CGRN 57 Provisions for priests and priestesses (in Aixone?)

Provisions for priests and priestesses (in Aixone?)

CGRN 57 Date: 400-350 BC

. . . ^[1] . . . for a half-sixth (hēmiekteō)^[2] of wheat, 3 ob.; for a cup (kotulēs)^[2] of honey, 3 ob.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for firewood (phruganōn), 2 ob.; on the table, a thigh, a haunch-flank, half a head^[2] of tripe or sausage. (5) For the priestess of the Heroine, priestly dues (hiereōsuna), 5 dr.; the skins of the all the victims for the Heroine (hērōiniōn);^[3] for a singed full-grown victim, 3 dr.;^[4] a share of the meat; for a half-sixth (hēmiekteō) of wheat, 3 ob.; for a cup of honey, 3 ob.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for firewood, 2 ob.; on the table, a thigh, a haunch- flank, half a head of tripe or sausage. For the priestess of Dionysos Anthios, (10) priestly dues (hiereōsuna), 5 dr.; the skin of the billy-goat (trago); on the table, a thigh, a haunch-flank, half a head of tripe or sausage. For the priestess of Hera, priestly dues (hierōsuna), 5 dr.; the skin of the ewe (oios); for a singed full-grown victim, 3 dr.; a share of the meat; for a half-sixth (hēmiekteō) of wheat, 3 ob.; for a cup of honey, 3 ob.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for firewood, 2 ob.; on (15) the table, a thigh, a haunch-flank, half a head of tripe or sausage. For the priestess of Demeter Chloe, priestly dues (hiereōsuna), 5 dr.; a share of the meat; for a half-sixth (hēmiekteō) of wheat, 3 ob.; for a cup of honey, 3 ob.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for firewood, 2 ob.; on the table, a thigh, a haunch-flank, half a head of tripe or sausage. For the priestess of -,^[5] (20) priestly dues (hiereōsuna), 5 dr.; the skin of the ewe (oios); a share of the meat; for a half-sixth (hēmiekteō) of wheat, 3 ob.; for a cup of honey, 3 ob.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for firewood, 2 ob.; on the table, a thigh, a haunch-flank, half a head of tripe or sausage. For the priestess of the Chaste Goddess (Hagnēs Theo),^[6] priestly dues (hiereōsuna), 5 dr.; for a third (triteōs)^[2] of barley, 1 dr.; for a sixth (hekteōs)^[2] of wheat, (25) 1 dr.; for two cups of honey, 1 dr.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for a chous^[1] of wine, 2½ ob.; for firewood, 2 ob.; for logs (xulōn), 3 dr. For the priest of the Chaste Goddess, the same as for the priestess, and the skins of the animals sacrificed for both, and 20 dr.^[7] For the priest of Paralos, priestly dues (hiereōsuna), 5 dr., and 10 dr.;^[7] the skin of the wether (oios); for a sixth (hekteōs)^[2] of wheat, 1 dr.; for two cups of honey, 1 dr.; (30) for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for a fourth^[2] of barley, 4½ ob.; for two choes (chooin) of wine, 5 ob.; for firewood, 2 ob. For the priest of the Archegetes and of the other heroes, priestly dues, 5 dr.; the skins of whatever victims he consecrates for sacrifice (katarxētai); on the sacrificial hearth (escharan); for a half-sixth (hēmiekteō) of wheat, 3 ob.; for three cups of olive oil, 1½ ob.; for a cup of honey, 3 ob.; whenever (he prepares) the table, (35) for two choinikes (choinikoin) of barley, 1½ ob.; for two cups of olive oil, 1 ob.; for half a cup (hēmikotulio) of honey, 1½ ob.; for firewood, 2 ob. And whenever one of the Fifties (pentēkostuōn)^[8] sacrifices anywhere at the hero-shrines, they shall provide on the table two choinikes (choinike) of wheat, two cups of oil, half a cup (hēmikotulion) of honey.

