[meteorite-list] Re: Black stone of Paphos

From: Chris. Spratt <cspratt_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Sun Oct 2 14:09:14 2005
Message-ID: <43402247.7010408_at_islandnet.com>

Chris Aubeck wrote previously:

>"Sacred black stone, this one the goddess Aphrodite from Paphos,
>Cyprus. Worshiped as early as the 12th century BC."

>I see, yes. Odd how there aren't any more photos of it online.

>I guess it had an interesting first day on Earth. For someone to have
>seen it land and make a positive identification they must have been
>pretty close or knew the terrain where it landed very well. Or maybe
>it just came down where black rocks were unknown.

>I may write to the museum.

>Regards,

>Chris

------------

You've aroused my curiosity on this. I'm off to do some birding in and
around Paphos, Cyprus next May. I will see if I can visit the museum
and possibly take a photo or two (with permission). A number of Roman
Provincial coins depict this stone on the obverse and some numismatic
web pages/(books?) claim this stone is indeed a meteorite. You can often
find these coins offered for sale on Ebay etc. Would make a nice
addition to any meteorite collection.

Chris. Spratt
Victoria, BC
Received on Sun 02 Oct 2005 02:09:11 PM PDT