CGRN 13

Date :

ca. 500-450 BC

Justification: lettering and local alphabet (Jameson et al.).

Provenance

Selinous . The tablet's exact findspot is unclear: it was unearthed in an illegal excavation and acquired for some time by the J. Paul Getty Museum. The tablet is now in the Museum of the Archaeological Park of Selinous, Baglio Floro.

Support

Two faces, A and B, of a lead tablet, which was affixed to a bronze bar by means of nails. For a full description, see Jameson et al.

Height: 23 cm
Width: 59.7 cm
Depth: 2 mm

Layout

Taking the bronze bar as the middle of the flat tablet, A and B are inscribed on two opposite sides, and furthermore, recto verso from each other, each beginning its left margin near the bronze bar (see Lupu or Jameson et al., with illustrations, for further details). Each side had a prepared surface with guidelines for inscribing. The principal text in face A has overrun the guidelines and become more uneven and imprecise starting from line A19. In current editions, A1-6 are substantially but not completely erased; we do not include these lines here. The hands that inscribed A and B are different. The letters on face B have a tendency to fill the available inscribed guidelines, which are 8 mm high apart. The letters on Face A are more uneven and usually shorter, not filling the available guidelines; they probably reflect a later hand. For a detailed paleographic analysis, see now DiMartino in Iannucci et al. 2015.

Bibliography

Edition here based on Lupu NGSL 27, with figs. 32-34. The first six lines of face A are not reproduced here. Line A3 contains the only somewhat intelligible line in A1-6: καταλείποντας, κατhαιγίζεν δὲ το̄̀ς hομοσεπύο̄ς. For the different reading adopted at the end of line A8, see Carbon 2015b.

Original edition: Jameson et al. 1993, with drawings, photographs and rich commentary.

Cf. also: Dubois IGDS II 18; Rhodes - Osborne GHI II 115.

Further bibliography: Jameson 1994; Van Straten 1995: 130-131; Clinton 1996b; Georgoudi 2001; Parker 2005b; Salvo 2012; Carbon 2015b; Pirenne-Delforge 2017; Georgoudi 2017; Giangiulio 2021.

See also the nearly exhaustive bibliographical lists in Lupu. Add now the articles and references cited in Iannucci et al. 2015.

Text

Face A

το̑ν hιαρο̑ν hα θυσία πρὸ ϙοτυτίον καὶ τᾶς ἐχεχερίας πένπ[τοι]
ϝέτει hο̑ιπερ hόκα hα Ὀλυνπιὰς ποτείε το̑ι Διὶ ∶ το̑ι Εὐμενεῖ θῦμα [καὶ]
ταῖς ∶ Εὐμενίδεσι ∶ τέλεον καὶ το̑ι Διὶ ∶ το̑ι Μιλιχίοι το̑ι ∶ ἐν Μύσϙο ∶ τέλεον ∶ τοῖς Τρ-
10ιτοπατρεῦσι ∙ τοῖς ∙ μιαροῖς hόσπερ τοῖς hερόεσι, ϝοῖνον hυπολhεί-
ψας ∙ δι’ ὀρόφο ∙ καὶ τᾶν μοιρᾶν ∙ τᾶν ἐνάταν ∙ κατακα-
ίεν ∙ μίαν θυόντο θῦμα ∶ καὶ καταγιζόντο hοῖς hοσία ∙ καὶ περιρά-
ναντες καταλινάντο ∶ κἔπειτα ∶ τοῖς κ⟨α⟩θαροῖς ∶ τέλεον θυόντο ∶ μελίκρατα hυπο-
λείβον ∙ καὶ τράπεζαν καὶ κλίναν κἐνβαλέτο καθαρὸν hε̑μα καὶ στεφά-
15νος ἐλαίας καὶ μελίκρατα ἐν καιναῖς ποτερίδε[σ]ι καὶ ∶ πλάσματα καὶ κρᾶ κἀπ-
αρξάμενοι κατακαάντο καὶ καταλινάντο τὰς ποτερίδας ἐνθέντες·
θυόντο hόσπερ τοῖς θεοῖς τὰ πατρο̑ια ∶ το̑ι ἐν Εὐθυδάμο ∶ Μιλιχίοι ∶ κριὸν θ[υ]-
όντο· ἔστο δὲ καὶ θῦμα πεδὰ ϝέτος θύεν· τὰ δὲ hιαρὰ τὰ δαμόσια ἐξh⟨α⟩ιρέτο καὶ τρά[πεζα]-
ν ∶ προθέμεν καὶ ϙολέαν καὶ τἀπὸ τᾶς τραπέζας ∶ ἀπάργματα καὶ τὀστέα κα[τα]-
20κᾶαι ∙ τὰ κρᾶ μἐχφερέτο · καλέτο [h]όντινα λε̑ι· ἔστο δὲ καὶ πεδὰ ϝέτ[ος ϝ]-
οίϙοι θύεν ∶ σφαζόντο δὲ ∶ καὶ βο̑[ν πρ]ὸ ἀγαλμάτον [...]ΔΕΣ[.....¹⁰.....]-
Ο θῦμα hότι κα προχορε̑ι τὰ πατρο̑[ια ..]ΕΞΑΙ[............²⁴............]
Τ[...]ΙΤΟΙΑΠΤΟΧΟΙ τρίτοι ϝέτ[ει] Ε[..^?..]
[....⁷...]ΕΥΣΥΝΒ[..^?..]
^vacat

Face B

[.. α]ἴ κ’ ἄνθροπος [αὐτορέκ]τα[ς ἐλ]αστέρον ἀποκα[θαίρεσθ]-
[αι], προειπὸν hόπο κα λε̑ι καὶ το̑ ϝέ[τ]εος hόπο κα λε̑ι καὶ [το̑ μενὸς]
hοπείο κα λε̑ι καὶ ἀμέραι hοπείαι κα λ«ε̑»ι, π{ο}ροειπὸν hόπυι κα λε̑ι, καθαιρέσθο. [... hο δὲ hυ]-
ποδεκόμενος ἀπονίψασθαι δότο κἀκρατίξασθαι καὶ hάλα το̑ι αὐ[το̑ρέκται]
5[κ]αὶ θύσας το̑ι Δὶ χοῖρον ἐξ αὐτο̑ ἴτο καὶ περιστ{ι}ραφέσθο ^v
καὶ ποταγορέσθο καὶ σῖτον hαιρέσθο καὶ καθευδέτο hόπε κ-
α λε̑ι· αἴ τίς κα λε̑ι ξενικὸν ἒ πατρο̑ιον, ἒ ’πακουστὸν ἒ ’φορατὸν
ἒ καὶ χὄντινα καθαίρεσθαι, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καθαιρέσθο
hόνπερ hοὐτορέκτας ἐπεί κ’ ἐλαστέρο ἀποκαθάρεται· ^v
10hιαρεῖον τέλεον ἐπὶ το̑ι βομο̑ι το̑ι δαμοσίοι θύσας καθαρὸ-
ς ἔστο· διορίξας hαλὶ καὶ χρυσο̑ι ἀπορανάμενος ἀπίτο·
hόκα το̑ι ἐλαστέροι χρέζει θύεν, θύεν hόσπερ τοῖς ^v
ἀθανάτοισι· σφαζέτο δ’ ἐς γᾶν. ^vacat
^vacat

Translation

Face A

The sacrifice of offerings before the Kotytia and the truce on the fifth year (i.e. every four years) when the Olympiad also takes place; to Zeus Eumenes an animal and to the Eumenides an adult animal and to Zeus Meilichios in (the sanctuary?) of Myskos an adult animal; to the (10) Polluted Tritopatres as to the heroes, having poured wine through the roof, of the nine portions burn one; those to whom it is religiously permitted are to sacrifice an animal and perform the consecration (burning); having sprinkled around (with water?), let them anoint (the altar?), and immediately sacrifice an adult animal to the Pure Tritopatres; pouring down honey-and-milk-mixture, a table is set out and a couch and let them throw over a pure cloth and wreaths (15) and honey-and-milk-mixture in new cups and cakes and meat. Having made first-offerings, they are to burn them and perform an anointment, having put the cups on (the altar?). The ancestral sacrifices are performed as to the gods. To (Zeus) Meilichios in (the sanctuary?) of Euthydamos let them sacrifice a ram.

