Aphrodite Urania

Aphrodite Urania (Greek Ἀφροδίτη Οὐρανία ), the heavenly Aphrodite, is a manifestation of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, which probably goes back to Levantine models. Pausanias describes their worship in Athens. She is the daughter of Uranus and of Pontos.

Herodotus mentions a temple of Aphrodite Urania ( Derketo ) in Ashkelon, whom he described as the oldest temples of this deity ever sees. Phoenicians from Ashkelon would then founded the famous Temple of Aphrodite in Cyprus and Cythera.

According to Pausanias, the Assyrians were the first worshipers of Aphrodite Urania ( Ishtar? ), According to them, the people of Paphos and the residents of Ashkelon in Palestine, and the inhabitants of the island of Cythera, who took over the cult of the Phoenicians.

Strabo is equal to the Aphrodite Urania of Ashkelon with Atargatis.