but I’ll bet they were good ones. Given the significance of these “black stones” (the black probably referring to the fusion crust) to many cultures it’s disappointing how few survived through the ages.[/QUOTE]
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