Proposition de Philistas, fils d’Aischinas. Que tous ceux qui sacrifient aux Nymphes dans le sanctuaire d’Asclépios le fassent sur les autels, qu’il ne soit permis à personne de jeter dans les (5) fontaines du sanctuaire, ni gâteau ni rien d'autre. Si quelqu’un jette quoi que ce soit, qu’il purifie le sanctuaire des Nymphes comme c’est l’usage.

(traduction S. Paul)

The precise character of the worship of the Nymphs in the Asklepieion of Kos is unknown: the cult-site within the sanctuary has not been precisely identified, but it must have been related to a nearby spring. It is not entirely certain whether the "altars" mentioned in line 4 are those of Asclepius and his associated divinities, or a separate structure destined for the Nymphs. On the Asklepieion of Kos, see also here CGRN 139, with discussion of the other deities associated with Asclepius (Apollo Kyparissios, Epione, and Hygieia). In general, the recurrent worship of Nymphs within Asklepieia is probably due to their close connection with (healing) springs and water. For example, one of the oldest cult sites of the Nymphs in Athens is attested at the Asklepieion, on the south slope of the Acropolis (Larson, p. 129). In the case of Kos, this need not have been a "private" cult, as Segre argues. Rather, the abbreviated (probouleutic?) decree and the identity of the proposer with the one who moved a second, almost contemporaneous decree concerning the protection of the grove of Asclepius (cf. LSCG 150B), suggests that we are dealing with the regulation of a public cult. On the cult of the Nymphs in Kos, see further IG XII.4 282, and cf. Larson, p. 205-206, also on the connection of these goddesses with the Koan Charites. For further evidence of the cult of the Nymphs in the present Collection, cf. e.g. CGRN 17 (Thasos) and CGRN 59 (Thera).

The regulation prevented the worshippers from throwing cakes or any other kind of offering into the springs of the Asklepieion, a procedure which was actually quite standard in the case of cults of Nymphs, particularly in rural shrines (Larson, p. 205). This measure would have been aimed at preserving the purity of the water, which could have been used for ritual or healing purposes in the Asklepieion (Cole; Ginouvès). For similar prescriptions outside Kos, see e.g. LSS 50 (Delos) and IG I³ 257 (Athens); cf. also the extensive collection of material gathered in Kah's study.

Lines 2-4: The verb θύω here seemingly refers to simple bringing or deposition of offerings on the altars; it might, but does not necessarily point to combustion of the cakes on these altars.

Line 6: On the offering of πέμματα, cp. here CGRN 186 (Ilion), line 21.

Lines 7-9: If someone failed to comply with these rules, he or she had to proceed with a purification of the whole precinct consecrated to the Nymphs. Such prescriptions to purify the sanctuary in case of infractions of the rules occur also e.g. in CGRN 127 (Dyme), lines 8-11, where the transgressions relate to wearing the wrong type of clothes or accessories, and in CGRN 90 (Ialysos), lines 27-30, where the transgression was the introduction of certain animals, shoes and anything else made from a pig. Here, as probably in CGRN 90 (Ialysos), but unlike CGRN 127 (Dyme), the purification had a purpose which was not only ritual, but also practical in that it may have involved an actual cleaning of the spring (so also Kearns; cf. Paul).

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