AIO 1692 Decrees concerning the Acropolis ('The Hekatompedon Inscription')

Decrees concerning the Acropolis ('The Hekatompedon Inscription')

AIO 1692 Date: 485/4 BC ?

Plaque A Decree 1 . . . ^[1] . . . . . . but [if] anyone^[3] . . . . . . [works] or guard . . . (5) . . . fifty drachmas . . . . . . the exaction process shall be conducted before the three [archons?] in the Agora, without deposits (prytaneion),^[4] and of the [fines?] half shall go to the public treasury (demosion),^[5] the other half . . . (10) . . . . . . the treasurers (tamias)^[6] on [the acropolis (polei)] having . . . . . . and [shall condemn the slaves?] just as the free. [These things were decided by the People?] (15) in the archonship of Ph[ilokr]a[t]es (485/4).^[2] uninscribed space

Decree 2 One of the treasurers^[6] shall remain in the [precinct (peribolei) of the temple?] on the specified days, whenever . . . if he is able; but if not . . . [the] chairman (prutanin),^[7] and shall give to the [pl.] . . . (20) bronze vessels (chalkia) and spits (obelos) except . . . indicate . . . but . . . . . . . . . knowingly . . . (25) . . . but these (things) . . . two drachmas . . . [for? to?] the public treasury (demosioi)^[5] . . . . . . if he does not give . . . uninscribed space

Plaque B The treasurers^[6] shall make a written record [of the bronze vessels? (chalkia)] on the acropolis, however many they use, except those . . . in the [sealed?] storerooms (oikemasi),^[8] if from each . . . in the acropolis area (?). [Whenever] those who perform sacrifice (hierorgontes) [inside perform?] the rites, (5) [they shall not place] any earthen pot [to the side], nor . . . nor . . . nor the fire; but [if] anyone [does any of these things] knowingly, the treasurers^[6] shall be permitted to impose a fine up to three [obols]. Those performing the rites (hierorgontas) . . . shall not ? . . . temple, and (of) the pre- . . . altar . . . (10) . . . to the - side of the temple, inside the K[ekropion nor along?] the entire Hekatompedon^[9] nor shall (they) throw out the animal waste (onthon);^[10] but if anyone does any of these (things) [knowingly], the treasurers^[6] shall be permitted to impose a fine up to three obols. [The] priestesses (hiereas) on the acropolis and the (fem.) temple attendants (zakoros) [shall not -] a treasury storeroom (oikema tamieion)^[8] on the acropolis (15) nor shall they make fire in braziers (hipneuesthai); [but if anyone] does any of these (things), they shall be penalised at their accounting [one hundred?] drachmas, [and] the treasurers,^[6] if they allow it, [shall be penalised at their accounting] one hundred drachmas. The treasurers^[6] shall open the storerooms (oikemata)^[8] - the Hekatompedon not [less than three times?] per month to inspect them (theasthai); on the days (20) [before] the new moon (?) [and] on the [tenth ? and] the [twentieth for more than] half (a day?) while they are present; but [whoever is] absent [though being able (to be present) shall pay a fine of] two drachmas [each]; [the chairman (prutanin)^[7] shall collect the fine], but if (he does) not, [he shall himself be liable to the same penalty?] at his accounting; the chairman (prutanin)^[7] shall inform the treasurers (25) about [violations?]^[6] of what is [written] on the stone (?). uninscribed space

These things which are on these two stones were decided by the People in the archonship of Ph[ilokrates (485/4)].^[2]

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Greek text

References:

AIO 1692 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG I³ 4 (IG Online) (IG Online) (PHI)

SEG 51.26 (Α11-14, Α27-28)

Sokolowski, LSCG 3 (B only)

Immerwahr, Script, 94 no. 616

Koerner, Gesetzestexte 4 and 5

Butz, Hekatompedon Inscription appendix 2-3

Tracy, Athenian Lettering, 22-23, 27-28

Meyer, Origins, 366-68, 374

Blok and Rookhuijzen, Priestesses, 107-26

Jordan, Servants 20-21, 36-55, 103-16 (B only)

