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Foreign deities in Mesopotamia

Name	Image	Place of origin	Details
Anahita		Persia	According to Berossos, the cult of Anahita was introduced by Artaxerxes I to many cities in the Mesopotamian part of his empire, including Babylon. These efforts are thought to have been directed at the Iranian population of the city to tie regional courts to the imperial core rather than as an attempt to impose Persian deities on the Babylonians.
Apollo		Greece	The Hellenistic Seleucid kings favoured Apollo as the patron deity of their dynasty and introduced his cult to Mesopotamia. Locally, Apollo was syncretised with Nabu, but the Greek-speaking communities of Seleucia on the Tigris built a sanctuary to Apollo Komaios and honoured the god under the name Apollo, using a mixture of Greek and Mesopotamian iconography. A cult of Apollo and Artemis Daittai was brought to Seleucia on the Eulaios (the refounded Susa) from Antioch. Strabo reported that a temple of Apollo existed on the island of Ikaros in the Persian Gulf, which had a garrison who built many structures in the Greek style.
Artemis		Greece	In Mesopotamia and Syria, Artemis was identified with the goddess Nanaya. This identification had a long-lasting influence on Nanaya by introducing associations with the moon and archery. The cult of Apollo and Artemis Daittai was brought from Antioch to Seleucia on the Eulaios in Elymais. The Greek settlers on the island of Ikaros had a shrine to Artemis and made dedications to Artemis Soteira; Strabo also reports that an oracle of Artemis Tauropolos was present on the island.
Atargatis		Syria	Worship of the goddess Atargatis is attested from Edessa, Hatra and Dura-Europos in Upper Mesopotamia in Seleucid and Roman times. In the syncretic environment of the Upper Euphrates in the early centuries CE, Atargatis was associated with Artemis, Athena, and Allat. In Dura-Europos, she had a temple separate from that of Artemis and shared iconographic similarities with Tyche.
Athena		Greece	Terracotta figurines of Athena are known from Seleucid Babylon, and she is also one of the most popular deities depicted on bullae from Seleucid Mesopotamia, which depict Athena of both the Promachos and Parthenos types.
Herakles		Greece	In Mesopotamia, the cult of Herakles was syncretised with the cults of Nergal and the Persian deity Verethragna, and he served an apotropaic function. Figures of Herakles have been found widely in Hatra and the cultic statue of Nergal used the iconography of the Greek god.

Bibliography

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• Beaulieu, P. A. (2014). "Nabû and Apollo: the two faces of Seleucid religious policy". Orient und Okzident in hellenistischer Zeit: 13–30.
• Bricault, Laurent; Bonnet, Corinne (2013). Panthée: religious transformations in the Graeco-Roman Empire. USA: Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-25690-3.
• Cohen, Getzel M. (2013). The Hellenistic settlements in the East from Armenia and Mesopotamia to Bactria and India. USA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-95356-7.
• Dillery, John D. (2014). Clio's Other Sons: Berossus and Mantheo. USA: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 978-0-472-05227-1. OCLC 1066106613.
• Dirven, Lucinda (2014). "Religious continuity and change in Parthian Mesopotamia: A note on the survival of Babylonian traditions" (PDF). Journal of Ancient Near Eastern History. 1 (2): 201–229.
• Drijvers, Henrik J. W. (1980). Cults and beliefs at Edessa. USA: Brill. ISBN 978-9-004-29562-9.
• Erickson, Kyle (2011). "Apollo-Nabû: The Babylonian policy of Antiochus I." (PDF). Philippika. 50: 51–66.
• Herbert, Sharon. C (2003). The Hellenistic Archives from Tel Kedesh (Israel) and Seleucia-on-the-Tigris (Iraq). USA: MI: MPublishing, University of Michigan Library.
• Parker, Robert (2017). Greek Gods Abroad. USA: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-29394-6.
• Potter, David S. (1991). "The Inscriptions on the Bronze Herakles from Mesene: Vologeses IV's War with Rome and the Date of Tacitus'" Annales" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik: 277–290.
• Saadi-Nejad, Manya (2021). Anahita. A History and Reception of the Iranian Water Goddess. London: I. B. Tauris & Company, Limited. ISBN 1-83860-111-2. OCLC 1223089221.
• Westenholz, Joan Goodnick (1997). "Nanaya: Lady of Mystery". In Finkel, I. L.; Geller, M. J. (eds.). Sumerian Gods and their Representations. ISBN 978-90-56-93005-9.