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                <title><idno type="filename">CGRN 245</idno>: <rs type="textType" key="purity regulation">Purity regulation</rs> concerning a sacred fishpond in Smyrna</title>
                <author>Manfred Lesgourgues</author>
                <author>Saskia Peels-Matthey</author>
            </titleStmt>
            <publicationStmt>
                <authority>Collection of Greek Ritual Norms, Collège de France - University of Liège.</authority>
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    <p>Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike International License <ref target="http://creativecommons.org/" type="external">4.0</ref>.</p><p>All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain somewhere a link back to the DOI (<idno type="DOI">https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN245</idno>), 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).</p></availability>
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                                    <p> <rs type="objectType">Stele</rs> of granular white marble.</p>
                                    <p><dimensions>
                                        <height unit="cm">55</height>
                                        <width unit="cm">30</width>
                                        <depth unit="cm">6</depth>
                                    </dimensions></p>
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                                <layout>
                                    <p>The stele has been worked with particular care. The tympanon is decorated with a rosette; the edges are also decorated. The stone has been reused; on the back we find a later inscription, a funerary inscription from the Imperial period (<bibl type="abbr" n="I.Smyrna">I.Smyrna</bibl> 487).</p>
                                    <p>Letters: <height unit="cm">1.5</height>.</p>
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                    <history>
                        <origin>
                            <p><origDate notBefore="-0100" notAfter="-0001">1st century BC</origDate></p>
                            <p><desc>Justification: lettering (Dittenberger - Hiller von Gaertringen).</desc></p>
                        </origin>
                        <provenance>
                            <p>Found in <placeName type="ancientFindspot" key="Smyrna" n="Asia_Minor_and_Anatolia"><ref target="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/550893" type="external">Smyrna</ref></placeName>, once stored in the local Evangelical School; now lost.</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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            <div type="bibliography">
        <head>Bibliography</head>

                <p> Edition here based on Dittenberger - Hiller von Gaertringen <bibl type="abbr" n="SIG³">SIG³</bibl> 997.</p>

                <p> Other editions:
                 Petzl <bibl type="abbr" n="I.Smyrna">I.Smyrna</bibl> 735.</p>

                <p>Cf. also:
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Fontrier 1875">Fontrier 1875</bibl>: 102, no. 104.
                  Sokolowski <bibl type="abbr" n="LSAM">LSAM</bibl> 17;
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Guarducci 1978">Guarducci 1978</bibl>: 23-25.</p>

                <p> Further bibliography:

                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Gruppe 1906">Gruppe 1906</bibl> II 1585, no. 2;
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Dölger 1922">Dölger 1922</bibl>;
                    Robert <title>REG</title> 1955 <bibl type="abbr" n="BE">BE</bibl> no. 34;
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Drijvers 1980">Drijvers 1980</bibl>: 79;
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Strubbe 1997">Strubbe 1997</bibl>;
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Collin-Bouffier 1999">Collin-Bouffier 1999</bibl>: 37-44;
                  <bibl type="author_date" n="Hörig 2016">Hörig 2016</bibl>.
                      </p>
            </div>
            <div type="edition">
                <head>Text</head>
                <ab>

<lb xml:id="line_1" n="1"/><name type="animal" key="fish"><w lemma="ἰχθῦς"><supplied reason="lost">ἰ</supplied>χθῦς</w></name> <name type="quality"><w lemma="ἱερός">ἱεροὺς</w></name> <w lemma="μή">μὴ</w> <w lemma="ἀδικέω">ἀδικεῖν</w>,

<lb xml:id="line_2" n="2"/><w lemma="μηδέ">μηδὲ</w> <name type="object"><w lemma="σκεῦος">σκεῦος</w></name> τῶν τῆς

<lb xml:id="line_3" n="3"/><name type="deity" key="unclear"><w lemma="θεός">θεοῦ</w></name> <name type="purification"><w lemma="λυμαίνομαι">λυμαίνεσθαι</w></name>, <w lemma="μηδέ">μηδὲ</w>