The next year, it is also possible to sacrifice an animal. One shall take out the public sacred objects and set out a table and a thigh and burn the first-offerings from the table and the bones. (20) No meat is to be carried away; one shall invite whoever one wishes. The next year (year 3), it is also possible to sacrifice in the building [...] let them slaughter a bovine in front of the statues [...] whatever sacrificial animal the ancestral customs permit [...] on the third year [...]

Face B

[If a] person, [a homicide] (wishes) to purify himself from elasteroi (spirits), having made a proclamation from wherever he wishes, and in whatever year he wishes, and in whatever [month] he wishes, and on whatever day he wishes, having made a proclamation in whatever direction he wishes, he shall purify himself. The one hosting him shall give [the homicide] (the necessary things) to wash himself and something to eat and salt; (5) and having sacrificed a piglet to Zeus, he shall go away (from the one hosting him), and turn around, and he shall be spoken to, and take food, and sleep wherever he wishes. If someone wishes to purify himself with respect to a foreign or ancestral (elasteros), either heard or seen or any whatsoever, he shall purify himself in the same way as the homicide when he purifies himself from an elasteros. (10) Having sacrificed an adult animal on the public altar, he shall be pure. Having marked a boundary with salt and having sprinkled around with a gold (vessel), he shall go away. Whenever one needs to sacrifice to the elasteros, sacrifice as to the immortals. But one shall slaughter down towards the earth.

Traduction

Face A

Le sacrifice d'offrandes avant les Kotytia et la trêve qui a lieu la cinquième année (c'est-à-dire tous les quatre ans) lorsque l'Olympiade prend cours; à Zeus Eumenes un animal et aux Euménides un animal adulte et à Zeus Meilichios dans (le sanctuaire ?) de Myskos un animal adulte; aux (10) Tritopatres impurs comme aux héros, ayant versé du vin par le toit, des neufs portions en brûler une; ceux à qui c'est religieusement permis sacrifieront un animal et feront la consécration (en brûlant); ayant fait une lustration (avec de l'eau ?), qu'ils oignent (l'autel ?), et aussitôt sacrifient un animal adulte aux Tritopatres purs; versant un mélange de lait et de miel, une table est dressée et une banquette et qu'ils y mettent un tissu propre et des couronnes (15) et un mélange de lait et de miel dans de nouvelles coupes et des gâteaux et de la viande. Ayant offert des prémices, qu'ils les brûlent et oignent, ayant déposé les coupes (sur l'autel ?). Les sacrifices ancestraux sont faits comme pour les dieux. À (Zeus) Meilichios dans (le sanctuaire ?) d'Euthydamos, qu'ils sacrifient un bélier.

L'année suivante, il sera également possible de sacrifier un animal. Que l'on sorte les objets sacrés publics et que l'on dresse une table et y mette une cuisse, et qu'on brûle les prémices provenant de la table et les os. (20) Aucune viande ne doit être emportée; que l'on invite quiconque l'on souhaite. L'année suivant (an 3), il sera également possible d'offrir un sacrifice dans le bâtiment [...] qu'ils égorgent un bovin devant les statues [...] quel que soit l'animal sacrificiel permis par les coutumes ancestrales [...] la troisième année [...]

Face B

[Si une] personne, [un meurtrier], (souhaite) se purifier des elasteroi (esprits), ayant fait une proclamation d'où qu'il souhaite, et lors de l'année qu'il souhaite, et lors du [mois] qu'il souhaite, et le jour qu'il souhaite, ayant fait une proclamation dans la direction qu'il souhaite, il se purifiera. Celui qui le reçoit fournira [au meurtrier] (le nécessaire) afin qu'il se lave et (lui donnera) quelque chose à manger et du sel; (5) et ayant sacrifié un porcelet à Zeus, il s'en ira, et se retournera, et on lui parlera, et il mangera et dormira où il souhaite. Si quelqu'un souhaite se purifier au sujet d'un (elasteros) ancestral ou étranger, l'ayant entendu ou aperçu, quel qu'il soit, il se purifiera de la même manière que le meurtrier quand il se purifie d'un elasteros. (10) Ayant sacrifié un animal adulte sur l'autel public, qu'il soit pur. Ayant marqué un périmètre avec du sel et fait des aspersions (en utilisant) un récipient en or, qu'il s'en aille. Lorsqu'on souhaite sacrifier à l'elasteros, sacrifier comme aux immortels. Mais on l'égorge vers la terre.

Commentary

This tablet, not only in its shape, but also in its wealth of ritual detail, is quite unique among the texts included in this collection. Whether it was displayed as such and intended to be published in this form remains a source of speculation. The choice of lead and the unusual format may perhaps indicate either a special ritual use, or more simply a set of patchy drafts, either for more formal documents or as records in and of themselves (for a recent discussion, see Carbon). Neither text announces the sources of its authority, though involvement of the polis is probable, since civic structures are mentioned: on side A, line 18, civic objects, and on side B, line 10, the public altar of Zeus.

Conjecture also holds sway over the debate of the identity of the two texts on the tablet. If there is any unity between them, then it could lie in the notion of purification, which is manifest in the casuistic purity regulation on side B, but much more discrete on side A (except in the qualifications of the Tritopatres); for a different view, see Salvo. As preserved, side A appears to be wholly concerned with a recurrent cycle of sacrificial rituals. Furthermore, the two sides were written in different hands. Clinton (as reported in Lupu) has therefore doubted that there was any thematic coherence between the two sides of the tablet. However, Lupu (p. 366) also rightly underlines that a legal dossier might consist of very different components. As many have pointed out, a possible common element is the cult of Zeus mentioned on both faces and prominent at Selinous (cf. also now Carbon).

Despite all of the work on the tablet, the fact remains that its context is largely irrecoverable. It has been tied to the area of the Gaggera and the sanctuary of Zeus Meilichios at the border of the city, but even that is not completely assured. A particular enigma on face A are the implied points of reference for ritual actions (ἐν Μύσϙο, line 9; ἐν Εὐθυδάμο, line 17) which are now lost to us; see also below at line A9. Given the extremely rich commentaries included in the first edition (Jameson et al.) and in Lupu, we again opt to refer readers to these works passim and to offer only a very basic commentary here.

Face A

The first two lines of face A reproduced here appear to constitute a heading or title for the remainder of the regulation. In unusual language, the text is therefore introduced as "the sacrifice of the sacred things (sc. offerings)". The deadline for a major set of rituals is expressed both in terms of a festival, the Kotytia, and in terms of the penteteric (quadrennial) Olympic truce before the summer solstice. These are sacrifices to Zeus Eumenes, the Eumenides, Zeus Meilichios and the Polluted and Pure Tripatores. Additional sacrifices are possible on the consecutive years of the 4-year cycle, as prescribed starting in line A18. These sacrifices are described in a seemingly abbreviated manner: it is not specified which gods received particular types of sacrifices (cf. the Commentary below).

Lines A7-A8: For similar sacrifices which must be performed prior to a certain occasion, i.e. by a deadline, see CGRN 56 (Marathonian Tetrapolis), col. II, line 5. That regulation also contains sacrifices to the Tritopatres (among others) which must take place before the summertime festival Skira (col. II, line 32). At Selinous, Zeus Eumenes receives his own offering, together with the Eumenides (cf. Carbon). This consists of a θῦμα, which probably designated an immature animal by contrast with the other animals qualified as τέλεον (for this inference, see Georgoudi).

