IGI3 1081 Boundary stone of the Asklepieion at Zea

Boundary stone of the Asklepieion at Zea

IG I³ 1081 Date: Second half of 5th cent. BC

Boundary stone (horos) of the sanctuary.^[1]

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References:

IG I³ 1081 (Translated text) (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Cippus

Inscription type: Boundary marker

Original location: Asklepieion at Zea

Findspot: Piraeus, Asklepieion at Zea (Piraeus Museum lost)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This boundary stone (horos) probably derives from the sanctuary of Asklepios at Zea in Piraeus. When Asklepios was introduced to Athens from Epidauros in 420/19 BC, the god was apparently first hosted at Zea, before being taken on to the City Eleusinion and finally established in a new sanctuary on the south slope of the Acropolis (see IG II³ 4, 665, l. 9 with notes). The sanctuary at Zea was established around the same time, but it is not known whether it came before or after the sanctuary on the Acropolis. It is likely the setting for the extended incubation scene in Aristophanes, Wealth 633-746 and remained active into the third century AD. It had its own priest (IG II³ 4, 882, 884, 1773, IG II² 47). Parts of the sanctuary were excavated in the 1880s and 2000s, revealing a temple, parts of the precinct wall, two cisterns, an offering pit (bothros), a long narrow building (a stoa or an incubation chamber?), a large statue of Asklepios (NAMA 258, images on commons), and numerous votive sculptures and reliefs. These finds have never been fully published, but for a synthesis see J. Lamont in M. M. Miles, Autopsy in Athens (2015), 37-50. Other inscriptions linked to this site are IG II² 47 (an assembly decree regulating sacrifices in the sanctuary), IG II³ 4, 1773 (a sacrificial regulation), IG II³ 4, 663 and 878-890 (dedications). Sacrifices at the sanctuary as part of the Diisoteria festival are mentioned in IG II² 783, l. 8 of 163/2 BC. Reliefs for Zeus Meilichios and Zeus Philios as healing deities were found in the same general area (IG II³ 4, 1277-1296), but probably belong to a separate sanctuary in a grotto by the shore (R. Garland, The Piraeus, 1987, 159-60).

Added: 19 Aug 2025
Updated: 19 Aug 2025
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ID: AIO_3469