<lb xml:id="line_4" n="4"/><w lemma="ἐκφέρω"><supplied reason="lost">ἐ</supplied>κφέρειν</w> <w lemma="ἐκ">ἐκ</w> τοῦ <name type="structure"><w lemma="ἱερός">ἱεροῦ</w></name> <w lemma="ἐπί">ἐπ<supplied reason="lost">ὶ</supplied></w>

<lb xml:id="line_5" n="5"/><w lemma="κλοπή">κλοπήν</w>· <name type="person">ὁ <w lemma="οὗτος">τούτων</w> <w lemma="τις">τι</w> <w lemma="ποιέω">ποιῶν</w>

<lb xml:id="line_6" n="6"/><w lemma="κακός">κακὸς</w></name> <name type="punishment"><w lemma="κακός">κακῇ</w> <w lemma="ἐξώλεια">ἐξωλείᾳ</w> <w lemma="ἀπόλλυμι">ἀπό

<lb xml:id="line_7" n="7" break="no"/>λοιτο</w></name>, <name type="punishment"><w lemma="ἰχθυόβρωτος">ἰχθυόβρωτος</w> <w lemma="γίγνομαι">γενόμε

<lb xml:id="line_8" n="8" break="no"/>νος</w></name>· <w lemma="ἐάν">ἐὰν</w> δέ <w lemma="τις">τις</w> τῶν <name type="animal" key="fish"><w lemma="ἰχθῦς">ἰχθύ

<lb xml:id="line_9" n="9" break="no"/>ων</w></name> <w lemma="ἀποθνῄσκω">ἀποθάνῃ</w>, <name type="sacrifice"><w lemma="καρπόω">καρπούσθω</w></name>

<lb xml:id="line_10" n="10"/><w lemma="αὐθήμερος">αὐθημερὸν</w> <w lemma="ἐπί">ἐπὶ</w> τοῦ <name type="structure"><w lemma="βωμός">βωμοῦ</w></name>·

<lb xml:id="line_11" n="11"/>τοῖς δὲ <name type="person"><w lemma="συμφυλάσσω">συμφυλάσσουσιν</w></name>

<lb xml:id="line_12" n="12"/>καὶ <w lemma="ἐπαυξάνω">ἐπαύξουσιν</w> τὰ τῆς

<lb xml:id="line_13" n="13"/><name type="deity" key="unclear"><w lemma="θεός">θεοῦ</w></name> <w lemma="τίμιος">τίμια</w> καὶ τὸ <name type="structure"><w lemma="ἰχθυοτρόφιον">ἰχθυο

<lb xml:id="line_14" n="14" break="no"/>τρόφιον</w></name> <w lemma="αὐτός">αὐτῆς</w> <w lemma="βίος">βίου</w> καὶ

<lb xml:id="line_15" n="15"/><w lemma="ἐργασία">ἐργασίας</w> <w lemma="καλός">καλῆς</w> <w lemma="γίγνομαι">γένοιτο</w>

<lb xml:id="line_16" n="16"/><w lemma="παρά">παρὰ</w> τῆς <name type="deity" key="unclear"><w lemma="θεός">θεοῦ</w></name> <w lemma="ὄνησις">ὄνησις</w>.
                </ab>
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            <div type="translation" xml:lang="eng">
                <head>Translation</head>

<p>Do not do wrong to the sacred fish, and any equipment of the goddess is not to be teared away, and do not carry (anything) out of the sanctuary (5) to steal it. May the evil person who does any of these things die through an awful, utter destruction, having become fish-food. If any of the fish die, it should be burnt (10) on the altar on the same day. May there be, from the goddess, for those who contribute to defending and augmenting the marks of honour to the goddess and her fish-pond, enjoyment of life and good business.</p>
            </div>
            
