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Upper part of an opistographic
The letters of the text are generally highly worn.
Height of letters:
Space between lines:
Encoded for EpiDoc schema 8.17 on 06-06-2015 by S. Peels
Edition here based on Bosnakis - Hallof - Rigsby
Cf. also: Chaniotis
Further bibliography:
Face A
Sacred law of the tribe of the Elpanoridai: When the meeting (of the tribe) takes place, the chief magistrate should make a preliminary offering [...] sheep as is customary. He is to serve as priest [...] exactly as the members of the tribe [... (5) ... (10) ...] should depose in [... (15) ...] is to make a beginning [...] and the rest [...] heifer [... (20) ...]
Face B
(20) As he saw that there are precincts and altars, but no sacrifices are taking place, eager to sacrifice with good omens to all the ancestral gods, in accordance with the piety of the townsmen and the tribe-members towards the gods [...] that he recorded [... (25) ... (30) ...] but [...] seeing that [...] is available, from where the revenues of the priesthood have accrued [...] profitably, on the terms which under the priesthood of Tisias [...] has written down according to the law. So that the (35) chief magistrates and the priest according to the law give back (pay?) all that was previously [...] the written document of the
Face A
Loi sacrée de la tribu des Elpanoridai. Quand la réunion a lieu, que l'archonte fasse le sacrifice préliminaire [...] moutons comme il est traditionnel. Que détienne la prêtrise [...] comme les phylètes [... (5) ... (10) ...] que l'on dépose [... (15) ...] que l'on commence [...] et le reste [...] une génisse [... (20) ...]
Face B
(20) Constatant qu'il y a des enceintes et des autels, mais qu'aucun sacrifice n'y prend place, soucieux de sacrifier adéquatement à tous les dieux ancestraux conformément à la piété des citoyens et des phylètes envers les dieux [...] qu'il a consigné [... (25) ... (30) ...] mais [...] étant donné que [...] il y a, d'où précisément le revenu de la prêtrise a augmenté [...] avantageusement, selon ce qui, sous la prêtrise de Tisias [...] a été écrit conformément à la loi. De sorte que (35) les archontes et le prêtre, conformément à la loi, rendent (paient ?) tout ce qui a été précédemment [...] le document écrit de l'archonte consignant ce qui a été mis à part de [...]
This stele conserves, in a very fragmentary state, a ritual norm—literally a "sacred law", ἱερός νόμος—of the tribe of the Elpanoridai (as is stated in line 1 of Face A). However, Face B seems to preserve a part of a different type of document, probably a decree, which continued from Face A. Therefore, the stele seems to have served as a repository for at least two different texts, forming a dossier that was concerned with laws, customs and religious practice of the tribe. The tribe of the Elpanoridai was unknown until the publication of this document (for a discussion of tribes at Halasarna, cf. Paul, p. 200-202).
Given its fragmentary character, the text is extremely difficult to interpret. On Face A, following the heading, we may discern: regulations for a preliminary sacrifice to be made by tribe's chief magistrate (ὁ ἀρχεύων) during the (annual?) meeting or gathering of the tribe (ἁ σύνοδος, lines 1-3); terms and conditions of a priesthood—or priestly duties to be performed by the tribe's chief magistrate—(line 3 onwards); and, after many uncertain fragments, the sacrifice (on another occasion?) of a heifer (line 19). Face B seems to record the initiative of an individual to make sacrifices to the ancestral gods (Theoi Patroioi) at apparently abandoned cult sites and altars (lines 20-24, the identification of which is uncertain). The interpretation of the final part of the text (lines 32-37), dealing with financial matters, eludes us.
Face A
Line 1: The expression ἱερός νόμος is relatively rare in the inscriptions that have been traditionally designated as "lois sacrées" or "sacred laws". In Classical and Hellenistic documents, we find it in a 4th-century inscription from Tegea (
Lines 2-3: The uninterpretable parts of the end of line 2 and the beginning of line 3 may have preserved the beginning of a list of animals that were to be sacrificed together with the sheep. The context of these "preliminary offerings" remains to be guessed at; προθύματα were especially important in the cult of Asclepius: CGRN 64 (Epidauros), CGRN 46 (Piraeus), and CGRN 54 (Piraeus). This does not seem to be applicable to the context of the present incription. In CGRN 186 (Ilion), preliminary sacrifices of sheep to Zeus Polieus accompanied major sacrifices of cows to Athena. Given the lack of context here, we do not know whether one smaller sacrifice was to precede a major offering. Another possibility is to take προθύω as "to sacrifice for or in behalf of" (cf.
Lines 3-4: It is not clear whether these lines introduce prescriptions for the chief magistrate of the tribe to perform priestly duties, perhaps on special ritual occasions, or if it defines the terms of the priesthood of an unknown god, now missing in the lacuna. In any case, there seems to be a reference to a decision that was taken earlier by the tribesmen concerning this priesthood.
Line 12: It is possible that the verb preserved here refers to the deposition of sacrificial fees by the worshippers into a money box; ἐμβάλλω is commonly used for that action. The income produced in this way would normally at least partly be given to the priest as a perquisite. On this topic, cf. Lupu and Kaminski, and cp. CGRN 163 (Kos), lines 17-24.
Line 19: The heifer was always offered to goddesses: cf. here CGRN 109 (Kamiros), line 7, to Athena Polias; CGRN 113 (Kamiros), line 4, to the Muses; CGRN 192 (Panamara), line 8, to Hera; CGRN 205 (Antiocheia-ad-Pyramum), line 10, to Athena and Homonoia; CGRN 222 (Andania), lines 34 and 69, unknown goddess part of the Megaloi Theoi. The recipient for the offering remains unclear here.
Face B
Lines 20-24: This may preserve part of the preamble of a decree starting on Face A, with these lines recording the proposal and its motivations. Note that it is striking that the person who made the proposal specifies that the sacrifices to the ancestral gods would reflect the piety not only of the members of the tribe, but of all citizens more generally (cf. also Chaniotis for this reading). The "citizens" might mean all those of Kos, especially those that visited the sanctuary of the Elpanoridai, though the point of reference might be more specifically to the citizen and demesmen of Halasarna. For the Theoi Patroioi of subgroups on Kos, see CGRN 162, Commentary. For a different translation, cf. the website of
Lines 32-33: These lines strikingly appear to discuss where the "income of the priesthood" comes from. It is uncertain whether a sale of the priesthood is to be inferred (subjective genitive: its sale price is an income for the tribe; the source of the income is the buyer) or if the passage discusses sources of revenue for the priesthood (objective genitive). Income for the priests would come from worshippers paying sacrificial fees (cf. perhaps line 12, above), from parts of the animal as perquisites, from collections, and potentially from other sources. Still, in neither case is it evident what precisely is being regulated.
Lines 33-37: The perhaps eponymous priest mentioned here, one Tisias, is otherwise unknown and it is unclear to which group he belonged (the Elpanoridai themselves or the deme of Halasarna, or both?). There was apparently a group of tribal magistrates (ἀρχεύ