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Semiramis as queen and goddess (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)
Apotheosis of the king
01 Religious and ideological doctrines and imagery
01.03 Kingship as divine institution
01.03.08 Apotheosis of the king
Assyria and Assyrians in Greek, Latin and Jewish sources
12 Assyrian Identity
12.02 Assyrian identity in post-Empire times
12.02.03 Assyria and Assyrians in Greek, Latin and Jewish sources
Dove
02 Religious and ideological symbols and iconographic motifs
02.05 Animal/theriomorphic symbols and iconographic motifs
02.05.02 Birds
02.05.02.03 Dove
dove = mother goddess
05 Scientific knowledge and scholarly lore
05.10 Esoteric lore and hermeneutics
05.10.04 Esoteric associations
05.10.04.02 dove = mother goddess
Royal Succession
08 Administrative systems
08.02 Court ceremony
08.02.04 Royal Succession

Keywords
doves
Semiramis

Period
1st century BCE
Roman Empire

Channel
Helleno-Roman philosophers and scholars

Text
Diodorus Siculus 2.20.1-2:
Some time later her son Ninyas conspired against her through the agency of a certain eunuch; and remembering the prophecy given her by Ammon, she did not punish the conspirator, but, on the contrary, after turning the kingdom over to him and commanding the governors to obey him, she at once disappeared, as if she were going to be translated to the gods as the oracle had predicted. Some, making a myth of it, say that she turned into a dove and flew off in the company of many birds which alighted on her dwelling, and this, they say, is the reason why the Assyrians worship the dove as a god, thus deifying Semiramis. Be that as it may, this woman, after having been queen over all Asia with the exception of India, passed away in the manner mentioned above, having lived sixty-two years and having reigned forty-two.

Source (list of abbreviations)
Diodorus Siculus 2.20.1-2

Bibliography

Oldfather 1960, I 416-417

Oldfather, C. H. Diodorus of Sicily. 12 Vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1960.

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000348.php

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