Line A9: One of the elusive points of reference of the text is featured in this line, which prescribes a sacrifice to the Zeus Meilichios in the (x) of a certain Myskos. The original editors attempted to link this ritual practice with the aniconic and partly iconic stones found in the precinct of Zeus Meilichios at Selinous (again, Gaggera hill), some of which are identified as belonging to persons (names in the genitive). These would particularly suit the context of anointing which is regularly mentioned in the rituals, because the procedure of anointing is often found with sacred stones (though not in the epigraphical evidence, but cf. e.g. Theophr. Char. 16.5; Paus. 10.24.6). Clinton, however, rightly pointed to a certain Myskos attested on a late-7th-century gravestone, IGDS II 71, and suggested that he and Euthydamos in line A17 may have been oikists and had sanctuaries of their own. Therefore, side A might be dealing with sacrifices which take place in a variety of sanctuaries across the city, some with precincts of Zeus Meilichios within them. That is, these lines would not then refer to a centralised ritual occasion; see the more detailed summary of this question in Lupu, p. 367. For sacrifices to Zeus Meilichios, see also here CGRN 21 (Athens), lines 3-4.

Lines A9-10: Following the work of Clinton, a form of consensus (cf. Lupu) emerged that face A envisages two separate sets of Tritopatres (literally, "great-grandfathers"); see also Georgoudi. The original editors had proposed that the impure Tritopatres were transformed into pure versions of these gods or heroes through the ritual described herein. Instead, it may be argued that the Tritopatres form one group of divine beings, viewed under successively different aspects (see below at A13), as Impure and Pure, as deceased mortals and divinised ancestors; for a detailed discussion of this question, see now Pirenne-Delforge. The qualifications "Impure" and "Pure" act essentially as epithets for the gods and these notions are reflected in the sacrificial rituals offered to them. The Impure Tritopatres receive a very detailed form of sacrifice "as to the heroes", as well as a libation of wine into the roof of a structure and a combustion of a ninth portion of the sacrificial animal. On this type of ritual, also called ἐνατευεῖν, see CGRN 27 (Thasos), line 5, and CGRN 156 (Mykonos), lines 23-24. On rituals performed "as to the heroes", see Parker. As Pure, by contrast, the Tritopatres receive libations of honey-mixture, a form of theoxenia in which a divinity is hosted with the offering of a dressed cult-table and of first-fruits (on theoxenia, cf. Jameson). A form of ancestor worship may lie behind the origins of the cult of these "great-grandfathers", though this and the exact definition of the source of their underlying impurity remains murky. For other sacrifices to the Tritopatres, though never with these explicit epithets, see e.g. here CGRN 56, col. II, lines 32 and 52. For a discussion of the possible parallels between the rituals offered to the Tritopatres and the ritual banquets held for oikists (notably those of Sicilian cities at Call. Aetia, book 2, fr. 43), see Giangiulio.

Line A12: Those to whom it is divinely sanctioned (ὁσία), for whom it is in accordance with cultic practice, should sacrifice. Here, as further on in the regulation, the context is not explicit, but the regulation refers to traditional knowledge (cp. line A22, "whatever the ancestral customs permit"), perhaps belonging to a familial group or a body of priests, or to other norms that would have been spelled out in other documents. For the analogous right (ὁσία) to attend the sacrifices and shrines of the Akamantia, apparently including the Tritopatres and other ancestral heroes, see also at CGRN 99 (Cyrene), lines 21-25.

Line A13: Reinforcing the unity of the Tritopatres is the temporal conjunction κἔ̄πειτα, which must here be translated as "and immediately" (see Dubois, p. 50; Carbon). This also implies that the two different aspects of the Tritopatres were worshipped in the same location.

Lines A18-20: Sacrifices in years within the penteteric cycle prescribed in the header (A7-8) are specified in terms of possibility (impersonal ἔστο + infinitive θύεν) rather than overt prescription. It remains unclear whether these possible sacrifices can be offered to any or all of the gods listed above, or only to a certain subset among them, and which types of animals would be involved. The former seems the likeliest and most general option, though the rituals in question recall mostly the explicit ones assigned to the Pure Tritopatres. For the first year following the penteteric one in these lines, a specific method of sacrifice is described: the offering of a cult-table and of first-offerings as well as a sizeable thigh (probably set on the table and not burned). The bones are explicitly said to be burned, a very unique prescription in the epigraphical documentation on Greek sacrifice, but one which appears from iconographic and literary sources to have been a fundamental component of the thysia (cf. Van Straten). Consumption of the other parts of the sacrificial animal must take place on the spot, cf. CGRN 52 (Erchia) for several other instances of "no take-away" rules, and the Commentary on lines 10-12 in CGRN 32 (Thorikos). It may also be noteworthy that the worshippers can explicitly invite “whomever they wish” (line A20), though presumably this was the norm in private sacrifice.

Lines A20-22: Sacrifices are also permitted in year 3 of the cycle, where they can now take place in a specific location: in the oikos, very probably a cultic building if we follow Clinton (cited but not fully accepted by Lupu); statues are also mentioned in this context, as one might expect. Corrections in the form of overstruck text have been made to this lacunary portion of the regulation and so we should not be as confident as Jameson et al. or Lupu that an ox was slaughtered at this point (see Carbon for a more cautious reading of these lines). For other instances of slaughtering and strangulation of the sacrificial animals, see face B, line 13, and CGRN 86 A (Kos), lines 41-45.

Face B

Differently from Face A, this is essentially a casuistic purity regulation, though it concludes with the possibility of making sacrifice. See e.g. CGRN 3 (Kleonai) for further instances of this type of document, constructed according to hypothetical cases (αἰ κα... or similar). All of the purifications and also the sacrifice seem to concern the removal of pollution incurred from elasteroi (lines B1; B7: ξενικὸν ἒ πατρο̑ιον sc. ἐλαστέρον; and B12). These have been interpreted as "harmful netherworld divinities", which pursue and haunt a polluted wrongdoer (so Lupu with a summary on the topic). The concept of "avenging", however, also has a strong connection with Zeus, and the word can occur, with some variations, as his epithet; for Zeus Elasteros and Alastor, see here CGRN 9 (Paros).

Lines B1-7: The first case of purification, as has been correctly restored (cp. line B9, hόνπερ hοὐτορέκτας ἐπεί κ’ ἐλαστέρο ἀποκαθάρεται), concerns a figure called the autorrektas, a rare word but one which must mean the "slayer by his own hand", i.e. a murderer or homicide (usually αὐτοφόνος). Concerning the procedure, Jameson et al. rightly pointed to the match with the prescription in the casuistic cathartic regulation of Cyrene, CGRN 99, line 111, where purification from an ἱκέσιος ἐπακτός, "a spirit brought upon oneself", also involves a host in the community, the offering of water for washing, a meal and salt. The sacrifice of a piglet, as frequently elsewhere, marks the fulfilment of the purification (see Georgoudi forthc.); here, the offering is made to Zeus.

Lines B7-11: A second case necessitating purification involves any other manifestation of an elasteros, “foreign or ancestral either heard or seen or any whatsoever” and an apparent "catch-all" purification for those wanting to perform one (ἒ̄ καὶ χὄ̄ντινα καθαίρεσθαι). The procedure makes reference to the earlier instance concerning the autorrektas, and is thus almost identical, except for the final sacrifice, which is "upgraded" to a full-grown animal on the public altar (surely that of Zeus; see also Lupu). This final sacrifice is concluded by a series of gestures (drawing a boundary and purifying oneself and a sprinkling of salt and water). The instrumental datives hαλί and χρυσο̑ι may grammatically belong with either of the two participles, διορίξας or ἀπορανάμενος, and the instruction is thus somewhat ambiguous (cf. Jameson et al. for the idea of marking out a boundary after purification). For a golden recipient as a container for lustral water, see also CGRN 85 (Kos), line 19.

Line B13: This directionality, "toward the ground", is an unusual specification for a sacrifice and not mentioned elsewhere in epigraphic documents; cp. the directionality of the slaughtered animals (with blood flowing) "to the river" Acheloos at Mykonos, CGRN 156, lines 35-37. Lupu (p. 387) comments: "ordinary sacrifice with blood flowing onto the ground (...) is explained by the identity of the recipient: a divine being of netherworld affiliation."

Publication

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 (https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN13), as well as the year of consultation (see “Home” for details on how to cite or click “Export Citation” to create a reference for this specific file).

