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Fragment (bottom left corner) of a limestone
Letters:
Space between lines:
Encoded for EpiDoc schema 8.17 on 01-01-2014 by S. Peels.
Edition here based on Lupu
Other edition:
Cf. also:
Further bibliography:
[...] for Despoina. For a family member ten days [...] be away from childbirth [...] ten days. For a non-family member [...] five days. For the rest [...] sacrifice as the priests [says] [...].
[...] pour Despoina. Pour un familier, dix jours [...] se tenir à l'écart d'un accouchement [...] dix jours. Pour un non-familier [...] cinq jours. Pour le reste [...] sacrifier comme le prêtre [l'indique] [...].
This is the second set of ritual norms found in Lykosoura, the other (more elaborate) one being the slightly earlier CGRN 126. Here we clearly have a fragment of cathartic regulations specifying different causes of impurity and the prescribed waiting time for entrance to the sanctuary or perhaps (less likely) initiation. The last line of the document perhaps refers to other cases of impurity that could be resolved by making a sacrifice under the guidance of the priest. Loucas and Loucas found it remarkable that the Lykosourians would publish this ritual norm so soon after the previous one. However, the subject matter of this regulation seems to be quite different from that of CGRN 126, the focus here being on ritual purity rather than on simplicity of attire, initiation into the mysteries, and precise sacrificial rules. Cf. Lupu for details of dialect.
Lines 2-5: At least three causes of impurity with a delay of five or ten days before entering the sanctuary are specified. λέχος 'bed' has been uniformly interpreted as referring to childbirth (Sokolowski; Matthaiou - Pikoulas; Lupu; Loucas - Loucas). Cp. a purity regulation from Kos (
Line 5: For τὰ δὲ λοιπά, cp. a purity regulation from Miletos (CGRN 214, lines 10-13), which list a number of causes of pollution (funerals, childbirth, dogs giving birth) with a number of days after which one can re-enter the sanctuary, and then states one can enter on the same day ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν λοιπῶν. These other potentially polluting factors (the most obvious ones being sexual intercourse or menstruation) were apparently known to the worshippers.
Line 6: This is the clearest part of the regulation, which instructs the worshipper to 'sacrifice as the priest ...', probably as far as the 'τὰ λοιπά' are concerned. We expect a verb such as λέγω, or more strongly, (προ-)ἀγορεύω, 'proclaim', or ἐξηγέομαι, 'expound'. The requirements would have been part of orally transmitted knowledge of the community (and at least the priest could be expected to be aware of the rules). It is perhaps noteworthy that the regulation here does not refer to the previously published regulation found at Lykosoura (e.g. as "τὰ γεγραμμένα" or "the stele") which contained details of sacrificial rules (viz. CGRN 126).