CGRN 61

Fragment of a sacrificial regulation from Athens containing rules about priestly portions and tariffs

Date :

ca. 350 BC

Justification: lettering (Kirchner).

Provenance

Athens . Presumed to be found on the Acropolis where it was once displayed. Now in the National Museum.

Support

Fragment of a stele, with only the left margin and the bottom intact.

  • Height: 31 cm
  • Width: 26 cm
  • Depth: 11.3 cm

Layout

Non-stoichedon.

Letters: 9 mm high.

Bibliography

Edition based on Kirchner IG II² 1359.

Cf. also: Ziehen LGS II 25 (on the basis of von Prott's copy); Sokolowski LSCG 29; AIO , with another English translation and commentary.

Further bibliography: Jim 2014.

Text


[..?..]-
των καταρχ[ὴν ..?..]
ἱερειώσυνα τάδε [..?.. δέρ]-
ματα
, σκέλος τῆς η[..?..]
α σάρκας ἑκάστης τ[..?..]
5ν ἀμνῶν, σκέλος ἑκασ..?..]
ἐπὶ τράπεζαν «καταρχὴ» ..?.. γαλα]-
«θηνοῦ
∶Ι𐅁∶ διδόναι δὲ καὶ τ»[..?..]
«σκέλος, πλευρόν, ἡμίκραιρα» ..?..]
τὴν καταρχήν. vacat
vacat

Translation

[...] of [...] a first-offering. Priestly perquisites (are) the following: [...] skins, a leg of the [...] portions of flesh of each [...] (5) of lambs, a leg of each [...] on the table a first-offering [...] for a suckling animal, 1.5 obol. And give also from [...] a leg, a side (or rib), a half-head [...] the first-offering.

Traduction

[...] de [...] une offrande préliminaire. Voici les émoluments du prêtre : [...] les peaux, une patte de [...] des parts de chair de chaque [...] (5) d'agneaux, une patte de chaque [...], sur la table, une offrande préliminaire [...] pour un animal de lait, 1½ obole. Et donner aussi de [...] une patte, un côté (ou une côte), une demi tête [...] l'offrande préliminaire.

Commentary

The context of the document is regrettably lost, though intriguingly it was once on the Acropolis, which may point to a connection with civic cults or a subcivic group. Given that it is so fragmentary, its precise character also remains to some degree uncertain. In terms of its content, lines 2-6 appears to have contained lists of sacrificial portions as priestly perquisites (ἱερειώσυνα τάδε, line 2), some of which seem to have been offerings "on the table" (line 6; see line 1 for discussion). In the following lines (6-7), the text apparently specifies sacrificial tariffs, i.e. sums to be deposited in the money-box depending on the animal sacrificed (for such tariffs, see here CGRN 70, Oropos, lines 5-9). This list (or lists) may have been organised by type of sacrificial animal, but in our inscription only the lambs (gen. pl. in line 5) have been preserved. The lost top part of the inscription may have contained another list of sacrificial portions (only the "first-offering", καταρχή, in line 1 is preserved, cp. the same word in line 6; and see line 1 for discussion), while in the last lines of the inscription (lines 6-8), yet more priestly perquisites (among which again a "first-offering", καταρχή, line 8) are seemingly specified. These last lines apparently corresponded to the end of the document as whole, since line 8 concludes with empty space. Note that this final section of the lists (lines 6-8) has been revised at some point (text struck over an erasure).

Even if we are correct in presuming that the text contained at least three different lists of sacrificial portions as perquisites, as well as rules for sacrificial tariffs, the relationship between these elements remains enigmatic. Given its content, this text perhaps resembles most closely one regulation for the orgeones of Bendis in the Piraeus, IG II² 1361 (ca. 350-300 BC), which combines lists of priestly perquisites with tariffs, though it also bears much similarity with the account from Aixone, CGRN 57, which lists priestly perquisites alongside portions to be set "on the table". In the account from Aixone, a distinction is made between the emoluments for various priests serving different gods; perhaps a similar division is to be envisaged here. For a much more copiously restored text, see Sokolowski, but since neither the length of the lines nor the precise nature of this document can be established, more caution is thus warranted (cf. lines 6-8).

Line 1: The term καταρχή is rare, seemingly attested only here and in an inscription from Pergamon, cf. MDAI(A) 35 (1910) 409 no. 3 (ca. 75-50 BC), line 9: [κ]αὶ ποιήσασθαι τὴν καταρχὴν̣ ἀπὸ τῆς εἰς ... Sokolowski interprets the term in contrast with the ἱερώσυνα, thinking of a distinction between amounts for tariffs and portions in kind; there is no evidence for this view. Jim (p. 42-45 with n. 62) holds that κατάρχεσθαι only refers to pre-kill first-fruits like hair cut from the animal and sprinkled grains (for this sense, see probably here CGRN 84, Salaminioi, lines 61-62: τὸ δὲ πρόθυμα το͂ ἁμίλλο ἐμ μέρ|ει ἑκατέρος κατάρχεσθαι). Yet the verb can probably also refer to more tangible or sizeable offerings, such as small portions of meat cut from the animal. Especially here, a καταρχή, apparently placed on the table (cf. line 6), must almost certainly be of a different character and of greater value, more like other first-offerings placed on tables (cp. the terms ἐπαρχή and ἀπαρχή). For table-offerings, see here e.g. CGRN 13 (Selinous), Face A, lines 15-16; cp. also CGRN 129 (Patara), line 4, for first-fruits given to priests.