Nomima I, 96

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Julian Schneider

Images: Aleshire - (1)
Ohio - (1)
Wikimedia Commons - (1, 2, 3)

Monument type: Plaque (reused metope)

Inscription type: Decree (People)

Findspot: Acropolis (in the Persian destruction debris ?) (EM 13516 [formerly Acropolis Museum 13640])
Findspot: Acropolis (in the Persian destruction debris ?) (EM 13515 [formerly Athens Ephoria NK 2940])
Findspot: Acropolis (in the Persian destruction debris ?) (EM 6794)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] These two plaques (A and B) are inscribed with (apparently) two decrees of the Athenian Assembly relating to the management of the Acropolis. The text of the second decree seems to begin at A16 and to run to the end of B. The plaques are reused marble metopes belonging to the so-called "H-architecture", usually identified as from an “Ur-Parthenon”, the predecessor of the temple of Athena on the later Parthenon site which was under construction when destroyed by the Persians in 480 BC. For a recent discussion of the inscription in the context of the major construction activities on the acropolis underway in the 480s see B. Holtzmann, BCH 138, 2014, 1-13 (ph.) (SEG 64.28). In physical form the plaques represent a transitional stage between the “post” (like IG I³ 1) and the stele format used for decrees from ca. 450 BC. IG I³ 230 is comparable (Meyer). The quality of the workmanship is very high and the inscription makes an impression of great beauty. The letters are arranged in vertical columns (stoichedon), with use of triple three-dot punctuation to mark off separate clauses (Butz; for discussion of the cutting style, and whether other examples of the mason's work are identifiable, see S. V. Tracy, ZPE 206, 2018, 77-82 = SEG 68.16). Apart from IG I³ 1, this is the only Assembly decree from the Acropolis firmly datable earlier than 454 BC. [2] The text contains two enactment formulae, one at the end of what seems to be decree 1 (A14-15), the other at the end of decree 2 (B26-27) but applying to the entire text on both plaques. The formula is expressed in similar terms to IG I³ 1, but there is no mention of the Council, as perhaps there was at the end of that inscription. It is the earliest Athenian decree to be dated by archon, probably Philokrates, who was in office in 485/4 BC (cf. R. S. Stroud, in A. P. Matthaiou et al. ed., Attikai Epigraphai. Praktika ... Wilhelm, 2004, 85-97). This method of dating decrees did not become normal until much later (421/0 BC, cf. IG I³ 82 with notes). The inscription was destroyed by the Persians when they sacked the Acropolis in 480 BC; fragments of it were found “at the deepest level” of the Persian debris (Meyer, 368). [3] The text, especially of A, is poorly preserved, and there are many obscurities in restoration and interpretation. Our text follows that of IG I³, with the addition of the two small additional fragments published by A. P. Matthaiou, Horos 14-16, 2000-2003, 19-22 (SEG 51.26). We have also adopted most of the minor adjustments to readings proposed by Butz. We have mostly retained the conventional restorations (IG I³), while indicating uncertainties by liberal use of “?”. B is significantly better preserved and is divided into five sections: provisions for keeping records of the sacred bronze vessels (B1-4), restrictions on those conducting sacrifices (B4-8 and B8-13), and on the conduct of female cult personnel (B13-17), and provisions for the recurrent opening of the "storerooms" (oikemata) by the treasurers (B17-24). In a treatment of this inscription in the context of a thorough discussion of female cult personnel on the Acropolis, Blok and Rookhuijzen, 115-19, make a persuasive case against the conventional restoration of B14 which would prohibit the female cult personnel from "having" (μὲ hέχεν) a storeroom, and suggest that instead they were prevented from "walking into", or "frequenting" (μὲ πατε͂ν) a storeroom. [4] Prytaneia were financial deposits or court fees required prior to legal hearings. Cf. IG II³ 4, 106. For a recent discussion of these legal arrangements see D. Erdas, Epigrammata 2, 2013, 275-94 (SEG 63.35). The "Agora" referred to here probably has its usual designation, but other interpretations have been suggested (e.g. Jordan, 38, interprets as a reference to the Assembly). Cf. Koerner, Gesetzestexte, p. 8. [5] The “public treasury” (presumed to be on the Acropolis) is also mentioned as recipient of fines in IG I³ 1 (note 2). [6] On the treasurers of Athena, see IG I³ 510, IG II³ 4, 28 (dedications); IG I³ 52 (creation of separate treasurers of the Other Gods), IG I³ 329, 364, 369, 370, 373, 375, IG I³ 458, etc. (accounts). [7] The “chairman” (prytanis), who is not mentioned in any other source, has been taken to be one of the treasurers (on his relationship to the other treasurers see R. Develin, Klio 68, 1986, 67-83 [SEG 36.2]), but it is also possible that he was an independent official. [8] The precise character of the oikemata (translated here as “storerooms”) referred to at several points is unclear. They might be rooms within another structure (i.e. perhaps the Hekatompedon, with respect to which the or some storerooms are located at B18, where "storerooms [in] the Hekatompedon ", [τὰ ἐν], is a possible but uncertain restoration), or autonomous structures perhaps in the area of the later Chalkotheke (cf. A. Scholl, JDAI 121, 2006, 30-36 [SEG 56.49]). On the oikemata see now also N. L. Klein, in K. F. Daly et al. eds., Cities Called Athens, Studies . . . John McK. Camp II (2015), 137-63. [9] Later in the fifth century, the term “Hekatompedon” (literally “Hundred-footer”) was used to designate both the Periclean temple known today as the “Parthenon” as a whole, and more specifically the chamber of that temple in which the chryselephantine statue of Athena stood (cf. IG I³ 329 n. 2, IG I³ 449). In this inscription a "Hekatompedon" is mentioned twice (B10-11, 18), distinct from a "temple" (neos, A16?, B9, B10). The latter is apparently the old temple of Athena Polias whose foundations are preserved today between the Parthenon and the Erechtheion, and which, if the text of B10 is correctly restored, was mentioned in the same context as the "Kekropion", the sanctuary of Kekrops whose Classical successor was incorporated in the Erechtheion complex. This temple of Athena Polias was largely destroyed by the Persians in 480 and is the building later probably referred to as "the old temple", IG I³ 7, l. 6. The simplest theory, and perhaps the most plausible, is that "Hekatompedon" in this inscription refers to the "Old Parthenon", an archaic temple which in the 480s was located, or rather under construction, on the site of the later "Hekatompedon" (i.e. Parthenon), and was the successor of the "Ur-Parthenon" (W. B. Dinsmoor, AJA 51, 1947, 118-126, supported by M. Korres, in W. Hoepfner ed., Kult und Kultbauten auf der Akropolis, 1997, 218-43). Some, however, have questioned the theory that there were two predecessors of the Parthenon on the same site, and have understood "Hekatompedon" in our inscription to refer not, as later, to a structure, but a sacred precinct in the area of the later Parthenon (M. Lipka, ZPE 122, 1998, 79-80 [SEG 48.43]; R. R. Holloway, Numismatica e Antichità Classiche. Quaderni Ticinesi 28, 1999, 83–96 [SEG 48.43], and earlier, F. Preisshofen, AA 1971, 74-80 [SEG 26.1]), or as a massive platform on which the oikemata were located (R. Tölle-Kastenbein, JDI 108, 1993, 43-75 [SEG 43.1]); for this view see most recently Holtzmann (cited above n. 1). [10] "Throw out": what is being prohibited is disposing of the waste on the spot. “Animal waste” (onthos) here is perhaps not, or not only, “dung”, but waste deriving from cleaning the intestines of sacrificial animals; see G. Németh, in R. Hägg ed., Ancient Greek Cult Practice from the Epigraphical Evidence (1994), 59-64 (SEG 47.53). For this in the context of a discussion of the archaeology of waste disposal at sanctuaries see G. Ekroth, in C. Moser and J. Knust eds., Ritual Matters. Material Remains and Ancient Religion (2017), 33-56, at 47; and cf. IG I³ 2, l. 11 with n. 2. The restriction demonstrates a concern for avoiding pollution of the sacred space of the Acropolis.

Added: 2 Apr 2019
Updated: 3 Sep 2025
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ID: AIO_1692