Though only partially preserved, the regulation is organised much like other contracts for priests from Miletos, and particularly like sales of priesthoods, especially since a series of payments for the office are envisaged (lines 7-11). This phenomenon of sales of priesthoods is well-attested at Miletos since at least the century preceding this text: cf. CGRN 39, etc.

Most of the regulation appears to be concerned with the office of the priestess of Dionysus for the city, though some other members of the cult personnel are also mentioned: a priest (probably also of Dionysus generally), and a number of priests and priestesses of Dionysus Bacchios (lines 21-24; the plural is somewhat enigmatic, it might designate a group of concurrent priests or simply past holders of the office). At any rate, the priestess of Dionysus appears to have had a wide responsibility, notably involving sacrifices on behalf of the city (lines 1-4). It is accordingly a costly office, it would seem: the sum (now missing) is divided into ten payments over ten years. The contract for her role—the present regulation—was inscribed on the antae of a temple, presumably that of Dionysus in the city of Miletos (cf. Ehrhardt who seeks to identify this in the area between the theatre and the bouleuterion, with further discussion).

Earlier sections of the contract, now missing, will have detailed the qualifications necessary for becoming a priestess and the duration of the tenure (presumably for life in this case, but perhaps also for 10 years only; see below on lines 13-21). The currently extant text begins in medias res with discussions of public and private sacrifices (lines 1-7), then moving on to the question of payments (7-11). Priestly perquisites and obligations during initiatic or mysteric festivites are then treated (lines 13-21), some of which appear to have been biennial, followed by the case of a specific festival called the Katagogia (lines 21-24).

Lines 1-3: See also Sokolowski for different restorations, but it appears clear that the priestess performed rituals "on behalf of the (whole) city", as Ehrhardt restores. The rituals in question involved the use of raw meat, ὠμοφάγιον, which was perhaps either thrown into a ditch (so Wiegand, ref. in Ehrhardt) or consumed (Sokolowski). The verb ἐμβαλεῖν does imply throwing, or at least deposition of some form (perhaps on an altar), but the exact point of reference for these gestures remains murky. The role of raw meat is prominent in rituals for Dionysus, cf. e.g. Eur. Bacch. 138-139 (reference to a meal of raw meat as a ὠμόφαγος χάρις), but it is rare to find it so overtly affirmed as here. For a discussion of the ritual use of raw meat, see now Van Liefferinge.

Line 4: The thiasos here appear to designate any cultic group gathered for a celebration, in this case when the city puts on the sacrifice. One of these groups would probably have been constituted by members of the magistracy (the demosios thiasos), while others will have been formed ad hoc or privately.

Lines 5-7: The formulation of this clause of the regulation is somewhat perplexing. Expressions like προϊερώμενος elsewhere designate the appointment of a deputy by an individual or a priest or priestess in order to act in a sacrificial or other capacity: cf. CGRN 50 (Chios), lines 11-12. In the other case from Miletos, a foreigner appoints a citizen to act on his behalf during the sacrifice, but the perquisites still belong to the priest of Apollo: CGRN 100, lines 6-8. Here, somewhat differently, it appears that any man or woman wishing to offer a sacrifice to Dionysus, may (perhaps during public rites only) designate whoever he or she wishes to vicariously perform the sacrifice. Is this surrogate intended to refer to the priest and priestess of Dionysus, i.e. to a choice of whichever of the two officials the man or woman wants, or to anyone more generally? If the former is true, then the expression is odd and vague; but if the latter is correct, it would be surprising that this προϊερώμενος receives all the perquisites rather than the priest or priestess.

Lines 7-11: Ehrhardt assumes from the fact that the first payment is to be made before the 4th of Apatourion of the current year—the 8th month at Miletos—that the priesthood will have been sold by this point and will commence immediately. This leads him to the reasonable conclusion that major festivals of Dionysus took place in the four following months after this payment, and in Leneon (month 10) and Anthesterion (month 11) more specifically. (In the remaining nine years in which instalments will be made, the payments will fall in Artemision, the last month of the Milesian year.)

Lines 13-20: Different cases from the public rites mentioned earlier in the regulation appear to be envisaged in these lines, and they concern primarily women (by contrast with the non-gender-specific hiera cited above). The references are allusive but nonetheless fairly clear: ὄργια ought to designate mysteries or secret rites of Dionysus, of which there were apparently several for women (possibly maenads), while τέλεστρα are apparently related ritual objects, either offerings to be consumed or actual objects which must be provided for the rites, presumably by the priestess herself. The word τέλεστρα is rare and apparently only found in a few other documents: e.g. IG XII.4 326 (priesthood of Dionysus Thyllophoros on Kos); as well as in a cultic foundation from Minoa on Amorgos (2nd century BC), IG XII.7 237, where a priestess is appointed, lines 26-27: ἡ δὲ αἱρουμέν[η ἀ]εὶ ἱέρεια παρεχέ[τω αὐ]|τὴ τὰ τέλεστρα ἰδίαι καὶ ἱεραζέτω ἔτη δέκα. Here, the τέλεστρα designate the offerings which the priestess must perform in order to be "initiated" or confirmed in the priesthood; for this theme, cf. here CGRN 175 (Priene), line 36. If a woman wishes to offer a sacrifice during these occasions, she gives a standard list of portions as perquisites to the priestess; a similar set of portions is found in other Milesian priestly regulations: cf. CGRN 39 and especially CGRN 249, lines B4-6. As Carbon discusses, the portion called a σκέλος εἰς κοτυληδόνα τετμημένον involved a form of normative "seam butchery", cutting the femur at the hip-socket, that is to say into the acetabulum or cotyloid cavity (κοτυληδών; not [ἐκ]τετμημένον as was previously restored). Female 'initiations' (τελεῖν) to Dionysus Bacchios (perhaps more specifically than to Dionysus generally?) are also considered, apparently during a biennial festival (rather than during more regular orgia?). The woman needs perhaps not be a citizen, and can come from the area of Miletos, which had a large territory, as well as from the islands (i.e. the nearby isle of Lade, and the somewhat more distant Leros, Lepsia and Patmos).

Lines 21-24: The Descents or Returns, Katagogia, was a major festival for Dionysus in Ionian cities, apparently involving a procession with the statue of the god (see also Ehrhardt with further refs.). Here, a large number of priests and priestesses attend and collaborate in the procession, but it is not clear what the difference between the plural and singular group is precisely. In nearby Priene, the Katagogia are also in evidence and a similar involvement of the priest of Dionysus Phleus is required alongside the other participants, which he is to lead in the procession: cf. CGRN 176, lines 21-22: καθη̣|γήσεται τῶν συγκαταγόντων τὸν Διόνυσον. According to Ehrhart's restoration, the procession and the festivities proper began in the early day, perhaps around dawn, and lasted until a certain (unclear) time. At Ephesos, the festival lasted only one day it would seem, cf. I.Ephesos 661 (ca. 140-150 AD), lines 20-21: καὶ τῇ τῶν Καταγωγίων ἡμέρᾳ. The exact timing of the Katagogia in the Milesian year is unclear, though the months Leneon and Anthesterion are again two good guesses.

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