An altar of Pan Heliopolitanos
was fround from the supporting structures of a Byzantine church build upon an old pagan temple. The altar is inscribed thus:
"Atheneon son of Sosipatros of Antioch is dedicating the altar to the god Pan Heliopolitanos. He built the altar using his own personal money pursuant to a vow he made."
Some interesting factors from the news article:
It is well-known that the verdant nature reserve, part of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, has been a sacred site for different religions over the millennia. Erlich explains that the fact that the entire area is called the “Banias,” denoting Pan, means that it was considered a sacred place for the different religions, beginning in pagan times — and that led ultimately to its preservation over all these years.
Erlich explains. “The inscription is dedicated to a combination of Pan and a facet of Zeus. Not Heliopolitan Zeus, but a sort of combination of Pan and this aspect of Zeus.”
The Banias was also the site of another discovery some time ago showing a syncretization of Pan and Zeus, according to Ecker, so the recent discovery is just additional proof that this practice existed and was widespread, including that at Baalbek.
In a charmingly endearing twist, the archaeologists saw that the writing on the altar had clearly been inscribed by a workman who was not exactly an expert — as the text starts out quite large, but as the carver realizes he is going to run out of space, the words become much smaller and almost run off the edges of the stone.
After this powerful king died in 4 BC, rule over the Banias fell to his son, Herod Philip. He later made it into a city called Caesarea Phillippi — which was even prominently mentioned in the New Testament.
Although Josephus referred to the city as Caesarea Paneas, it was undoubtedly the same city, which the disciples St. Mark and St. Matthew mention in their Gospels.
“When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say the Son of Man is?’ They replied, ‘Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God’” (Matthew 16:13-16).
The area may even have been the site of the building of a church, after the explicit direction of Jesus to do just that, in the Gospel of Matthew.
Regarding the mythological evolutionary progression between Pan and Zeus (Jupiter) there is an interesting story where Zefs consumes the powers of the cosmologically older god Phanes. In synchrenistic fashion, I can not help but think these religious revolutions as the myths evolving according to the needs of the further evolving soul (bringing cultural changes as a byproduct). Thinking of the animal aspects of Pan, and how the holiness of the God is still in much "unrefined" form (although Phanes-Pan leaps out of the very fine nature of aether, it's revelation to the lower principles is that of terror and panic. Regarding Zeus' place in this we could think of our Jovian Celestial hymn mentioning "pater omnipotens aither"; the terrible Pan-aspect is still in the hymn as Satan in the form of lightning, but this father-aspect of Zeus could be seen as refining the power further from the plain wild Pan. This does not mean Pan would become useless, but indeed it would have to be included in the process to keep the structure alive. Otherwise the father aspects of Jupiter becomes devoid of the godly power of the firstborn, and thus secular. It is in this manner interesting that this
supporting structure of the Pan Heliopolitanos altar has been removed from a church ruins in the area the article speculates Jesus might have given the order for Peter to build the church. I mean, symbolically this could be seen quite a death blow to the church, or perhaps alternatively a revivification of the vital element from the ruins of the church.
To give the cosmological background and the story of consuming, I quote
hellenicgods.org article on Phanes:
The primordial state of the Kózmos (Cosmos, Κόσμος) is called Unutterable or Ineffable, consisting of unexpressed material substances: Earth and Water. From this primeval situation, Time (Χρόνος) united with Necessity (Ἀνάγκη). Time then gave birth to unbounded Kháos (Chaos, Χάος), moist Aithír [Aethêr], and misty Ǽrævos (Erebos = Darkness, Ἔρεβος). In the Aithír, Khrónos (Time) wrought a silvery egg from which Phánîs leapt forth, and at the birth of Phánîs, the First-born (Πρωτόγονος) of the Gods, the chasm and the aithír were torn apart.
Phánîs has many names; he is also called Mítis, Irikæpaios (Ericapaeus, Ἠρικεπαῖος), Prôtógonos, Ǽrôs (Eros, Ἔρως), Diónysos (Dionysus, Διόνυσος), Zefs (Ζεύς), and Pan (Πᾶν).
"The Triple God born from the Egg was called Phanis, and also Metis and Ericapæus, the three being aspects of one Power."
"Of the three aspects, Phanis is said to be the 'father', Ericapæus the 'power', and Metis the 'intellect', in Platonic terms (see Δαμάσκιος Quæst. p. 380)."
Phánîs is the first constituent of the evolutionary progression of Aithír known as the dynasty of the Six Vasileis (Basileis = Kings, Βασιλεῖς [Βασιλεύς is singular]): Phánîs, Nyx, Ouranós, Krónos, Zefs, and Diónysos. From Phánis comes Nyx, then Ouranós, Krónos, and Zefs. Zefs enters the Cave (Ántron, Ἄντρον) of Nyx, "swallows" (utilizes, controls) Phánîs, and renews or re-orders the universe:
And then Zefs went to the Sacred Cave and asked,
“Good mother, highest of the Gods, immortal Nyx, show me this, how am I to set up my stout-hearted rule among the Deathless Ones [24]? How can I have all things one yet each one apart?” And blessed (μάκαιρα) Nyx, gleaming with the blue of dawn (κυαναυγής), answered him saying,
“Take hold round about all things with the unutterable Aithír, and in its midst place the vault of heaven, the immense earth, the sea, and all the constellations crowning heaven… and bind them all with a golden aithirial chain.”
Thus then taking hold of the power of first-born Irikæpaios (Ἠρικεπαῖος)
He carried the form of all things in the hollow of his own belly,
He mingled his own limbs with the power and strength of the God,
for that reason with him all things within Zefs were made new.