Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License 4.0.
All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain somewhere a link back to the DOI (
Letters:
Encoded for EpiDoc schema 8.17 on 01-04-2016 by J.M. Carbon.
Edition here based on Blümel
Cf. also: Sokolowski
[... he will receive ... ] from all the female oxen, [and also whenever] the Kasosseis sacrifice jointly, for each sacrifice from one of the animals among those sacrificed. (5) And whenever they make a "cheese-and-barley" offering and sacrifice an ox, he will receive a thigh weighing no less than 10
[... il recevra ... ] de toutes les vaches, [et aussi lorsque] les Kasosseis sacrifient en commun, de chaque sacrifice, d'un des animaux parmi ceux qui sont sacrifiés. (5) Et lorsqu'ils font une offrande de "fromage-et-orge" et qu'ils sacrifient un boeuf, qu'il reçoive une hanche du boeuf pesant non moins de 10 mines, et, durant ce sacrifice, qu'il reçoive aussi la peau et la patte du bélier qu'il souhaite, et qu'il reçoive aussi une double part (10) durant toutes les réunions. Qu'il soit aussi exempt à Kasossos de toutes (taxes et liturgies) sur lesquelles les Kasosseis ont l'autorité. L'acquéreur de la prêtrise versera l'argent (15) aux trésoriers désignés qui (travaillent) avec Diomède, en faisant (trois) versements : le premier au mois de Dios, le second au mois de Xandikos, le troisième au mois d'Hyperberetaios, celui [après le (20) stéphanéphore] Apellaios. Les [trésoriers] désignés [...]
Though the beginning of the inscription is missing, its conclusion is probably nearly entirely preserved. It is clear from the content of the later portion of the extant text, especially lines 13-21, that the document is a contract for the sale of a priesthood at Kasossos. Sales of priesthoods are well attested in the region of Karia (cf. here CGRN 118, Halikarnassos, CGRN 119, Theangela, and CGRN 196, Iasos), as well as in other areas of Asia Minor and in the islands of the eastern Aegean (e.g. on Chios, CGRN 37). As often, the first extant portion of the contract contains a detailed description of the prerogatives of the priest during a variety of sacrificial occasions (lines 1-11); exemptions from taxation and/or liturgies are also defined (lines 11-13); finally, the modalities of payment for the purchase of the office are given (lines 13-20). It is possible that further lines (20ff.) prescribed other modalities of the purchase, or perhaps the inscribing of the inscription. Additionally, a record of the purchaser and the price obtained might also have been appended to the regulation, as is also common in this type of inscription (cp. again CGRN 37, Chios, line 17).
Having never been properly excavated, the site of Kasossos is not particularly well understood (see Blümel, vol. II, p. 121, for further references). Though the present inscription does not explicitly state to which cult the priesthood belongs, two other seemingly contemporary inscriptions from the site both relate to the cult of Zeus of the Kasosseis:
Lines 1-4: It is probable that these lines meant to set up a parallel between the perquisites the priest received during two types of sacrificial events: occasions (perhaps private sacrifices, or even sacrifices by the Mylaseis) when cows were expected to be sacrificed; and other occasions on which the community of the Kasosseis was expected to be involved as a group offering the sacrifices. The restoration [ὅταν δέ] by Blümel seems slightly awkward, resulting in an odd string of clauses defining the conditions on which perquisites may be given to the priest: this is both "from all the oxen" (line 2) and "from one of the sacrificial animals" (lines 4-5). Rather than restoring [ὅταν δέ] like Blümel at the end of line 2, a simple solution would be to change this to [καὶ ὅταν]: thus the priest will have received some portion both "from all the oxen" sacrificed, and also from only one of the animals "whenever the Kasosseis sacrifice in common". Finally, we would expect the object of λήψεται in lines 1-2 to have been defined as a concrete portion (as in lines 7-11). Being the most salient element of the sentence, it is not very likely to have been omitted by the engraver, though this is a possibility. Therefore, the object was probably specified in line 1, somewhere in the lacuna. This portion may well have been a thigh or leg, as with the other perquisites defined below.
Lines 5-9: These lines define an at present unparelleled rite, presumably in the cult of Zeus at Kasossos. This is the making of a cheese-and-barley offering, known by the neologistic compound name τυράλφιτον. This may have taken the form of cake or bread made from the combination of these two ingredients. Intriguingly, cults of Zeus and other gods in Karia also involved unusual cakes: cf. here CGRN 42 (Iasos), line 4, for ἔνθρυπτα. In any case, this offering of τυράλφιτον clearly marked a special occasion at Kasossos. The ritual was accompanied by the sacrifice of an ox and of at least two rams (since the priest is to select his prerogative of a leg "from the ram he wants"). The minimum weight of the ham provided from the ox is striking and also uniquely specific in ritual norms: the concern was clearly to provide a sizeable portion of meat (perhaps with the bone removed) for the priest. 10 minai was equivalent to ca. 4.3 kg. For the right to select a portion from the animal or the side of the animal of the priest's choice, cp. again CGRN 42 (Iasos), line 2.
Lines 11-13: As Blümel remarks (with further references), the phraseology suggests that Kasossos could only grant local and highly circumscribed exemptions from taxation and/or liturgies to the purchaser of the priesthood: these applied only at Kasossos (presumably when the priest resided there), and only in such cases where "the Kasosseis had the authority" to grant exemptions. In other words, this may suggest that the site was not completely free or independent, and that Kasossos had at this point during the Hellenistic period become a dependent community of the nearby city of Mylasa, perhaps through a process of synoikism; cp. the situation at Chalketor near Mylasa, CGRN 183.
Lines 13-20: This detailed section on the modalities of the payment informs us about several technical details concerning the contract. Since the first payment is to take place in Dios and this is the first month of the calendar, it is almost certain that the regulation was passed in the year of the