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 (
Marble stele, broken in two pieces (upper and lower fragments), with a small ledge on the top. The right upper corner is missing.
The letters are not very carefully engraved.
Letters:
Lines 1-2:
Lines 3-29:
Encoded for EpiDoc schema 8.17 on 02-06-2015 by S. Peels
Edition here based on Hiller von Gaertringen
Other edition:
Fraenkel
Cf. also:
Sokolowski
Further bibliography:
Dionysios, son of Menophilos, having served as
(10) It was decided by the council and the people, on the proposal of the generals: the other arrangements for those sacrificing to Athena Nikephoros are to happen in accordance with [the law, but one should also deposit, in addition to the] existing [portions (set aside) for the goddess] and to the (money) placed in the money-box, the right leg and the skin [...]; one should place in the money-box (15) the necessary tetrobol for pigs and 2.5 (?) obols for other sacrificial animals, as is prescribed. The decree shall be valid in perpetuity, unless another one supersedes it.
It was decided by the council and the people, on the proposal of the generals. Since previously it was customary that those sacrificing to Athena Nikephoros (20) give, together with the prescribed portions for the goddess, also more triple-ribs to some other people among those who spend their time around the sanctuary, may it be decided that with immediate effect the annually appointed
(translation adapted from S.
Dionysios, fils de Menophilos, qui a été hiéronome, pour le peuple. Que les citoyens et tous les autres individus qui entrent dans le [sanctuaire] de la déesse soient purs, le jour même, (après des relations sexuelles) avec leur propre épouse (5) ou leur propre époux; avec une autre ou un autre, (qu'ils soient purs) le deuxième (jour), après s'être lavés; de même, (après avoir accompli) des soins funéraires ou (cotoyé) une femme qui a enfanté, (que l'on soit pur) le deuxième (jour). Que ceux qui ont participé aux funérailles et au cortège, après s’être nettoyés et avoir passé la porte où se trouvent les vases lustraux, soient purs le jour même.
(10) Il a plu au conseil et au peuple, sur proposition des stratèges, que les autres dispositions relatives à ceux qui sacrifient à Athéna Nikephoros restent conformes à [la loi, mais que l’on dépose, en plus des parts] précédemment [(consacrées) à la déesse] et la (somme) déposée dans le tronc à offrandes, la patte droite et la peau [...]; que l’on dépose dans le tronc à offrandes (15) le tétrobole affiché pour les porcs et 2½ (?) oboles pour les autres animaux sacrifiés, comme il est prescrit. Que ce décret fasse autorité à jamais, à moins qu’un autre ne le remplace.
Il a plu au conseil et au peuple, sur proposition des stratèges. Attendu qu’il était auparavant d’usage que ceux qui sacrifient à Athéna Nikephoros (20) donnent, outre les parts prescrites pour la déesse, une triple côte supplémentaire à d'autres parmi ceux qui passent leur temps autour du sanctuaire, qu'il soit convenu qu’à partir de maintenant ceux qui sont institués hiéronomes annuellement, qui reçoivent les peaux consacrées par ceux qui sacrifient et qui les vendent, donnent au néocore (25) 2 oboles par porc, une hémiobole par tête de petit bétail, la même (somme) en commun à la joueuse d'
This stone bears three regulations relating to the sanctuary and the cult of Athena Nikephoros. Given its findspot, it must originally have been erected next to the Nikephorion, which Kolb identifies with the known temple of Athena on the acropolis of Pergamon. The lettering suggests that it was engraved in the second half of the 2nd century BC. The text has long been dated to the period after 133 BC, though more recent studies on the chronology of the cult of Athena Nikephoros (especially the appearance of the cult-epithet and the organization of the Nikephoria and their periodicity) point to the Attalid period, specifically the reign of Eumenes II onward (see Kolb, Müller). Nevertheless, the regulations are not necessarily related to the Nikephoria, mention of the Attalids is conspicuously absent, and the composite character of the regulations probably confirm the later date of the letterforms.