Authors

Jan-Mathieu Carbon
Saskia Peels
Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge

How To Cite

Brief citation of the Greek text : CGRN 13, lines x-x.

Reference to the file as a critical study of the inscription : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels et Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, "CGRN 13: Sacrificial (A) and purity (B) regulations on a twofold tablet from Selinous", in Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on December 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/file/13/; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN13.

Full citation of the CGRN in a list of abbreviations or a bibliography is the following : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels-Matthey, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on December 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN0.

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			<p><origDate notBefore="-0500" notAfter="-0450">ca. 500-450 BC</origDate></p>
			<p><desc>Justification: lettering and local alphabet (Jameson et al.).</desc></p>
		</origin>
		<provenance><p><placeName type="ancientFindspot" key="Selinous" n="Sicily"><ref target="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/462489" type="external">Selinous</ref></placeName>. The tablet's exact findspot is unclear: it was unearthed in an illegal excavation and acquired for some time by the J. Paul Getty Museum. The tablet is now in the Museum of the Archaeological Park of Selinous, Baglio Floro.</p>
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<language ident="eng">English</language>
<language ident="grc">Ancient Greek</language>
<language ident="lat">Latin</language>
<language ident="fre">French</language>
<language ident="ger">German</language>
<language ident="gre">Modern Greek</language>
<language ident="ita">Italian</language>
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			<change>Last revised by XX in 20XX.</change>
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		<body>
			<div type="bibliography">
<head>Bibliography</head>

<p>Edition here based on Lupu <bibl type="abbr" n="NGSL">NGSL</bibl> 27, with figs. 32-34. The first six lines of face A are not reproduced here. Line A3 contains the only somewhat intelligible line in A1-6: <w lemma="καταλείπω">καταλ<supplied reason="lost">ε</supplied><unclear>ί</unclear>ποντας</w>, <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="καθαγίζω">κα<unclear>τ</unclear>hαιγίζ<unclear>ε</unclear>ν</w></name> δὲ το̄̀ς <name type="group"><w lemma="ὁμοσίπυος">hομοσεπύο̄ς</w></name>. For the different reading adopted at the end of line A8, see Carbon 2015b.</p>

<p>Original edition: <bibl type="author_date" n="Jameson et al. 1993">Jameson et al. 1993</bibl>, with drawings, photographs and rich commentary.</p>

<p>Cf. also: 
	Dubois <bibl type="abbr" n="IGDS II">IGDS II</bibl> 18;
	Rhodes - Osborne <bibl type="abbr" n="GHI II">GHI II</bibl> 115.</p>

<p>Further bibliography: <bibl type="author_date" n="Jameson 1994">Jameson 1994</bibl>; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Van Straten 1995">Van Straten 1995</bibl>: 130-131; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Clinton 1996b">Clinton 1996b</bibl>;
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Georgoudi 2001">Georgoudi 2001</bibl>; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Parker 2005b">Parker 2005b</bibl>; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Salvo 2012">Salvo 2012</bibl>; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Carbon 2015b">Carbon 2015b</bibl>; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Pirenne-Delforge 2017">Pirenne-Delforge 2017</bibl>; 
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Georgoudi 2017">Georgoudi 2017</bibl>;
	<bibl type="author_date" n="Giangiulio 2021">Giangiulio 2021</bibl>.</p>

<p>See also the nearly exhaustive bibliographical lists in Lupu. Add now the articles and references cited in <bibl type="author_date" n="Iannucci et al. 2015">Iannucci et al. 2015</bibl>.</p>
			</div>
			
			<div type="edition">
			<head>Text</head>

<ab subtype="Face" n="A">Face A 
	

<lb xml:id="line_A7" n="A7"/>το̑ν <name type="genericOffering"><w lemma="ἱερός">hιαρο̑ν</w></name> hα <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θυσία">θυσία</w></name> <w lemma="πρό">πρὸ</w> <name type="festival"><w lemma="Κοτυτία">ϙοτυτίον</w></name> καὶ τᾶς <w lemma="ἐκεχειρία">ἐχεχερίας</w> <w lemma="πέμπτος">πέν<unclear>π</unclear><supplied reason="lost">τοι</supplied></w> 

<lb xml:id="line_A8" n="A8"/><w lemma="ἔτος">ϝέτει</w> <w lemma="ὅσπερ">hο̑ιπερ</w> <w lemma="ὅτε">hόκα</w> hα <name type="festival"><w lemma="Ὀλυνπιάς">Ὀλυνπιὰς</w></name> <w lemma="πρόσειμι">ποτείε</w> το̑ι <name type="deity" key="Zeus"><w lemma="Ζεύς">Διὶ</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> το̑ι <name type="epithet" key="Eumenes"><w lemma="εὐμενής">Εὐμενεῖ</w></name> <name type="animal" key="generic"><w lemma="θῦμα">θῦ<unclear>μα</unclear></w></name> <supplied reason="lost">καὶ</supplied> 

<lb xml:id="line_A9" n="A9"/>ταῖς <pc>∶</pc> <name type="deity" key="Eumenides"><w lemma="Εὐμενίδες">Εὐμενίδεσι</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> <name type="animal" key="generic"><name type="age"><w lemma="τέλειος">τέλεον</w></name></name> καὶ το̑ι <name type="deity" key="Zeus"><w lemma="Ζεύς">Διὶ</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> το̑ι <name type="epithet" key="Meilichios"><w lemma="μειλίχιος">Μιλιχίοι</w></name> το̑ι <pc>∶</pc> <w lemma="ἐν">ἐν</w> Μύσϙο <pc>∶</pc> <name type="animal" key="generic"><name type="age"><w lemma="τέλειος">τέλεον</w></name></name> <pc>∶</pc> τοῖς <name type="deity" key="Tritopatres"><w lemma="Τριτοπατρῆς">Τρ 
	
<lb xml:id="line_A10" n="A10" break="no"/>ιτοπατρεῦσι</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> τοῖς <pc>∙</pc> <name type="epithet" key="Miaros"><name type="purification"><w lemma="μιαρός">μιαροῖς</w></name></name> <w lemma="ὥσπερ">hόσπερ</w> τοῖς <name type="deity" key="Hero"><w lemma="ἥρως">hερόεσι</w></name>, <name type="liquid"><w lemma="οἶνος">ϝοῖνον</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><name type="liquid"><w lemma="ὑπολείβω">hυπολhεί 
		
<lb xml:id="line_A11" n="A11" break="no"/>ψας</w></name></name> <pc>∙</pc> <w lemma="διά">δι’</w> <name type="structure"><w lemma="ὄροφος">ὀρόφο</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> καὶ τᾶν <name type="portion"><w lemma="μοῖρα">μοιρᾶν</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> τᾶν <w lemma="ἔνατος">ἐνάταν</w> <pc>∙</pc> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="κατακαίω">κατακα 
			
<lb xml:id="line_A12" n="A12" break="no"/>ίεν</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> <w lemma="εἷς">μίαν</w> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θυόντο</w></name> <name type="animal" key="generic"><w lemma="θῦμα">θῦμα</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> καὶ <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="καταγίζω">καταγιζόντο</w></name> hοῖς <name type="authority"><w lemma="ὁσία">hοσία</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> καὶ <name type="purification"><name type="liquid"><w lemma="περιρραίνω">περιρά 

<lb xml:id="line_A13" n="A13" break="no"/>ναντες</w></name></name> <name type="sacrifice"><name type="liquid"><w lemma="καταλείβω">καταλινάντο</w></name></name> <pc>∶</pc> <w lemma="ἔπειτα">κἔπειτα</w> <pc>∶</pc> τοῖς <name type="purification"><name type="epithet" key="Katharos"><w lemma="καθαρός">κ<supplied reason="omitted">α</supplied>θαροῖς</w></name></name> <pc>∶</pc> <name type="animal" key="generic"><name type="age"><w lemma="τέλειος">τέλεον</w></name></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θυόντο</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> <name type="liquid"><name type="dairy"><w lemma="μελίκρατον">μελίκρατα</w></name></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="ὑπολείβω">hυπο 