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References:

CGRN 57 (Translated text) (CGRN)

IG II² 1356 (PHI)

SEG 60.163

SEG 59.156

SEG 57.119 (l. 19)

SEG 54.214

SEG 61.141

SEG 46.173 (PHI)

Sokolowski, LSCG 28

Ackermann, Aixone, 271-292 no. 15

Russo, Ripartizioni, D7

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Feyo Schuddeboom

Images: Krateros - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: List of financial provisions for priests and priestesses

Fragment a - Findspot: "Haliki" = east of cape Exonis = ancient Aixone (EM 7775)
Fragment b - Findspot: "Haliki" = east of cape Exonis = ancient Aixone (EM 7776)
Fragment c - Findspot: "Haliki" = east of cape Exonis = ancient Aixone (Lost 0000)
Fragment d - Findspot: Glyphada (= Aixone), same source as SEG 46.154 (EM 13479)
Fragment e - Findspot: Glyphada (= Aixone), ca. 600 m. from church of Agios Nikolaos (EM 13528)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] For recent discussions of this inscription see CGRN 57 and Ackermann, Aixone.

Financial provision for items to be allocated to priests and priestesses, both for use in ritual, and as perquisites, monetary and in kind, commonly forms part of sacrificial calendars and other religious measures (e.g. RO 37, ll. 27-41, search "priestly dues", "perquisites"), but this is the most extensive and detailed Attic inscription devoted to such provisions. For its dating to ca. 400-350 BC from script and orthography, see Ackermann, Aixone, 271. It is uncertain what group produced it (discussed most recently by Ackermann, Aixone, 280-2). There would seem to be three candidates: (a) a regional association, such as a phratry or pre-Cleisthenic trittys (as for example the Tetrakomoi, IG II³ 4, 225, or the Tetrapolis, SEG 50.168), perhaps one involving the Paraloi (on whom see below); (b) a genos. Ackermann notes that the range of priests provided for is wider than would be expected of a genos, but such a range is attested for some gene (e.g. the Salaminioi, RO 37, the Kerykes, I Eleusis 300). A more serious objection is perhaps that, with the possible exception of Paralos, none of the priests serves what can plausibly be identified as a state cult, as seems to have been characteristic of gene (cf. Lambert, Hist. 59, 2010, 143-75); (c) the findspots of the fragments (elucidated by A. P. Matthaiou, Horos 10-12, 1992-1998, 146-69, and discussed most recently by Ackermann, Aixone, 272-4) and the division of the group into "Fifties" (cf. n. 8) make the deme Aixone a plausible candidate. The wide range of cults is paralleled in some other demes, e.g. Thorikos, AIO 847; Erchia, SEG 21.541. Unfortunately very little is known about the appointment and payment of priests attested in a deme context, though there are some indications that the demes themselves were responsible. See e.g. Dem. 57, 46-48 and 62 (selection by lot from a pre-elected pool of the "best-born" demesmen in Halimous); RO 46 (election in Halai Aixonides). See Ackermann, Aixone, 281 n. 46; cf. Lambert, Hist. 59, 2010, 164-69. See the last paragraph of this note for a further factor generating uncertainty about the identity of the group.

The original location of the inscription is uncertain. Possibilities include what appears to have been a or the principal sanctuary of Aixone, that of Hebe (cf. IG II² 1199), which was apparently located in the area of the church of Agios Nikolaos (near findspot of fr. e), or, as suggested by Ackermann, Aixone, 274, a putative sanctuary of the Archegetes referred to in the inscription, located perhaps in the agora of the deme.

The priests and priestesses receive modest monetary payments, hierosyna of 5 dr., for performing their sacrificial duties, portions of meat, some laid out on the table of sacrificial offerings, and the skins of sacrificial animals (which could be sold or put to good use at home). Instances where the priest or priestess received the skin but no portion of the meat may be indicative of holocaustic sacrifice, where the (skinned) animal was burned whole rather than consumed. For further discussion of the payments to priests provided for in this inscription see Ackermann, Aixone, 282-87. Provision is also made for small sums for providing extras for sacrifice: wheat, barley, wine, honey and oil; and firewood and logs for cooking or burning the offerings; the details vary depending on the cult and the type of sacrifice involved (cf. Ackermann, Aixone, 287-90). R. Parker, in J. Dijkstra et al. (eds.), Myths, Martyrs, and Modernity (2010), 193-208, at 205, notes the absence of firewood for the priestess of Dionysos, suggesting the possibility of omophagia, the eating of raw meat, which is uniquely associated with that god.

