CGRN 58

Small sacrificial regulation for Kore from Thera

Date :

ca. 400-300 BC

Justification: lettering (Hiller von Gaertringen).

Provenance

Thera . Discovered during excavations in 1900 on the western slope of the city, near the so-called tholos on the south side. Current location unknown (Museum of Thera?).

Support

Small altar made of volcanic rock. There is a sizeable depression at the top of the block, probably sufficient to receive offerings. Broken in two fragments and also broken at the back, but otherwise relatively intact (?).

  • Height: 24 cm
  • Width: 10 cm
  • Depth: 19.5 cm

Layout

Letters: no measurements given.

Bibliography

Edition here based on Hiller von Gaertringen IG XII.3 1369 (add. p. 300), with ph.

Cf. also: Sokolowski LSCG 131.

Further bibliography: Hiller von Gaertringen 1901: 222-223; Hiller von Gaertringen 1904: 71-72.

Text


Κούρης
πελανς.

Translation

(Altar) of Kore. (Sacrifice) a round cake (or: a liquid mixture).

Traduction

(Autel) de Korè. (Sacrifier) un gâteau rond (ou un mélange de liquides).

Commentary

Regrettably, the context for this little altar is now lost. However, it can be seen to compare with several other small altars made of volcanic rock found on Thera (cp. e.g. IG XII.3 1361, for Zeus Ktesios; there are several others made of porous stone or other rudimentarily cut local rock, see Hiller von Gaertringen 1901). In this case, the altar functioned as a small sign, prescribing the necessary form of sacrifice: cp. here e.g. CGRN 9, from Paros; for rupestral inscriptions with sacrificial instructions on Thera, cp. here CGRN 47 (found near the shrine of Demeter and Kore, see immediately below), and CGRN 59.

On the cult of Kore on Thera, we have some information, however: Hiller von Gaertringen (1904) published a shrine, consisting of five structures cut from the rock that have been identified as altars, which may be identified as a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. It is possible that the small altar edited here may also have come from the site, or from another cult-site of the goddesses on Thera. Hiller von Gaertringen additionally surmised that the cult of the two goddesses on Thera must be very ancient, since one of the seven districts of Thera was called Eleusis and one of its months was called Eleusinion. Cf. also IG XII.3 371 / 1311 (with Suppl. p. 291), an Archaic inscription with the name of Kore; for other evidence of this cult on Thera, cf. IG XII.3 418 (cp. 417, for Demeter, found near the Agora).

On the two possible senses of πελανός, see LSJ s.v. Since little is known about the modalities of the worship of Kore on Thera, we might think that sense II, a mixture of liquids as an offering, is equally likely as a cake (sense III); cf. here CGRN 29 (Delphi), lines 25-26 and CGRN 94 (Eleusis), col. B, line 8.

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/CGRN58), 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 58, lines x-x.

Reference to the file as a critical study of the inscription : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels et Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, "CGRN 58: Small sacrificial regulation for Kore from Thera", in Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on November 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/file/58/; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN58.

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 November 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN0.

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				    <p>Edition here based on Hiller von Gaertringen <bibl type="abbr" n="IG XII.3">IG XII.3</bibl> 1369 (add. p. 300), with ph.</p>
				    <p>Cf. also: 
				    
				    	Sokolowski <bibl type="abbr" n="LSCG">LSCG</bibl> 131.</p>
					<p>Further bibliography: <bibl type="author_date" n="Hiller von Gaertringen 1901">Hiller von Gaertringen 1901</bibl>: 222-223; <bibl type="author_date" n="Hiller von Gaertringen 1904">Hiller von Gaertringen 1904</bibl>: 71-72.</p>
					
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<lb xml:id="line_1" n="1"/><name type="deity" key="Kore"><w lemma="κόρη">Κούρης</w></name>

<lb xml:id="line_2" n="2"/><name type="bakery"><w lemma="πελανός">πελαν<unclear>ό</unclear><add>ς</add></w></name>.				
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					<p>
					(Altar) of Kore. (Sacrifice) a round cake (or: a liquid mixture).
					</p>
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					<head>Traduction</head>
					<p>
					(Autel) de Korè. (Sacrifier) un gâteau rond (ou un mélange de liquides).
					</p>
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						<head>Commentary</head>    
<p>Regrettably, the context for this little altar is now lost. However, it can be seen to compare with several other small altars made of volcanic rock found on Thera (cp. e.g. <bibl type="abbr" n="IG XII.3">IG XII.3</bibl> 1361, for Zeus Ktesios; there are several others made of porous stone or other rudimentarily cut local rock, see Hiller von Gaertringen 1901). In this case, the altar functioned as a small sign, prescribing the necessary form of sacrifice: cp. here e.g. <ref target="CGRN_9">CGRN 9</ref>, from Paros; for rupestral inscriptions with sacrificial instructions on Thera, cp. here <ref target="CGRN_47">CGRN 47</ref> (found near the shrine of Demeter and Kore, see immediately below), and <ref target="CGRN_59">CGRN 59</ref>.</p>
					
<p>On the cult of Kore on Thera, we have some information, however: Hiller von Gaertringen (1904) published a shrine, consisting of five structures cut from the rock that have been identified as altars, which may be identified as a sanctuary of Demeter and Kore. It is possible that the small altar edited here may also have come from the site, or from another cult-site of the goddesses on Thera. Hiller von Gaertringen additionally surmised that the cult of the two goddesses on Thera must be very ancient, since one of the seven districts of Thera was called Eleusis and one of its months was called Eleusinion. Cf. also <bibl type="abbr" n="IG XII.3">IG XII.3</bibl> 371 / 1311 (with Suppl. p. 291), an Archaic inscription with the name of Kore; for other evidence of this cult on Thera, cf. <bibl type="abbr" n="IG XII.3">IG XII.3</bibl> 418 (cp. 417, for Demeter, found near the Agora).</p>
						
<p>On the two possible senses of πελανός, see <bibl type="abbr" n="LSJ">LSJ</bibl> s.v. Since little is known about the modalities of the worship of Kore on Thera, we might think that sense II, a mixture of liquids as an offering, is equally likely as a cake (sense III); cf. here <ref target="CGRN_29">CGRN 29</ref> (Delphi), lines 25-26 and <ref target="CGRN_94">CGRN 94</ref> (Eleusis), col. B, line 8.													</p>
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