This very fragmentary document is apparently entirely concerned with Eleusinian cults and rituals. Regrettably, the context of the inscription is unclear, though it helps to identify the Attic deme in question—Phrearrhioi—about which little is otherwise known both in terms of archaeological remains and of cult. It may be thought somewhat more likely that the document was issued by the deme proper, rather than by another authority, such as another group or the polis itself. Demesmen are notably mentioned in line 8 (cp. also line 12); no mention is made of anything relating explicitly to the city of Athens. If that is the case, then the structures mentioned repeatedly in the text, such as several altars and an Eleusinion (lines 9, 18, 23), are probably to be located in the deme itself (cf. Lupu, who gives an overview of past scholarship on this question but prefers not to commit himself; for regulations relating to a deme Eleusinion, cp. here CGRN 25, Paiania). If that inference is correct, then the points of reference mentioned in the text will have been found at the local level: sacred officials of the deme such as hieropoioi and priestesses (of Demeter and Kore), as well as the herald (see Lupu on line 6, with references); an altar for Plouton (line 18), another in the Eleusinion (lines 9 and 19), perhaps still further ones for Demeter and Kore specifically (20). Cf. also now Wijma, accepting a local Eleusinion and discussing the inclusive participation implied in the deme regulation (by lines 7-8, demesmen and "others").

Little can be said with any assurance about the character of the text as whole, except that it was definitely a prescriptive regulation of some sort (cf. the repeated third-person plural infinitives). That being said, it also regularly appears to feature lists of offerings, notably sacrificial animals, but also two sets of portions from these animals. Indeed, one of the great values of the present regulation lies in the fact that it enables a distinction to be drawn between portions offered on the altar (ἐπὶ τοὺς βωμούς, etc.) and portions given as priestly perquisites (ἱερεώσυνα). The portions given as priestly perquisites (lines 5, 20-21) follow a standard order in Athenian documents, and include a thigh, a rib and a hip (sometimes a "side of hip" is also found): cf. here CGRN 57, lines 4, 8-9, etc. (the account of such perquisites from Aixone, though there the "half-head" is of "sausage" or "filled with entrails"). By contrast, the portions to be placed and burned on the altars are different (lines 15-17): thighbones (notably from the thigh given to the priestess), bits of meat from the area of the shoulder or the armpit, and half of the severed head (the latter is sometimes also given to the priest or priestess; see again at Aixone, or CGRN 37, Chios, lines 10-11).

Another intriguing but puzzling element is the contrast between the general prescriptions found in most of the regulation, notably the fairly vague phrase [ἐ]πειδὰν αἱ ἱέρειαι ποιήσω[σι] in line 11—i.e. whenever the priestesses commence a certain ritual procedure; the object of ποιήσωσι is lost but we might think of an offering—, and the apparently more precise temporal indication found in the very fragmentary line 27, "on the 7th day" or perhaps the "17th" instead (ἑβδό[μηι ἐπὶ δέκα], so Simms; the Eleusinian Mysteries notably encompassed 17 Boedromion). Did the regulation discuss ritual practice generally or did it focus on a specific festival or celebration, such as might also be indicated by the use of lamps and torches (lines 4 and 24-25)? These are enigmas which remain to be solved.

Line 2: Given the fragmentary traces ΠΡ, it could be suggested that the pig offered to Demeter, almost certainly here a sow, was further qualified. As Simms already noted, a parallel may be sought in the calendar of Mykonos, where the goddess (accompanied by Kore and Zeus Bouleus) receives a ὗν ἐνκύμονα πρωτοτόκον, cf. CGRN 156, line 16. The restoration πρ[ωτοτόκον] is therefore perhaps likely here too. Another option would be the qualification πρατός 'for sale', as in the sacrificial calendar of Thorikos, cf. CGRN 32, lines 11-12, 23, 26, etc. For the epithet Thesmophoros and the Thesmophoria, see also here CGRN 78 (Piraeus).

Line 4: As Lupu notes, the "torch-holder" is attested in two temple inventories at Eleusis: IG II² 1541, line 15, and 1543, line 16. Before it, the traces should ideally be interpreted as forming the word [λαμπ]άδος (as Sokolowski suggested), but Lupu following Vanderpool notes a problematic (and unlikely!) circular trace before the alpha. Noting also the torches in lines 24-25, it may be suggested that several of the rituals mentioned in the regulation took place during nighttime and/or involved torches as cultic objects. For another very fragmentary regulation involving a nighttime ritual and torches, see CGRN 97 (Mylasa), lines 2-4.

Lines 9-10: These fragmentary phrases remain to be satisfactorily explained. The reference might be to the act of freeing (manumitting) slaves or freeing animals during festivals. This is proscribed in the regulation concerning female cults from Piraeus, μηδεὶς ἀφέτους ἀφιεῖ, unless it occurs during festivals or when the priestess is present: cf. CGRN 78, lines 3-4. The hieropoios' act of "dismissing" or "freeing" the attendants may have had a similar connotation here, especially since we are in an apparently similar context to the festivals mentioned in the Piraeus deme regulation.

Lines 16-17: For the μασχαλίσματα, see the extensive discussion of Lupu in NGSL, with reference to his article on the subject (2003a).

Line 21: The sum of 3 obols is apparently to be given to the priestess (line 20) as part of her allowance; it may have been destined to provide fodder for each sacrificial animal in question.

Line 22: Presumably provisions, perhaps required of the priestess(es), are intended for a the ritual offering of a pot containing grains or liquids during the ritual. For such pots offered to Pouton, cf. Ar. Pl. 1197.

Line 26: On the god Iakchos, whose name may have originated from the ritual cry during Eleusinian celebrations, see Lupu, with further refs.

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