Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism
by Thomas Inman, M.D. (1874)
Pagan and Christian symbolism

Fig. 89

Figure 89 is taken from Lajard's Culte de Venus, plate i., fig. 14, and is an enlarged impression of a gem. A similar figure is to be found in Payne Knight's work On the Worship of Priapus. In both instances the female is fringed with male emblems. In the one before us a fish, apparently a dolphin, is borne in one hand. In the other the woman is bearded. These are representations of Ashtaroth—the androgyne deity in which the female predominates.