Atargatis, Goddess of the Mermaids

A mermaid is a legendary aquatic creature with the upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish. Mermaids appear in the folklore of many cultures worldwide, including the Near East, Europe, Africa and Asia.

The first mermaids in ancient cultures were worshiped as gods and goddesses and appeared in mythology between 700 B.C - 1000 B.C. The earliest mermaid myth appeared in Assyria in 1000 B.C.

Atargatis was a Syrian deity, the chief goddess of northern Syria. She was called Derceto by the Greeks and Dea Syriae (“Syrian goddess”) by the Romans. At first, she was a goddess of fertility, but, as the mistress of her city and people, she was also responsible for their protection and well-being.

The legend says that Atargatis fell in love with a beautiful shepherd-boy and she became pregnant.

Intent on ending the unwanted pregnancy, Atargatis fled into the sea to drown herself, but instead her body changed, becoming half goddess and half fish, with a tail below the waist and human body above the waist.

It is said that her followers abstained from eating fish and often mutilated themselves. Atargatis was depicted as having long, flowing hair like the water, and some of her symbols are a lion, a crescent moon, and two fish confronting one another.

Temples devoted to Atargatis often had ponds on the outside, which were filled with sacred fish that only the priests could touch. Even today there are still sacred ponds of fish in Lebanon that are not to be touched.