Star worship spread throughout the 1stcentury B.C. in central Anatolia. Reactions to this movement can be detected from Ancient Rome to Commagene in Asia Minor: Antiochus I Theos created monuments on the Nimrud Dagh, showing how a number of gods in their stellar manifestations recognize the earthly ruler through their ‘visitation’. Up to now it has gone unnoticed that Kanishka, the most famous of the kings of Kushan, expressed his claim to power in similar texts.

Venus is represented on coins minted in neighboring Parthia and the Bactrian Kushan Empire. Visualizations of this deitiy vary little in terms of time and geographical space from Sulla till Kanishka. Venus was of great importance during the Kushan Empire, but was instantly removed from the pantheon after the fall of the Kushans.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015, 6 pm
Vortragssaal Topoi-Haus, Hittorfstraße 18, 14195 Berlin

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