Russian archaeologists have unearthed an intricately detailed silver medallion of the Greek goddess Aphrodite in the 2,100-year-old grave of a young woman, possibly a priestess, on the northeastern coast of the Black Sea.

The medallion also shows 10 - not the known 12 - signs of the zodiac, and gives unique insight into religious practices at that time and place.

Some researchers have proposed that the woman in the grave was a priestess of Aphrodite, the ancient Greek goddess of beauty and love, but there's no way to be sure - although there are indications that her rings, silver earrings and other grave goods were also dedicated to the goddess.

"I do not call the woman buried with this medallion a 'priestess,'" Nikolay Sudarev(opens in new tab), an archaeologist with the Russian Academy of Sciences who helped make the discovery, told Live Science. But the burial and its goods appear to be "connected with the cult of Aphrodite," he said.

The silver medallion found in the early first century B.C. grave shows the embossed head, shoulders and hands of Aphrodite - identified by Sudarev and his colleague, archaeologist Mikhail Treister(opens in new tab), based on other contemporary iconographic portrayals.

The portrait is surrounded by 10 embossed symbols that correspond to signs of the zodiac, including a lion for Leo, a bull for Taurus and a scorpion for Scorpio. But the symbols for the zodiac signs Aquarius and Libra are missing, and the researchers don't know why.

According to Haaretz(opens in new tab), an Israeli newspaper, the inclusion of the zodiac indicates the medallion is a portrayal of "Aphrodite Urania" - the heavenly aspect of the goddess, as distinct from her Earthly aspect, "Aphrodite Pandemos."

It also suggests a belief in astrology, the idea that the positions of celestial bodies can influence events on Earth, which was widespread throughout the ancient world. "This is one of the earliest depictions of the signs of the Zodiac in the Greek world," Sudarev said. "This could have been brought from Ptolemaic Egypt."

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2,100-year-old burial of Aphrodite 'priestess' discovered in Russia(https://www.livescience.com/ancient-greek-phanagoria-aphrodite-cult-burial)