Bibliography
Edition here based on Blinkenberg Lindos II 181, with ph. For the restoration proposed in lines 5-6 and adopted here (Carbon), see also Carbon forthc., with a new edition.
Cf. also: Sokolowski LSS 87A;
for another text (B) included by Sokolowski, see Commentary below.
Further bibliography: Segre 1951.
Commentary
The inscription is one of a large number of extracts from sacrificial calendars inscribed or recodified in the early Hellenistic period on Rhodes and disseminated at various local sanctuaries on the island, presumably as punctual reminders and short regulations in and of themselves. The excerpts perhaps come from the general sacrificial calendar of the unified city of Rhodes, though they may also have come from the individual calendars of consistuent parts of the Rhodian state. Most of the known examples come from Kamiros and Lindos, cf. here e.g. [CGRN 110](CGRN_110) and [CGRN 115](CGRN_115), respectively. For a general discussion of these excerpts, see Segre and Carbon forthc.
Despite the text presented in Blinkenberg and generally adopted here, much of the content and context of the calendrical regulation remains unclear. One good parallel for the present regulation is probably Lindos II 182 / LSS 87B, a contemporaneous fragment of a marble plaque, which preserves a partially similar excerpt, albeit a more fragmentary one: [Σμινθίου (?) δ]ωδεκ̣[άται | Δάματρι (?) ὗς] κυεῦ[σα | θύει ἰε]ροθύτα[ς]. That being said, the restorations proposed by Blinkenberg in this case are relatively uncertain. To begin with, the date of the sacrifice is unclear: the month could either have been Sminthios (in the spring, ca. March/April; cf. the reconstruction of this as the eighth month of the Rhodian calendar by Badoud; for a different view, see Iversen) or Hyakinthios (in the summer; 11th month, ca. June/July); the precise date is also different in both excerpts. Moreover, the identity of the recipient(s) of the sacrifice(s) is not beyond question, nevertheless, the inclusion of one or more pregnant animals strongly suggests the cult of Demeter or similar goddesses. For a pregnant sow, cf. here e.g. [CGRN 25](CGRN_25) (Paiania), Face 1, lines 29-32 (Demeter and perhaps Kore); [CGRN 32](CGRN_32) (Thorikos), lines 36-39 (to Demeter); [CGRN 156](CGRN_156) (Mykonos), line 12 (to Demeter), and [CGRN 222](CGRN_222) (Andania), lines 33 and 68 (to Demeter). Note additionally that the traces ΑΙ in line 3, instead of being interpreted as [κ]αὶ and following another offering, might instead suggest a dative feminine ending, and thus introduce a separate entry of an offering to a differently named goddess (e.g. [Κόρ]αι?), though the evidence shows that a pregnant sow is usually the offering for Demeter. The cult of Demeter and Kore is otherwise attested on the Lindian acropolis, notably under the noteworthy appellation of Damateres: cf. Lindos II 183 (alongside a Zeus Damatrios also). For the Damateres at Kamiros, see [CGRN 149](CGRN_149) (also in Sminthios, thus making this month much more likely here at Lindos too); for the cult of the potentially parallel goddesses called Materes at Eleutherna, see [CGRN 210](CGRN_210), fr. B, lines 3-4.
Line 4: Instead of Blinkenberg's singular official, Segre presumed that the whole board of hiarothytai performed the sacrifice as part of their civic duty (this inference is followed by Sokolowski); that may be correct, but it is also impossible to demonstrate on the basis of current evidence. At any rate, it may be correct to infer that this sacrifice, if properly assigned to Demeter, was important for the community of Lindos, also given its situation on the acropolis. A priestess of Demeter is attested in Lindos II 261, but she appears to have had no explicit role here. Instead, the sacrifice is performed by one or more of the civic hiarothytai; for the role of the ἀρχιεροθύτας in ritual performance near the acropolis at Lindos, see [CGRN 62](CGRN_62), lines 2-3; for a specific ἰαροθύτας belonging to a civic subdivision, see [CGRN 63](CGRN_63), line 4.
Lines 5-6: Though Blinkenberg and Sokolowski present "indéchiffrables" letters here, one may easily recognise (Carbon) traces of a common expression in the excerpts of the sacrificial calendar at Lindos, namely τὰ θυθέντα αὐτεῖ καταχρῆσθαι. This clause entails that the portions of meat deriving from the sacrificial animals were consumed on the spot and thus were not to be taken away; cf. here [CGRN 32](CGRN_32), with Commentary on lines 10-12, [CGRN 62](CGRN_62), lines A3-4 and B4-5, and [CGRN 141](CGRN_141), lines 5-6.