Atargatis

Nabatean, c. 100 AD
Archaeological Museum
Amman, Jordan

This statue comes from the Nabatean temple at Khirbet Tannur. Atargatis, the "Syrian Goddess" (Lucian, De Syria Dea) was a vegetation goddess, responsible for the fertility of the land, and perhaps the sea as well; her dolphin is a puzzling attribute, which appears on other representations, although not on this one. Here, the goddess emerges from a profusion of vines, fruits, and other vegetation. Her head is crowned by an eagle, symbol of the Edomite god, Qos (Taylor, p. 122).

Considering the work's overall form, perhaps it is not entirely far-fetched to visualize its outline as a fruit (of which her crown would represent the stem) from which the goddess emerges at the core.