The Syrian Goddess: De Dea Syria, by Lucian of Samosata

"Lucian of Samosata''s De Dea Syria, (the Syrian Goddess) is one of the most ''notorious'' classical writings. Not only does it acknowledge that at one time a paramount Goddess was worshipped in regions of the Ancient Near East, it goes into details of the practices of her devotees which later generations considered reprehensible. Nonetheless De Dea played an important role in the development of modern Neopaganism; Robert Graves cited it as one of the few actual accounts of ancient Goddess-worship..."