<lb xml:id="line_A14" n="A14" break="no"/>λείβον</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> καὶ <name type="structure"><w lemma="τράπεζα">τράπεζαν</w></name> καὶ <name type="object"><w lemma="κλίνη">κλίναν</w></name> <w lemma="ἐμβάλλω">κἐνβαλέτο</w> <name type="purification"><w lemma="καθαρός">καθαρὸν</w></name> <name type="object"><w lemma="εἷμα">hε̑μα</w></name> καὶ <name type="adornment"><w lemma="στέφανος">στεφά 
	
<lb xml:id="line_A15" n="A15" break="no"/>νος</w></name> <name type="vegetal"><w lemma="ἐλαία">ἐλαίας</w></name> καὶ <name type="liquid"><name type="dairy"><w lemma="μελίκρατον">μελίκρατα</w></name></name> <w lemma="ἐν">ἐν</w> <w lemma="καινός">καιναῖς</w> <name type="object"><w lemma="ποτηρίς">ποτερίδ<unclear>ε</unclear><supplied reason="lost">σ</supplied>ι</w></name> καὶ <pc>∶</pc> <name type="bakery"><w lemma="πλάσμα">πλάσματα</w></name> καὶ <name type="portion"><w lemma="κρέας">κρᾶ</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="ἀπάρχομαι">κἀπ 
		
<lb xml:id="line_A16" n="A16" break="no"/>αρξάμενοι</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="κατακαίω">κατακαάντο</w></name> καὶ <name type="sacrifice"><name type="liquid"><w lemma="καταλείβω">καταλινάντο</w></name></name> <unclear>τ</unclear>ὰς <name type="object"><w lemma="ποτηρίς">ποτερίδας</w></name> <w lemma="ἐντίθημι">ἐνθέντε<unclear>ς</unclear></w>· 

<lb xml:id="line_A17" n="A17"/><name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θυόντο</w></name> <w lemma="ὥσπερ">hόσπερ</w> τοῖς <name type="deity" key="generic"><w lemma="θεός">θεοῖς</w></name> τὰ <name type="authority"><w lemma="πατρῷος">πατρο̑ια</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> το̑ι <w lemma="ἐν">ἐν</w> Εὐθυδάμο <pc>∶</pc> <name type="epithet" key="Meilichios"><w lemma="μειλίχιος">Μιλιχίοι</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> <name type="animal" key="sheep"><name type="gender"><w lemma="κριός">κριὸν</w></name></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω"><unclear>θ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">υ</supplied> 
	
<lb xml:id="line_A18" n="A18" break="no"/>όντο</w></name>· <w lemma="εἰμί">ἔστο</w> δὲ καὶ <name type="animal" key="generic"><w lemma="θῦμα">θῦμα</w></name> <w lemma="μετά">πεδὰ</w> <w lemma="ἔτος">ϝέτος</w> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θύεν</w></name>· τὰ δὲ <name type="object"><w lemma="ἱερός">hιαρὰ</w></name> τὰ <name type="group"><w lemma="δημόσιος">δαμόσια</w></name> <w lemma="ἐξαιρέω">ἐξh<supplied reason="omitted">α</supplied>ιρέτο</w> καὶ <name type="structure"><w lemma="τράπεζα">τρά<supplied reason="lost">πεζα</supplied> 
		
<lb xml:id="line_A19" n="A19" break="no"/>ν</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> <w lemma="προτίθημι">προθέμεν</w> καὶ <name type="portion"><w lemma="κωλῆ">ϙολέαν</w></name> καὶ <w lemma="ἀπό">τἀπὸ</w> τᾶς <name type="structure"><w lemma="τράπεζα">τραπέζας</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> <name type="portion"><w lemma="ἄπαργμα">ἀπάργματα</w></name> καὶ <name type="portion"><w lemma="ὀστέον">τὀστέα</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="κατακαίω">κα<supplied reason="lost">τα</supplied> 
			
<lb xml:id="line_A20" n="A20" break="no"/>κᾶαι</w></name> <pc>∙</pc> τὰ <name type="portion"><w lemma="κρέας">κρᾶ</w></name> <name type="meal"><w lemma="μή"><w lemma="ἐκφέρω">μἐχφερέτο</w></w></name> <pc>·</pc> <w lemma="καλέω">καλέτο</w> <w lemma="ὅστις"><supplied reason="lost">h</supplied>όντινα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑ι</w>· <w lemma="εἰμί">ἔστο</w> δὲ καὶ <w lemma="μετά">πεδὰ</w> <w lemma="ἔτος">ϝέτ<supplied reason="lost">ος</supplied></w> <name type="structure"><w lemma="οἶκος"><supplied reason="lost">ϝ</supplied> 

<lb xml:id="line_A21" n="A21" break="no"/>οίϙοι</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θύεν</w></name> <pc>∶</pc> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="σφάζω">σφαζόντο</w></name> δὲ <pc>∶</pc> καὶ <name type="animal" key="ox"><w lemma="βοῦς">βο̑<supplied reason="lost">ν</supplied></w></name> <w lemma="πρό"><supplied reason="lost">πρ</supplied>ὸ</w> <name type="object"><w lemma="ἄγαλμα">ἀγαλμάτον</w></name> <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/><unclear>Δ</unclear>ΕΣ<gap reason="lost" quantity="10" unit="character"/> 

<lb xml:id="line_A22" n="A22" break="no"/><orig>Ο</orig> <name type="animal" key="generic"><w lemma="θῦμα">θῦμα</w></name> <w lemma="ὅτι">hότι</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="προχωρέω">προχορε̑ι</w> τὰ <name type="authority"><w lemma="πατρῷος">πατρο̑<supplied reason="lost">ια</supplied></w></name> <gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/><orig>ΕΞΑΙ</orig><gap reason="lost" quantity="24" unit="character"/> 

<lb xml:id="line_A23" n="A23"/><orig><unclear>Τ</unclear></orig><gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/><orig>ΙΤΟΙΑΠΤΟΧΟΙ</orig> <w lemma="τρίτος">τρίτοι</w> <w lemma="ἔτος">ϝέ<unclear>τ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">ει</supplied></w> <orig><unclear>Ε</unclear></orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> 

<lb xml:id="line_A24" n="A24"/><gap reason="lost" quantity="7" unit="character"/><orig><unclear>Ε</unclear>ΥΣΥΝ<unclear>Β</unclear></orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> 

<lb/> <space quantity="1" unit="line"/>
	
</ab>
				
<ab subtype="Face" n="B">Face B 

<lb xml:id="line_B1" n="B1"/><gap reason="lost" quantity="2" unit="character"/> <w lemma="εἰ"><supplied reason="lost">α</supplied><unclear>ἴ</unclear></w> <w lemma="κα"><unclear>κ</unclear>’</w> <name type="person"><w lemma="ἄνθρωπος">ἄ<unclear>νθροπο</unclear>ς</w></name> <w lemma="αὐτορέκτας"><supplied reason="lost">αὐτορέκ</supplied><unclear>τα</unclear><supplied reason="lost">ς</supplied></w> <name type="deity" key="Elasteros"><w lemma="ἐλάστερος"><supplied reason="lost">ἐλ</supplied>ασ<unclear>τέρ</unclear>ον</w></name> <name type="purification"><w lemma="ἀποκαθαίρω">ἀ<unclear>π</unclear>οκα<supplied reason="lost">θαίρεσθ</supplied> 
	
<lb xml:id="line_B2" n="B2" break="no"/><supplied reason="lost">αι</supplied></w></name>, <name type="speechAct"><w lemma="προεῖπον">προειπὸν</w></name> <w lemma="ὁπόθεν">hόπο</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑<unclear>ι</unclear></w> <unclear>κ</unclear>αὶ το̑ <w lemma="ἔτος">ϝ<unclear>έ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">τ</supplied><unclear>ε</unclear>ος</w> <w lemma="ὁπόθεν">hόπο</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑ι</w> καὶ <supplied reason="lost">το̑ <w lemma="μείς">μενὸς</w></supplied> 

