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Small cylindrical white marble
Letters:
Encoded for EpiDoc schema 8.17 on 06-06-2015 by S. Peels
Edition here based on Roussel - Launey
Other editions:
Cf. also: Sokolowski
Further bibliography:
To Zeus Ourios, to Astarte Palaistine Aphrodite Ourania, gods who listen, Damon, son of Demetrios, of the city Ascalon, having been saved from pirates, (consecrated the altar as a result of his) fulfilled vow. It is not religiously permitted to bring in goat meat, pork or (meat) from a cow.
À Zeus Ourios, Astartè Palaistinè Aphrodite Ourania, divinités qui écoutent les prières, Damon, fils de Démétrios, de la cité d’Ascalon, après avoir été sauvé des pirates, (a consacré l'autel) pour avoir exaucé son voeu. Il n’est pas religieusement permis d'apporter de la viande de chèvre, ni du porc, ni (de la viande) de vache.
On this small altar dedicated on Delos and in Greek, by a citizen of Ascalon who escaped an attack from pirates, two oriental divinities are evoked, and the dedication is followed by a small cultic regulation in the same hand (lines 6-7).
Lines 1-2: Zeus Ourios is the god of favourable wind, known on Delos by multiple dedications in which the context is navigation and maritime expeditions (
Line 2: The adjective ἐπήκοος is used in literature and inscriptions to indicate that gods "listen to prayer". Apparently, such an appeal to the 'good reputation' of the god, as well as upholding a reciprocal relationship with faithful worshippers, was thought (hoped) to have a performative effect.
Line 5: The word εὐχήν on its own is an abbreviated form of saying that the dedication is made "in return for a fulfilled prayer", as a result of a vow.
Lines 6-7: At first sight, it would be tempting to take the verb προσάγω here in the sense of "lead in to sacrifice", thus referring to sacrificial animals (cf. e.g. the restoration at CGRN 43, line 29). However, the final phrase of the inscription, βοὸς θηλείας, expressed in the genitive following the two accusatives αἴγειον and ὑικόν makes this reading improbable. In other words, αἴγειον and ὑικόν, both adjectival, do not appear to refer to whole animals, but rather to their meat, and the implicit referent behind the genitive βοὸς θηλείας must very probably be something like κρέας. Interestingly in this regard, the verb προσάγω can refer, not to bringing in a sacrifice as such, but rather to serving food: cf.