[meteorite-list] Re: Black stone of Paphos

[Chris. Spratt]

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

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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