<lb xml:id="line_B3" n="B3"/><w lemma="ὁποῖος">hοπείο</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑ι</w> καὶ <w lemma="ἡμέρα">ἀμέραι</w> <w lemma="ὁποῖος">hοπείαι</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λ<add place="overstrike">ε̑</add>ι</w>, <name type="speechAct"><w lemma="προεῖπον">π<surplus>ο</surplus>ροειπὸν</w></name> <w lemma="ὅποι">hόπυι</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑ι</w>, <name type="purification"><w lemma="καθαίρω">καθαιρέσθ<unclear>ο</unclear></w></name>. <gap reason="lost" quantity="3" unit="character"/> <supplied reason="lost">hο δὲ</supplied> <w lemma="ὑποδέχομαι"><supplied reason="lost">hυ</supplied> 
	
<lb xml:id="line_B4" n="B4" break="no"/>ποδεκόμενος</w> <name type="purification"><name type="liquid"><w lemma="ἀπονίζω">ἀπονίψασθαι</w></name></name> <w lemma="δίδωμι">δότο</w> <w lemma="ἀκρατίζομαι">κἀκρατίξασθαι</w> καὶ <w lemma="ἅλα">hάλα</w> το̑ι <w lemma="αὐτορέκτας">αὐ<supplied reason="lost">το̑ρέκται</supplied></w> 

<lb xml:id="line_B5" n="B5"/><supplied reason="lost">κ</supplied>αὶ <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θύσας</w></name> το̑ι <name type="deity"><w lemma="Ζεύς">Δὶ</w></name> <name type="animal" key="swine"><name type="age"><w lemma="χοῖρος">χοῖρον</w></name></name> <w lemma="ἐκ">ἐξ</w> <w lemma="αὐτός">αὐτο̑</w> <w lemma="εἶμι">ἴτο</w> καὶ <w lemma="περιστρέφω">περιστ<surplus>ι</surplus>ραφέσθο</w> <space quantity="1" unit="character"/> 

<lb xml:id="line_B6" n="B6"/>καὶ <name type="speechAct"><w lemma="προσαγορεύω">ποταγορέσθο</w></name> καὶ <name type="vegetal"><w lemma="σῖτος">σῖτον</w></name> <w lemma="αἱρέω">hαιρέσθο</w> καὶ <w lemma="καθεύδω">καθευδέτο</w> <w lemma="ὅπη">hόπε</w> <w lemma="κα"><unclear>κ</unclear> 
	
<lb xml:id="line_B7" n="B7" break="no"/>α</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑ι</w>· <w lemma="εἰ">αἴ</w> <w lemma="τις">τίς</w> <w lemma="κα">κα</w> <w lemma="λῶ">λε̑ι</w> <w lemma="ξενικός">ξενικὸν</w> ἒ <w lemma="πατρῷος">πατρο̑ιον</w>, ἒ <w lemma="ἐπακουστός">’πακουστὸν</w> ἒ <w lemma="ἐφορατός">’φορατὸν</w> 

<lb xml:id="line_B8" n="B8"/>ἒ καὶ <w lemma="ὅστις">χὄντινα</w> <name type="purification"><w lemma="καθαίρω">καθαίρεσθαι</w></name>, τὸν <w lemma="αὐτός">αὐτὸν</w> <w lemma="τρόπος">τρόπο<unclear>ν</unclear></w> <name type="purification"><w lemma="καθαίρω"><unclear>κ</unclear>αθαιρέσθο</w></name> 

<lb xml:id="line_B9" n="B9"/><w lemma="ὅσπερ">hόνπερ</w> <name type="person"><w lemma="αὐτόρρεκτος">hοὐτορέκτας</w></name> <w lemma="ἐπεί">ἐπεί</w> κ’ <name type="deity" key="Elasteros"><w lemma="ἐλάστερος">ἐλαστέρο</w></name> <name type="purification"><w lemma="ἀποκαθαίρω">ἀποκαθάρεται</w></name>· <space quantity="1" unit="character"/> 

<lb xml:id="line_B10" n="B10"/><name type="animal" key="generic"><w lemma="ἱερεῖον">hιαρεῖον</w></name> <name type="age"><w lemma="τέλειος">τέλεον</w></name> <w lemma="ἐπί">ἐπὶ</w> το̑ι <name type="structure"><w lemma="βωμός">βομο̑ι</w></name> το̑ι <name type="group"><w lemma="δημόσιος">δαμοσίοι</w></name> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θύσας</w></name> <name type="purification"><w lemma="καθαρός">καθαρὸ 
	
<lb xml:id="line_B11" n="B11" break="no"/>ς</w></name> <w lemma="εἰμί">ἔστο</w>· <w lemma="διορίζω">διορίξας</w> <w lemma="ἅλς">hαλὶ</w> καὶ <name type="object"><w lemma="χρυσός">χρυσο̑ι</w></name> <name type="purification"><name type="liquid"><w lemma="ἀπορραίνω">ἀπορανάμενος</w></name></name> <w lemma="ἄπειμι">ἀπίτο</w>· 

<lb xml:id="line_B12" n="B12"/><w lemma="ὅτε">hόκα</w> το̑ι <name type="deity" key="Elasteros"><w lemma="ἐλάστερος">ἐλαστέροι</w></name> <w lemma="χρῄζω">χρέζει</w> <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θύεν</w></name>, <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="θύω">θύεν</w></name> <w lemma="ὥσπερ">hόσπερ</w> τοῖς <space quantity="1" unit="character"/> 

<lb xml:id="line_B13" n="B13"/><name type="deity" key="generic"><w lemma="ἀθάνατος">ἀθανάτοισι</w></name>· <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="σφάζω">σφα<unclear>ζ</unclear>έτο</w></name> δ’ <w lemma="εἰς">ἐς</w> <name type="locality"><w lemma="γῆ">γᾶν</w></name>. <space quantity="1" unit="line"/> 

<lb/> <space quantity="10" unit="line"/>
</ab>
			</div>
			
			<div type="translation" xml:lang="eng">
			<head>Translation</head>
				
<p>Face A</p>
				
<p>The sacrifice of offerings before the Kotytia and the truce on the fifth year (i.e. every four years) when the Olympiad also takes place; to Zeus Eumenes an animal and to the Eumenides an adult animal and to Zeus Meilichios in (the sanctuary?) of Myskos an adult animal; to the (10) Polluted Tritopatres as to the heroes, having poured wine through the roof, of the nine portions burn one; those to whom it is religiously permitted are to sacrifice an animal and perform the consecration (burning); having sprinkled around (with water?), let them anoint (the altar?), and immediately sacrifice an adult animal to the Pure Tritopatres; pouring down honey-and-milk-mixture, a table is set out and a couch and let them throw over a pure cloth and wreaths (15) and honey-and-milk-mixture in new cups and cakes and meat. Having made first-offerings, they are to burn them and perform an anointment, having put the cups on (the altar?). The ancestral sacrifices are performed as to the gods. To (Zeus) Meilichios in (the sanctuary?) of Euthydamos let them sacrifice a ram.</p>

<p>The next year, it is also possible to sacrifice an animal. One shall take out the public sacred objects and set out a table and a thigh and burn the first-offerings from the table and the bones. (20) No meat is to be carried away; one shall invite whoever one wishes. The next year (year 3), it is also possible to sacrifice in the building [...] let them slaughter a bovine in front of the statues [...] whatever sacrificial animal the ancestral customs permit [...] on the third year [...]</p>

<p>Face B</p>
				
<p>[If a] person, [a homicide] (wishes) to purify himself from <foreign>elasteroi</foreign> (spirits), having made a proclamation from wherever he wishes, and in whatever year he wishes, and in whatever [month] he wishes, and on whatever day he wishes, having made a proclamation in whatever direction he wishes, he shall purify himself. The one hosting him shall give [the homicide] (the necessary things) to wash himself and something to eat and salt; (5) and having sacrificed a piglet to Zeus, he shall go away (from the one hosting him), and turn around, and he shall be spoken to, and take food, and sleep wherever he wishes. If someone wishes to purify himself with respect to a foreign or ancestral (<foreign>elasteros</foreign>), either heard or seen or any whatsoever, he shall purify himself in the same way as the homicide when he purifies himself from an <foreign>elasteros</foreign>. (10) Having sacrificed an adult animal on the public altar, he shall be pure. Having marked a boundary with salt and having sprinkled around with a gold (vessel), he shall go away. Whenever one needs to sacrifice to the <foreign>elasteros</foreign>, sacrifice as to the immortals. But one shall slaughter down towards the earth.</p> 
</div> 