            <div type="translation" xml:lang="fre">
                <head>Traduction</head>
                
<p>Ne pas porter préjudice aux poissons sacrés; aucun équipement de la déesse ne doit être arraché; ne rien emporter hors du sanctuaire (5) pour le voler. Puisse le scélérat qui fera l’une de ces choses périr d’une terrible et totale destruction en devenant de la nourriture pour poissons. Si l’un des poissons meurt, qu’il soit brûlé (10) le jour même sur l’autel. Puissent ceux qui protègent et accroissent les marques d'honneur à la déesse et son bassin aux poissons jouir de la vie et d'une bonne affaire grâce à la déesse.</p>
                </div>
            
            <div type="commentary">
                <head>Commentary</head>
                
<p>The fully-preserved inscription contains a series of prohibitions, curses and blessings, regarding the treatment of fish dedicated to an unnamed female deity and the "equipment" of this goddess. The identity of the goddess would have been clear to the reader due to the placement of the inscription in the sanctuary, but this identification remains problematic for us. Dittenberger was the first to identify the goddess with the Syrian deity Atargatis. In Syria, fish was a protected species (Xen. <title>Anab.</title> 1.4.9) and consecrated to Derceto (Diod. 1.4; Luc. <title>Syr. D.</title> 14; on the equivalence Derceto/Atargatis: Strab. 16.4.27; the cult of this goddess is attested in the Greek world from the first half of the 3rd century BC onwards, cf. Hörig, p. 1565-1571). Derceto/Atargatis' cult prohibited the consumption of fish (Ath. 8.37); moreover, sanctuaries of Atargatis had basins with fish, for example at Hierapolis, Ascalon, Delos and Rome (Hörig, p. 1555; Drijvers; on sacred fish: Dölger, esp. p. 175-184). However, it should be noted that a cult for Atargatis is not attested in Smyrna. Greek deities also had fish dedicated to them (e.g. Paus. 3.21.5, Poseidon at Krokeai, or 7.22.4, Hermes at Pharai). Gruppe suggested that the goddess should perhaps be identified as Artemis or Cybele, both attested in Smyrna, or another goddess linked to the sea, such as Aphrodite. The exact identification remains open.</p>

<p>The motivation for the erection of this carefully engraved stele remains unclear. If the cult in question was foreign, the text may have been intended to inform local worshippers about the fish and other rules. Since Smyrna was a particularly cosmopolitan port in Roman times, and since there must have been significant cultural and cultic differences between communities, an explanation of the religious norms of certain cults was perhaps not a luxury. It was probably not a civic cult given that there are no official sanctions, only a curse and a blessing; the invocation of a religious 'sanction' only is typical of familial cults (see e.g. <ref target="CGRN_96">CGRN 96</ref>, Kos, lines 115-119, with commentary; <ref target="CGRN_104">CGRN 194</ref>, Halikarnassos, lines 51-52; <ref target="CGRN_162">CGRN 162</ref>, Kos, lines 12-14). We can also note the probably shortlived character of the cult: it was active in the late Hellenistic period, but then the stele was reused as a funerary inscription in the high Imperial period.</p>

<p> Line 1: The reference to the fish as ἱεροί has generally been understood to mean that the fish in question had been consecrated to the deity, which is confirmed in lines 2-3. Through the use of the verb ἀδικεῖν, harming the fish is presented as a moral transgression, while the legal use of the term might also imply that such a person could be pursued in a court of law. Whether this would actually happen in this case is unclear, but the judicial and ethical connotations of the term would give weight to the prohibition.</p>

<p> Lines 2-3: In the absence of a clearer context, it is difficult to know what exactly the general term σκεῦος means and what the article τῶν precisely refers to. The option chosen here is that the genitive plural is likely partitive and seems to imply a repetition of the word (σκεῦων); one wonders why τι was not used, however. So if this refers—even awkwardly—to a collection of implements, then the protection linked to the prohibition not only concerns the sacred fish, but also extends to the possessions of the goddess. Like the injuring of the sacred fish, the gesture encapsulated by the verb λυμαίνεσθαι contravenes the integrity of the sanctuary and its essential components. In another context, see the parallel usage in <ref target="CGRN_222">CGRN 222</ref> (Andania), line 26.</p>

