The deities the Amazons worshiped were related to their beliefs and ideals. They worshiped Ares (Greek: Ἄρης), God of War, Artemis (Greek: Ἄρτεμις), the virgin Goddess of the Hunt and the Moon, and Cybele, the Mother Goddess. Athena, Goddess of Strategy and Wisdom, use to be venerated by the warrior women, but ever since it was discovered that a priestess of Athena betrayed the Libyan Amazons by allowing the Greeks to enter and sack the city of Triton in around 1400BCE they have avoided her. The Greek city that led the successful coalition against Triton adopted Athena as their patron deity and named their city, Athens, after her. Ares was certainly male but yet he was honored by the Amazons as the God of War, since their life was devoted to fighting. And he was also their progenitor, since his union with the water nymph Harmonia produced the first Amazons. Artemis was honored as the goddess of the hunt, childbirth and nature. In fact, Artemis may have been a more cultivated representation of an Amazon type of woman, as she was believed to be virgin and fierce. She was also the goddess of the moon, which was an important symbol to the Amazonians. The moon has, since time immemorial, been a symbol of feminine beauty and fertility. Cybele was the protector of the Amazon race and her symbol is the ferocious lioness as well as the moon. She is a mother goddess associated with fertility and childbirth.
The warrior women didn’t construct many temples as they preferred to worship their deities in sacred groves in among nature. There was a famous shrine built to Ares along the coast of the Black Sea by them that was guarded by a special flock of birds belonging to the god. These birds were called the Ornithes Areioi (Birds of Ares) and they shot darts from their feathers. Before every campaign, the Amazon army would make a sacrifice to Ares, usually a puppy though sometimes it could be a slave boy, which was conducted at night. Artemis was worshiped through festivals where girls danced, sang, and played musical instruments. Sacrifices would also be made to her by the warriors before a campaign which would usually be a goat. A shrine was constructed to her by the Amazons in the city of Ephesus in the mid-1400s BCE. Over the next centuries the shrine was expanded by other people until the famous Temple of Artemis world wonder was completed. Cybele was worshiped through festivals too.
Warfare
The Amazons warred constantly with nearby male-dominated factions and so warfare was a major part of their lives. Their main weapon was the bow and arrows, which was a gift given to them by the Goddess Artemis when the Amazons started to venerate her. Amazon girls were taught to use the bow and arrow from an early age as well as learning how to ride a horse. Other weapons they fought with were two axes called a sagaris and a labrys. The sagaris was invented by the warrior women and was a short single-bladed throwing ax. The labrys was invented on Crete and was a large double-bladed battle-ax. The term “old battle-ax” to describe a stubborn woman came from the Amazons using that weapon a lot when in melee. They also fought with a three-meter long thrusting spear called a doru when fighting on foot in a formation known as a phalanx. A phalanx is a rectangular mass military formation that formed a wall of spears.
They may have seen passion and warfare as reflective of each other, warring with passion and loving with a passion that bordered on almost-aggressive. The Amazons would avoid sexual encounters while they served in the army or in any times of war. It was an unwritten law for them to excel in warfare and prove themselves worthy before mating. It may be speculated that their pent up anger when they served in the army, before being able to fulfill their sexual needs, contributed to the aggression they displayed as warriors.
According to many ancient sources, including Herodotus, an Amazon made a special tattoo after killing each enemy soldier. Such tattoo emblems varied from totem animals (like the heads of a wolf or bear) to the skull crossed with bones. Work in progress...
Social Structure
Government – All Amazon societies are matriarchies of course; their societies were governed strictly and exclusively by women. Amazonia and Libya Amazonia were ruled by an absolute monarchy meaning that the queen of a royal dynasty held absolute power over her subjects. The Bean Sidhe were a tribal confederation whose council elected a queen for life to be their military leader and executor of laws. The Northern Amazons, or Valkyrja, was a single tribe whose government was a direct democracy where every citizen, who were called “Equals,” could vote on matters. In times of emergency, a single military leader named the “First Equal” would be elected to essentially rule as a dictator until the crisis had past.
Citizenship –
Work in progress...
Economy
Amazonia was a mostly agricultural state that produced wheat along the Thermodon and Iris rivers. The Amazonians’ section of the Black Sea had a good yield of herring. Being so close to the densely forested Pontic Mountains, which were called the Amazonian Mountains before Pontus arose, the Queendom had a large supply of venison supplied by numerous hunting expeditions and a significant source of medicinal plants. Within the mountains were sources of copper and silver that were mined by male slaves. The warrior women had to most often trade the silver in order to obtain tin and make the strong copper-tin alloy – known as bronze – in order to forge their weapons. The major reason why the Amazons launched an expedition to the British Isles was to be able to acquire the large resources of tin there and not have to trade for it anymore. The Amazonians lived during what is known as the Bronze Age because bronze was the main metal used to make various tools. When the secrets of extracting and manipulating iron were discovered between 1200 and 1000BCE, the Iron Age began. There was a source of iron to the south of Amazonia in a different mountain range that they found around 1000BCE. Because they were able to make iron weapons was one of the reasons that allowed Queens Marpesia and Lampedo to conquer large areas of the Middle East. Work in progress...