<div type="translation" xml:lang="fre"> 
<head>Traduction</head>

<p>Face A</p>
	
<p>Le sacrifice d'offrandes avant les Kotytia et la trêve qui a lieu la cinquième année (c'est-à-dire tous les quatre ans) lorsque l'Olympiade prend cours; à Zeus Eumenes un animal et aux Euménides un animal adulte et à Zeus Meilichios dans (le sanctuaire ?) de Myskos un animal adulte; aux (10) Tritopatres impurs comme aux héros, ayant versé du vin par le toit, des neufs portions en brûler une; ceux à qui c'est religieusement permis sacrifieront un animal et feront la consécration (en brûlant); ayant fait une lustration (avec de l'eau ?), qu'ils oignent (l'autel ?), et aussitôt sacrifient un animal adulte aux Tritopatres purs; versant un mélange de lait et de miel, une table est dressée et une banquette et qu'ils y mettent un tissu propre et des couronnes (15) et un mélange de lait et de miel dans de nouvelles coupes et des gâteaux et de la viande. Ayant offert des prémices, qu'ils les brûlent et oignent, ayant déposé les coupes (sur l'autel ?). Les sacrifices ancestraux sont faits comme pour les dieux. À (Zeus) Meilichios dans (le sanctuaire ?) d'Euthydamos, qu'ils sacrifient un bélier.</p>

<p>L'année suivante, il sera également possible de sacrifier un animal. Que l'on sorte les objets sacrés publics et que l'on dresse une table et y mette une cuisse, et qu'on brûle les prémices provenant de la table et les os. (20) Aucune viande ne doit être emportée; que l'on invite quiconque l'on souhaite. L'année suivant (an 3), il sera également possible d'offrir un sacrifice dans le bâtiment [...] qu'ils égorgent un bovin devant les statues [...] quel que soit l'animal sacrificiel permis par les coutumes ancestrales [...] la troisième année [...]</p>

<p>Face B</p>
	
<p>[Si une] personne, [un meurtrier], (souhaite) se purifier des <foreign>elasteroi</foreign> (esprits), ayant fait une proclamation d'où qu'il souhaite, et lors de l'année qu'il souhaite, et lors du [mois] qu'il souhaite, et le jour qu'il souhaite, ayant fait une proclamation dans la direction qu'il souhaite, il se purifiera. Celui qui le reçoit fournira [au meurtrier] (le nécessaire) afin qu'il se lave et (lui donnera) quelque chose à manger et du sel; (5) et ayant sacrifié un porcelet à Zeus, il s'en ira, et se retournera, et on lui parlera, et il mangera et dormira où il souhaite. Si quelqu'un souhaite se purifier au sujet d'un (<foreign>elasteros</foreign>) ancestral ou étranger, l'ayant entendu ou aperçu, quel qu'il soit, il se purifiera de la même manière que le meurtrier quand il se purifie d'un <foreign>elasteros</foreign>. (10) Ayant sacrifié un animal adulte sur l'autel public, qu'il soit pur. Ayant marqué un périmètre avec du sel et fait des aspersions (en utilisant) un récipient en or, qu'il s'en aille. Lorsqu'on souhaite sacrifier à l'<foreign>elasteros</foreign>, sacrifier comme aux immortels. Mais on l'égorge vers la terre.</p>
</div> 

<div type="commentary"> 
<head>Commentary</head>

<p>This tablet, not only in its shape, but also in its wealth of ritual detail, is quite unique among the texts included in this collection. Whether it was displayed as such and intended to be published in this form remains a source of speculation. The choice of lead and the unusual format may perhaps indicate either a special ritual use, or more simply a set of patchy drafts, either for more formal documents or as records in and of themselves (for a recent discussion, see Carbon). Neither text announces the sources of its authority, though involvement of the <foreign>polis</foreign> is probable, since civic structures are mentioned: on side A, line 18, civic objects, and on side B, line 10, the public altar of Zeus.</p>

<p>Conjecture also holds sway over the debate of the identity of the two texts on the tablet. If there is any unity between them, then it could lie in the notion of purification, which is manifest in the casuistic purity regulation on side B, but much more discrete on side A (except in the qualifications of the Tritopatres); for a different view, see Salvo. As preserved, side A appears to be wholly concerned with a recurrent cycle of sacrificial rituals. Furthermore, the two sides were written in different hands. Clinton (as reported in Lupu) has therefore doubted that there was any thematic coherence between the two sides of the tablet. However, Lupu (p. 366) also rightly underlines that a legal dossier might consist of very different components. As many have pointed out, a possible common element is the cult of Zeus mentioned on both faces and prominent at Selinous (cf. also now Carbon).</p>

<p> Despite all of the work on the tablet, the fact remains that its context is largely irrecoverable. It has been tied to the area of the Gaggera and the sanctuary of Zeus Meilichios at the border of the city, but even that is not completely assured. A particular enigma on face A are the implied points of reference for ritual actions (ἐν Μύσϙο, line 9; ἐν Εὐθυδάμο, line 17) which are now lost to us; see also below at line A9. Given the extremely rich commentaries included in the first edition (Jameson et al.) and in Lupu, we again opt to refer readers to these works <foreign>passim</foreign> and to offer only a very basic commentary here.</p>

<p>Face A</p>
	
<p>The first two lines of face A reproduced here appear to constitute a heading or title for the remainder of the regulation. In unusual language, the text is therefore introduced as "the sacrifice of the sacred things (sc. offerings)". The deadline for a major set of rituals is expressed both in terms of a festival, the Kotytia, and in terms of the penteteric (quadrennial) Olympic truce before the summer solstice. These are sacrifices to Zeus Eumenes, the Eumenides, Zeus Meilichios and the Polluted and Pure Tripatores. Additional sacrifices are possible on the consecutive years of the 4-year cycle, as prescribed starting in line A18. These sacrifices are described in a seemingly abbreviated manner: it is not specified which gods received particular types of sacrifices (cf. the Commentary below). </p>

<p> Lines A7-A8: For similar sacrifices which must be performed prior to a certain occasion, i.e. by a deadline, see <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_56/">CGRN 56</ref> (Marathonian Tetrapolis), col. II, line 5. That regulation also contains sacrifices to the Tritopatres (among others) which must take place before the summertime festival Skira (col. II, line 32). At Selinous, Zeus Eumenes receives his own offering, together with the Eumenides (cf. Carbon). This consists of a θῦμα, which probably designated an immature animal by contrast with the other animals qualified as τέλεον (for this inference, see Georgoudi).</p>

<p> Line A9: One of the elusive points of reference of the text is featured in this line, which prescribes a sacrifice to the Zeus Meilichios in the (x) of a certain Myskos. The original editors attempted to link this ritual practice with the aniconic and partly iconic stones found in the precinct of Zeus Meilichios at Selinous (again, Gaggera hill), some of which are identified as belonging to persons (names in the genitive). These would particularly suit the context of anointing which is regularly mentioned in the rituals, because the procedure of anointing is often found with sacred stones (though not in the epigraphical evidence, but cf. e.g. Theophr. <title>Char.</title> 16.5; Paus. 10.24.6). Clinton, however, rightly pointed to a certain Myskos attested on a late-7th-century gravestone, <bibl type="abbr" n="IGDS II ">IGDS II</bibl> 71, and suggested that he and Euthydamos in line A17 may have been oikists and had sanctuaries of their own. Therefore, side A might be dealing with sacrifices which take place in a variety of sanctuaries across the city, some with precincts of Zeus Meilichios within them. That is, these lines would not then refer to a centralised ritual occasion; see the more detailed summary of this question in Lupu, p. 367. For sacrifices to Zeus Meilichios, see also here <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_21/">CGRN 21</ref> (Athens), lines 3-4.</p>