The inscription names a variety of gods and local heroes: Hera (generally associated with women and marriage); Dionysos and Demeter (here connected with fecundity by their epithets: Anthios, “Flowering”; Chloe, “Verdant”); Hagne Theos (“Chaste Goddess”, perhaps identical with Kore daughter of Demeter or Artemis [note 6, below]); Paralos (“By the Sea”, son of Poseidon); the Heroine; and the Archegetes and other heroes (Archegetes, “Leader”, being the leading hero of the group/deme, cf. Ackermann, Aixone, 316). Paralos was patron hero of the homonymous sacred trireme, stationed relatively nearby at the Piraeus. On the hero, the ship and the corporation, the Paraloi, responsible for manning it, see IG II² 1254, with notes. It may be that Aixone had its own cult of the hero (assumed by Ackermann, Aixone 315-16), but it is not impossible that this inscription was produced by a regional association to which the Paraloi belonged. For a fuller discussion of the divine figures represented in this inscription and in the deme Aixone more broadly see Ackermann, Aixone, 308-28.

On the deme Aixone and its abundant epigraphical record see Ackermann no. 1, with notes. Although a few lines are missing at the top of this inscription (up to 20 according to Ackermann, Aixone, 272), the lack of points of connection between that record and this inscription (e.g. the absence of reference to the priests/-esses of Hebe and associated deities attested by IG II² 1199) generates uncertainty as to whether this inscription is a product of Aixone. [2] The document contains three types of measure: dry, liquid, and meat. For the Attic systems of dry and liquid measurement see M. Lang and M. Crosby, Agora X, 2-23, 34-36, 39-48, 58-59. The medimnos (sometimes translated "bushel") was the standard measure of grain, ca. 52 cc.. One twelfth of a medimnos was a hemiekteon (“half-sixth”); one hekteus (“sixth”) = two hemiektea; one tetarteus (“fourth”) = three hemiektea; one triteus (“third”) = four hemiektea. A choinix was a quarter of a hemiekteon. The basic liquid measure was the amphora or metretes, ca. 39 litres, divided into 12 choes (ca. 3.28 litres), and 144 kotylai ("cups"). The hemikraira, or half-head, is otherwise unknown; it was perhaps a measure rather than literally half a head stuffed with tripe or sausage. [3] Or perhaps the victims sacrificed at the Heroinia festival? [4] Perhaps supplementary hierosyna for the sacrifice of this animal (D. Ackermann, Les Études Classiques 75, 2007, 111-36). [5] Ackermann 2007 shows that the restoration earlier suggested here of "the Eleusinian goddess" (Eleusinia = Demeter) is questionable. [6] In theory this might be an appellation for a number of goddesses, but in a cultic context the name most likely refers to Kore/Persephone (see Parker 2010, 201-4); alternatively, it might refer to Artemis (so Ackermann 2007). Ackermann, Aixone, 313-5, thinks of a cult connected with Mysteries. [7] These figures (“and 20 dr.”, “and 10 dr.”) were added in spaces and above the line; they apparently represent money for the purchase of sacrificial animals. [8] Though pentekostys is otherwise unattested as a name for an Attic cult-group, comparable, variously designated, cult groups within demes are attested (Ackermann, Aixone, 290-2, compares the triakades attested for the deme Piraeus by IG II² 1214; such groups within the deme are implied for financial purposes at least for Erchia by SEG 21.541). That they were "fiftieths" of the deme Aixone is perhaps implausible (cf. D. Ackermann, in N. Badoud ed., Philologos Dionysios. Mélanges ... Knoepfler, 2011, 39-78), but they might perhaps originally or notionally have been composed of 50 men each (as the triakades of Piraeus might have contained 30 men each. Ackermann, Aixone, 291, notes that the larger groups would be consistent with the larger citizen population of Aixone, which sent 11 (?) men to the Council of 500 in the 4th cent., compared with the 8 (?) men sent by Piraeus). On that basis, assuming that this inscription is a product of the deme Aixone, and if the entire population of the deme belonged to one, there would perhaps have been ca. 10-12 such units altogether.

Added: 10 Jan 2017
Updated: 25 Nov 2023
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