 <p> Lines 3-5: In addition to the two clauses forbidding any misdeed against the fish or the equipment, there is a prohibition on taking these items out of the sanctuary. The addition of the phrase ἐπ[ὶ] κλοπήν seems to refer to any undue appropriation of the goddess' objects. As the clarification makes explicit, the unauthorised removal of any sacred fish or divine implements would likely be regarded as theft.</p>

<p>Lines 5-8: This passage describes the torments called upon those who would desecrate the sacred fish pool. The term ἐξωλεία, "complete ruin", together with the adjective ἐξώλης, is used in oaths in the Attic orators as the punishment one calls upon oneself for perjury (e.g. Antiph. 5.11; Lys. 12.10; Dem. 21.119 et 121; Aeschin. 1.114); it is also found in Asia Minor in various types of inscriptions (e.g. Strubbe nos. 31 [Smyrna], 77, 78, 79 [Halicarnassus], 120 [Aphrodisias]; <bibl type="abbr" n="I.Tralleis">I.Tralleis</bibl> 3; <bibl type="abbr" n="Milet I.3">Milet I.3</bibl> 37, 149 and 150; <ref target="CGRN_177">CGRN 177</ref>, Priene,  lines A19, B20, C14). The term thus corresponds well to the mixture of religious concerns and judicial formulae of the inscription. He who harms the fish will in turn become their victim. Such a punishment, being devoured by fish, appears to correspond to a rich and complex Greek imaginary, notably regarding the fate of the shipwrecked, and which goes back to Homer (Hom. <title>Il.</title> 21.122-127; <title>Od.</title>14.135, 24.290-291; S.E. <title>Hypotyposes</title> 3.227; Plut. <title>Quaes. Conv.</title> 668a; cf. Robert). In Athenaeus, we find more specifically a fragment of the Lydian historian Xanthos (Ath. 346e = <bibl type="abbr" n="FGrH">FGrH</bibl> 765 F 17a) which reports, among other details, that Atargatis was thrown with her son Ichthus ("Fish") into the lake of Ascalon as a punishment and was devoured by fish, which may point to a related cultic background.</p>

<p> Lines 8-10: The inscription then addresses the possibility of the death of a sacred fish, and orders that any such fish should be burnt on the altar on the same day. The text does not specify who would be responsible for this, but αὐθημερόν implies an urgency, probably to remove an impure element from the sacred pool as quickly as possible. On the use of the verb καρπόω to refer to a burnt-offering, see Stengel, p. 166-168; cf. <ref target="CGRN_86">CGRN 86</ref>A (Kos), line 35; <ref target="CGRN_148">CGRN 148</ref> (Kos), line 59; <ref target="CGRN_152">CGRN 152</ref> (Thera), line 183. In the present Collection, the combustion of fish in rituals is referred to as an ἀποπυρίς in the cult associated with Diomedon on Kos (<ref target="CGRN_96">CGRN 96</ref>, lines 42 and 62) or as three little fish burnt whole (καρπόω) for the heroes Epikteta and Phoinix on Thera (<ref target="CGRN_152">CGRN 152</ref>, line 191). For a context perhaps closer to this regulation, see also the ἀποπυρίς on the altar of Phylake at Marmarini in Thessaly, <ref target="CGRN_225">CGRN 225</ref>, Face Β, lines 30-31. However, in the present text, there is no mention of an actual sacrifice of fish in other circumstances. (<foreign>contra</foreign> Dölger, p. 184). On fish sacrifices: Bremmer, p. 308, n. 27.</p>

<p> Lines 11-16: The final formula uses the traditional terms of the oath to evoke the blessings the goddess bestows on those who serve her. The term ἰχθυοτρόφιον in line 13-14 elsewhere refers to a pond with fish intended for consumption (e.g. Diod. 11.25.4, Strab. 6.4.13; cf. Collin-Bouffier for further discussion of the usage of the term), but the term is evidently used in a different manner in this inscription: to put it simply, a place where the sacred fish were reared.</p>

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