<p>Lines A9-10: Following the work of Clinton, a form of consensus (cf. Lupu) emerged that face A envisages two separate sets of Tritopatres (literally, "great-grandfathers"); see also Georgoudi. The original editors had proposed that the impure Tritopatres were transformed into pure versions of these gods or heroes through the ritual described herein. Instead, it may be argued that the Tritopatres form one group of divine beings, viewed under successively different aspects (see below at A13), as Impure and Pure, as deceased mortals and divinised ancestors; for a detailed discussion of this question, see now Pirenne-Delforge. The qualifications "Impure" and "Pure" act essentially as epithets for the gods and these notions are reflected in the sacrificial rituals offered to them. The Impure Tritopatres receive a very detailed form of sacrifice "as to the heroes", as well as a libation of wine into the roof of a structure and a combustion of a ninth portion of the sacrificial animal. On this type of ritual, also called ἐνατευεῖν, see <ref target="CGRN_27">CGRN 27 </ref> (Thasos), line 5, and <ref target="CGRN_156">CGRN 156 </ref> (Mykonos), lines 23-24. On rituals performed "as to the heroes", see Parker. As Pure, by contrast, the Tritopatres receive libations of honey-mixture, a form of <foreign>theoxenia</foreign> in which a divinity is hosted with the offering of a dressed cult-table and of first-fruits (on <foreign>theoxenia</foreign>, cf. Jameson). A form of ancestor worship may lie behind the origins of the cult of these "great-grandfathers", though this and the exact definition of the source of their underlying impurity remains murky. For other sacrifices to the Tritopatres, though never with these explicit epithets, see e.g. here <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_56/">CGRN 56</ref>, col. II, lines 32 and 52. For a discussion of the possible parallels between the rituals offered to the Tritopatres and the ritual banquets held for oikists (notably those of Sicilian cities at Call. <title>Aetia</title>, book 2, fr. 43), see Giangiulio.</p>

<p> Line A12: Those to whom it is divinely sanctioned (ὁσία), for whom it is in accordance with cultic practice, should sacrifice. Here, as further on in the regulation, the context is not explicit, but the regulation refers to traditional knowledge (cp. line A22, "whatever the ancestral customs permit"), perhaps belonging to a familial group or a body of priests, or to other norms that would have been spelled out in other documents. For the analogous right (ὁσία) to attend the sacrifices and shrines of the Akamantia, apparently including the Tritopatres and other ancestral heroes, see also at <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_99/">CGRN 99</ref> (Cyrene), lines 21-25.</p>

<p>Line A13: Reinforcing the unity of the Tritopatres is the temporal conjunction κἔ̄πειτα, which must here be translated as "and immediately" (see Dubois, p. 50; Carbon). This also implies that the two different aspects of the Tritopatres were worshipped in the same location.</p>

<p>Lines A18-20: Sacrifices in years within the penteteric cycle prescribed in the header (A7-8) are specified in terms of possibility (impersonal ἔστο + infinitive θύεν) rather than overt prescription. It remains unclear whether these possible sacrifices can be offered to any or all of the gods listed above, or only to a certain subset among them, and which types of animals would be involved. The former seems the likeliest and most general option, though the rituals in question recall mostly the explicit ones assigned to the Pure Tritopatres. For the first year following the penteteric one in these lines, a specific method of sacrifice is described: the offering of a cult-table and of first-offerings as well as a sizeable thigh (probably set on the table and not burned). The bones are explicitly said to be burned, a very unique prescription in the epigraphical documentation on Greek sacrifice, but one which appears from iconographic and literary sources to have been a fundamental component of the <foreign>thysia</foreign> (cf. Van Straten). Consumption of the other parts of the sacrificial animal must take place on the spot, cf. <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_52/">CGRN 52</ref> (Erchia) for several other instances of "no take-away" rules, and the Commentary on lines 10-12 in <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_32/">CGRN 32</ref> (Thorikos). It may also be noteworthy that the worshippers can explicitly invite “whomever they wish” (line A20), though presumably this was the norm in private sacrifice. </p>

<p> Lines A20-22: Sacrifices are also permitted in year 3 of the cycle, where they can now take place in a specific location: in the <foreign>oikos</foreign>, very probably a cultic building if we follow Clinton (cited but not fully accepted by Lupu); statues are also mentioned in this context, as one might expect. Corrections in the form of overstruck text have been made to this lacunary portion of the regulation and so we should not be as confident as Jameson et al. or Lupu that an ox was slaughtered at this point (see Carbon for a more cautious reading of these lines). For other instances of slaughtering and strangulation of the sacrificial animals, see face B, line 13, and <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_86/">CGRN 86</ref> A (Kos), lines 41-45.</p>

<p>Face B</p>
	
<p>Differently from Face A, this is essentially a casuistic purity regulation, though it concludes with the possibility of making sacrifice. See e.g. <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_3/">CGRN 3</ref> (Kleonai) for further instances of this type of document, constructed according to hypothetical cases (αἰ κα... or similar). All of the purifications and also the sacrifice seem to concern the removal of pollution incurred from <foreign>elasteroi</foreign> (lines B1; B7: ξενικὸν ἒ πατρο̑ιον sc. ἐλαστέρον; and B12). These have been interpreted as "harmful netherworld divinities", which pursue and haunt a polluted wrongdoer (so Lupu with a summary on the topic). The concept of "avenging", however, also has a strong connection with Zeus, and the word can occur, with some variations, as his epithet; for Zeus Elasteros and Alastor, see here <ref target="CGRN_9">CGRN 9</ref> (Paros).</p>

<p>Lines B1-7: The first case of purification, as has been correctly restored (cp. line B9, hόνπερ hοὐτορέκτας ἐπεί κ’ ἐλαστέρο ἀποκαθάρεται), concerns a figure called the <foreign>autorrektas</foreign>, a rare word but one which must mean the "slayer by his own hand", i.e. a murderer or homicide (usually αὐτοφόνος). Concerning the procedure, Jameson et al. rightly pointed to the match with the prescription in the casuistic cathartic regulation of Cyrene, <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_99/">CGRN 99</ref>, line 111, where purification from an ἱκέσιος ἐπακτός, "a spirit brought upon oneself", also involves a host in the community, the offering of water for washing, a meal and salt. The sacrifice of a piglet, as frequently elsewhere, marks the fulfilment of the purification (see Georgoudi forthc.); here, the offering is made to Zeus. </p>

<p>Lines B7-11: A second case necessitating purification involves any other manifestation of an <foreign>elasteros</foreign>, “foreign or ancestral either heard or seen or any whatsoever” and an apparent "catch-all" purification for those wanting to perform one (ἒ̄ καὶ χὄ̄ντινα καθαίρεσθαι). The procedure makes reference to the earlier instance concerning the <foreign>autorrektas</foreign>, and is thus almost identical, except for the final sacrifice, which is "upgraded" to a full-grown animal on the public altar (surely that of Zeus; see also Lupu). This final sacrifice is concluded by a series of gestures (drawing a boundary and purifying oneself and a sprinkling of salt and water). The instrumental datives hαλί and χρυσο̑ι may grammatically belong with either of the two participles, διορίξας or ἀπορανάμενος, and the instruction is thus somewhat ambiguous (cf. Jameson et al. for the idea of marking out a boundary after purification). For a golden recipient as a container for lustral water, see also <ref target="http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/CGRN_85/">CGRN 85</ref> (Kos), line 19.</p>

<p>Line B13: This directionality, "toward the ground", is an unusual specification for a sacrifice and not mentioned elsewhere in epigraphic documents; cp. the directionality of the slaughtered animals (with blood flowing) "to the river" Acheloos at Mykonos, <ref target="CGRN_156">CGRN 156</ref>, lines 35-37. Lupu (p. 387) comments: "ordinary sacrifice with blood flowing onto the ground (...) is explained by the identity of the recipient: a divine being of netherworld affiliation." </p>

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		</body>
	</text>
</TEI>