''Mēn'' ( Greek: "month; Moon", presumably influenced by

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

måŋha ''Mångha'' (') is the Avestan for "Moon, month", equivalent to Persian ''Māh'' (; Old Persian ). It is the name of the lunar deity in Zoroastrianism. The Iranian word is masculine. Although Mah is not a prominent deity in the Avestan scrip ...

'') was a

lunar god A lunar deity or moon deity is a deity who represents the Moon, or an aspect of it. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related. Lunar deities and Moon worship can be foun ...

worshipped in the western interior parts of Anatolia. He is attested in various localized variants, such as ''Mēn Askaenos'' in Antioch in Pisidia, or ''Mēn Pharnakou'' at Ameria in Pontus. Mēn is often found in association with Persianate elements, especially with the goddess Anahita. Lunar symbolism dominates his iconography. The god is usually shown with the horns of a crescent emerging from behind his shoulders, and he is described as the god presiding over the (lunar) months.

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

describes Mēn as a local god of the

Phrygia In classical antiquity, Phrygia ( ; grc, Φρυγία, ''Phrygía'' ) was a kingdom in the west central part of Anatolia, in what is now Asian Turkey, centered on the Sangarios River. After its conquest, it became a region of the great empires ...

ns. Mēn may be influenced by the Zoroastrian lunar divinity ''

Mah ''Mångha'' (') is the Avestan for "Moon, month", equivalent to Persian ''Māh'' (; Old Persian ). It is the name of the lunar deity in Zoroastrianism. The Iranian word is masculine. Although Mah is not a prominent deity in the Avestan script ...

.''

Mēn Pharnakou

In the Kingdom of Pontus, there was a temple estate dedicated to Mēn Pharnakou and Selene at Ameria, near

Cabira Cabira or Kabeira (; el, τὰ Κάβειρα) was a town of ancient Pontus in Asia minor, at the base of the range of Paryadres, about 150 stadia south of Eupatoria or Magnopolis, which was at the junction of the Iris and the Lycus. Eupatoria ...

(Strabo 12.3.31). The temple was probably established by

Pharnakes I Pharnaces I ( el, Φαρνάκης; lived 2nd century BC), fifth king of Pontus, was of Persian and Greek ancestry. He was the son of King Mithridates III of Pontus and his wife Laodice, whom he succeeded on the throne. Pharnaces had two sibling ...

in the 2nd century BC, apparently in an attempt to counter-balance the influence of the Moon goddess '' Ma'' of Comana. The cult of ''Mēn Pharnakou'' in Pontus has been traced to the appearance of the star and crescent motif on Pontic coins at the time.

Mēn Askaenos

Taşlıalan (1988) in a study of Antioch in Pisidia has remarked that the people who settled on the acropolis in the Greek colonial era carried the ''Mēn Askaenos'' cult down to the plain as ''Patrios Theos'' and in the place where the

Augusteum An Augusteum (plural ''Augustea'') was originally a site of imperial cult in ancient Roman religion, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire. Examples have been excavated in ...

was built there are some signs of this former cult as

bucrania Bucranium (plural ''bucrania''; Latin, from Greek ''βουκράνιον'', referring to the skull of an ox) was a form of carved decoration commonly used in Classical architecture. The name is generally considered to originate with the practic ...

on the rock-cut walls.Mehmet Taşlıalan, ''Pisidia Antiocheia'si Mimarlık ve Heykeltraşlık eserleri'' (Konya, 1988); ''Pisidia Antiocheia'' (Ankara, 1990).

Roman reception

Autochthonous Mēn as attested in Anatolia is to be distinguished from his reception as a "Phrygian god" in Rome during the imperial period. Here, Mēn is depicted with a Phrygian cap and a belted tunic. He may be accompanied by bulls and

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

s in religious artwork. The Roman iconography of Mēn partly recalls that of Mithras, who also wears a Phrygian cap and is commonly depicted with a bull and symbols of the Sun and Moon. The ''

Augustan History The ''Historia Augusta'' (English: ''Augustan History'') is a late Roman collection of biographies, written in Latin, of the Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs and usurpers from 117 to 284. Supposedly modeled on the sim ...

'' has the Roman emperor Caracalla (r. 198–217) venerate ''Lunus'' at Carrhae; this, i.e. a masculine variant of the feminine Latin noun '' luna'' "Moon", has been taken as a Latinized name for Mēn. The same source records the local opinion that anyone who believes the deity of the Moon to be feminine shall always be subject to women, whereas a man who believes that he is masculine will dominate his wife. David Magie suggests that Caracalla had actually visited the temple of '' Sin'', the Mesopotamian Moon god.''

'
"Caracalla"
vii and note 44. In later times, Mēn may also have been identified with both Attis of Phrygia and Sabazius of Thrace.

References

Bibliography

* Guy Labarre, "Les origines et la diffusion du culte de Men". In: Bru, Hadrien, François Kirbihler and Stéphane Lebreton (edd.). ''L’Asie mineure dans l’Antiquité: Échanges, populations et territoires''. Rennes: Presses Universitaires des Rennes, 2009. pp. 389-414.

External links

* *Oliver Robert Gurney
"Anatolian Religion: The Phrygians".
'' Encyclopædia Britannica'' online. {{Authority control Anatolian deities Lunar gods Phrygian gods Hellenistic Anatolian deities