Indeed, the inscription, as we have it, is tripartite, forming a dossier of regulations on the sanctuary and the cult of Athena Nikephoros. First, a heading (lines 1-2) states that it was inscribed on the initiative of Dionysios, who served as an annual
Lines 3-9: The first regulation (lines 3-9) forms a self-standing law on purity for the sanctuary of Athena; for other examples in the present Collection, see e.g. CGRN 181 (Eresos) or CGRN 211 (Maionia). As usual in these documents, the rules define the amount of time during which the access to the sanctuary is forbidden for people who have been in contact with a source of pollution, three of which are mentioned here. For sexual intercourse, it is noteworthy that there is no difference between men and women; in addition, extramarital intercourse is pragmatically taken into account. For childbirth, the mother is not mentioned, only people who were in contact with her (typically the mother would have had to abstain from visiting the sanctuary for a much longer period of time herself). The subject of contact with the dead is more detailed: the more important the proximity with the corpse may be, the longer is the time necessary in order to become pure again. Yet, in all cases, the duration is relatively short, ranging from one to two days: similar clauses in other regulations tend to be more strict (cp. the two relatively contemporary examples cited above). In line 3, all the editors and scholars take Fraenkel's restoration of [ναὸν] for granted, but [ἱερὸν], which appears at line 21, would not take much more space on the stone (the script is not very regular at the end of the lines) and would be more plausible in such a clause concerning visitors to the sacred space. In lines 8-9, the presence of ἁγιστήρια (a form of περιρραντήριον) next to the door (of the sanctuary, in all probability) suggests the necessity of an additional purification in the form of washing, just before entering the sacred place.
Lines 10-17: The first decree is principally concerned with sacrificial tariffs and fees. These are to take place according to a previous rule (line 16), and to consist in a large fee for swine (4 obols), and probably a bit more than half of this for the animals. The sign ═ stands for 2 obols; the O is a subdivision (probably a half) of an obol. These standard fees are now to be complemented by the addition of a leg and skin, probably from each of the animals offered (see immediately below). As becomes clear in the second decree, these portions were no doubt to be sold. The right leg is a portion which is typically found as divine portion and/or a priestly perquisite: see here CGRN 98 (Erythrai), fr. A, lines 12-16, and perhaps CGRN 182 (Mytilene), line 9, also among a list table-portions and sacrificial tariffs; here, these portions may also have been conceived of as divine portions (cf. line 20), though proceeds from their sale were to be used for the finances of the cult. In lines 12-13, Fraenkel, followed by Hiller von Gaertringen, proposes εὐ̣χ̣[αριστηρίων], which is not very appropriate for this kind of compensation; Sokolowski's restoration, ἑκ̣ά̣[στου ἱερείων], yields a clearer meaning which we adopt here
Lines 20-22: The second decree introduces several interesting additions to the first. It provides us with a short list of more minor cult personnel and others who "hang around" the sanctuary. This includes not only the more expected
Lines 23-24: On the sale of the skins from sacrificial animals, cf. the Athenian
Lines 26-27: Kohl (p. 249) wonders if the expression τῶν ... ἐν τῆι ἄκραι θυομένων ... τὸ δὲ λοιπὸν implies the existence of two cult places of Athena in Pergamon. This remains possible, but τὸ λοιπὸν clearly goes together with τῆς τιμῆς (this is the rest of money, allotted to the sacred revenues), and the emphasis on the location of the sacrifices ἐν τῆι ἄκραι is perhaps justified given the fee here must be paid to the gatekeeper of the acropolis. For citadel guards and the like being honoured with sacrificial portions (or in this case, replaced by cult tariffs), see here CGRN 34 (Epidauros), lines 16 and 34.
Line 27: The amount symbolized by the symbol Σ is unknown (perhaps a drachma, or more plausibly, an even smaller amount, e.g. a τεταρτημόριον—quarter of an obol?).