The Power Of The Goddess Stamped into History
Stamped in bronze, silver, and gold, ancient coins carried identity, power, and memory. Among the most striking of these are the goddess coins: portraits of divine protectresses who guarded entire cities, embodying wisdom, and the feminine force at the heart of civic life.
In a world where history often only credits kings and generals, coins and seals preserve another truth: many ancient cities and states placed goddesses — and queens — at their centre of power.
Goddesses as Protectors of Cities
Across the ancient Mediterranean and Near East, coins were not only monetary tools but declarations of faith and allegiance. On them we see goddesses enthroned, crowned, or armoured, watching over their people.
In Athens, the goddess Athena Polias was minted on silver tetradrachms, her helmet crested, her gaze steady. On the reverse, her sacred owl spread its wings beside an olive branch — a symbol of wisdom and prosperity. Every transaction carried her protection, every coin a reminder that Athens was her city.
In Ephesus and other Anatolian cities, Artemis appeared as guardian, often linked to fertility and sovereignty. Artemis Ephesia was depicted as a many-breasted figure, embodying abundance and life itself. Her presence on coins signalled her role as patroness, not myth but civic truth.
In cities across Syria and the Levant, the goddess Tyche was shown wearing the mural crown — a crown shaped like city walls — marking her as the living spirit of the polis. Tyche was the literal embodiment of a city’s safety and destiny. Coins bearing her image from Antioch, Seleucia, and Edessa are still found today, testifying to how deeply the feminine was woven into civic identity.
Alongside Tyche, the great Syrian goddess Atargatis appeared on coinage from Hierapolis and other cities. Worshipped as a mother goddess of fertility, water, and protection, Atargatis was often shown enthroned, flanked by lions or accompanied by fish and serpents. On coins, she represented the sacred feminine as the lifeblood of the city — its prosperity, protection, and abundance. Her presence proves that Near Eastern cities, like their Greek and Anatolian counterparts, relied on goddesses as civic guardians.
The message was clear: a city’s strength and survival depended on its goddess.
Archaeological Echoes: Coins That Survived the Ages
What makes coins so powerful as artifacts is their ability to stand the test of time. Temples collapsed and statues crumbled, but coins endured — scattered in markets, buried in hoards, carried across empires.
Athena’s Tetradrachms (Athens, 5th century BCE): Among the most famous coins of antiquity, these silver pieces featured Athena’s serene profile and her owl. Today they can be found in collections at the British Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, each one a direct connection to the civic goddess of Athens.
Artemis Ephesia Coins (Ephesus, c. 2nd century BCE): Struck in Anatolia, these coins depicted the goddess in her distinctive multi-breasted form. They circulated widely across Asia Minor, a reminder of her reach. Many are housed in the Istanbul Archaeological Museums.
Tyche of Antioch (Seleucid Syria, c. 1st century BCE): Perhaps the most iconic Tyche coin shows the goddess seated with a mural crown. Examples survive in the Louvre and the Hermitage Museum, proving how deeply the goddess was tied to civic identity.
Atargatis Coins (Hierapolis, 2nd–3rd century CE): Bronze coins depict the goddess enthroned with her sacred animals, lions and fish. These are preserved in the British Museum and confirm her role as both mother and protector in Syrian cities.
Each coin is a reminder and witness of the civic role of the feminine.
Seals and Sovereignty: Queens at the Center
Beyond coins, seals also show how essential women were to political and divine legitimacy. Seals were the stamps of authority — without them, treaties and decrees could not stand.
One of the most remarkable examples comes from Queen Puduhepa of the Hittite Empire (13th century BCE). Married to King Hattusili III, she was co-ruler in all but name. When the famous Egyptian–Hittite peace treaty was signed with Pharaoh Ramesses II (often called the first recorded international peace treaty), Puduhepa’s seal was required alongside the king’s. Without the queen’s imprint, the treaty would not be considered valid.
Her seal — depicting the goddess of the Sun, her patron — testified not only to her power but to the broader truth that feminine was essential for legitimacy. Just as coins carried goddesses as protectors of cities, seals carried queens as guarantors of law.
The Political Power of Feminine Imprints
Coins and seals together reveal how societies declared their allegiance to the feminine:
Coins: circulated daily, reminding citizens that their goddess guarded their city.
Seals: confirmed the most sacred agreements of state, ensuring that women’s authority was imprinted at the highest levels of politics.
It is telling that later empires — increasingly patriarchal — replaced goddesses with kings and emperors and not presidents and generals. The shift reflects the deliberate erasure of feminine sovereignty. But the artifacts endure as proof of another story: one where women and goddesses were central, not marginal.
From Ancient Symbol to Modern Talisman
Today, when we hold these coins we hold a lineage of the ancient sacred protection, and power of the feminine.
An Athena coin pendant is a talisman of wisdom and strategy.
An Artemis coin carries the fertility and sovereignty of the goddess of abundance.
A Tyche coin with her mural crown reminds us that fortune is rooted in feminine abundance and protection.
An Atargatis coin ties us back to the sacred feminine of Syria — mother, water, and fertility embodied.
A seal of Puduhepa reminds us that women were not only symbols but rulers, whose imprint made peace and balance itself possible.
At The Bow Jewelry, these goddess coins are re-imagined as adornments — symbolic coin necklaces, pendants and earrings that reconnect modern women to the authority of ancient protectresses. They are wearable archives, carrying the stories of women and goddesses who shaped history and are rooted in the balance and abundance of the world order.
Coins and Power of the Feminine
Coins and seals were symbols of power. Across the ancient world, the faces of goddesses and queens: Athena, Artemis, Tyche, Atargatis, Puduhepa are imprints reminding us that feminine sovereignty once stood at the heart of civic life.
To wear a goddess coin today is to carry that legacy forward. It is to remember that the power of the feminine is a balancing and important power in shaping the world. You are the legacy of that power. Adorn Accordingly.