Line 4: Sokolowski thinks of the portions in lines 2-4 as deriving from oxen. In this, he may be correct (though his restorations are probably misleading). The term σάρξ refers generally to "flesh" or "meat" (of humans and animals, note e.g. its use for the human flesh in Homer, Il. 8.380 and Od. 9.293). However, in ritual norms this word is recurrently used as a technical term for (equally?) divided portions of beef: cf. here CGRN 26 (Athens), Face B, lines 13-14: [ἐὰ]ν δὲ βο̑ς θύεται, σάρ[κας], and CGRN 84 (Salaminioi), line 33: βοὸς δὲ ἐννέα σάρκας καὶ τὸ δέρμα.

Lines 6-7: For "suckling" animals, see again esp. IG II² 1361 (lines 4-5: γαλαθηνοῦ μὲν ∶Ι𐅁... τοῦ δὲ τελέου ⋮ΙΙ∶ ), and also here e.g. CGRN 21 (Athens), lines 9 and 14. In CGRN 64 (Epidauros), lines 7-8, the term ἁπαλίας is used for a "suckling pig".

Line 8: The portions listed here, namely a leg, a rib (or side) and a half-head, closely match other standard lists of priestly perquisites in Attica: cf. CGRN 57 (Aixone), CGRN 74, lines 5-8, and CGRN 103 (Phrearrhioi), lines 5, 20-21, with further discussion. It is possible that, as at Aixone, the half-head may have been one of tripe (hence suggesting the restoration [χορδῆς]), but this is by no means assured, since an actual half of the head of the animal could also be given (e.g. at Phrearrhioi).

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/CGRN61), 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 61, lines x-x.

Reference to the file as a critical study of the inscription : Jan-Mathieu Carbon, Saskia Peels et Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, "CGRN 61: Fragment of a sacrificial regulation from Athens containing rules about priestly portions and tariffs", in Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN), 2017-, consulted on December 21, 2024. URL: http://cgrn.ulg.ac.be/file/61/; DOI: https://doi.org/10.54510/CGRN61.

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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	    				<author>Jan-Mathieu Carbon</author>
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	    		<author>Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge</author></titleStmt>
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		<provenance><p><placeName type="ancientFindspot" key="Athens" n="Attica"><ref target="http://pleiades.stoa.org/places/579885/" type="external">Athens</ref></placeName>. Presumed to be found on the Acropolis where it was once displayed. Now in the National Museum.</p>
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					<head>Bibliography</head>
					
					<p>Edition based on Kirchner <bibl type="abbr" n="IG II²">IG II²</bibl> 1359.</p>
		
<p>Cf. also: Ziehen <bibl type="abbr" n="LGS II">LGS II</bibl> 25 (on the basis of von Prott's copy); 
	Sokolowski <bibl type="abbr" n="LSCG">LSCG</bibl> 29;
	<ref target="https://www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/CGRN/61" type="external">AIO</ref>, with another English translation and commentary.</p>
		
<p>Further bibliography: <bibl type="author_date" n="Jim 2014">Jim 2014</bibl>.
		
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	    				<ab>				
	    			
<lb/><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="line"/>
		
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_1" n="1" break="no"/><unclear>τ</unclear>ων <name type="portion"><w lemma="καταρχή">κα<unclear>τ</unclear>α<unclear>ρχ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">ὴν</supplied></w></name> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_2" n="2"/><name type="personnel"><w lemma="ἱερώσυνος">ἱερειώσυνα</w></name> <w lemma="ὅδε">τάδε</w> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> <name type="portion"><w lemma="δέρμα"><supplied reason="lost">δέρ</supplied>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_3" n="3" break="no"/>ματα</w></name>, <name type="portion"><w lemma="σκέλος">σκέλος</w></name> τῆς <orig>η</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>	    					
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_4" n="4"/><orig>α</orig> <name type="portion"><w lemma="σάρξ">σάρκας</w></name> <w lemma="ἕκαστος">ἑκάστης</w> <orig>τ</orig><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
	    					    					
<lb xml:id="line_5" n="5"/><orig>ν</orig> <name type="animal" key="sheep"><name type="age"><w lemma="ἀμνός">ἀμνῶν</w></name></name>, <name type="portion"><w lemma="σκέλος">σκέλος</w></name> <w lemma="ἕκαστος">ἑκασ<supplied reason="lost">τ</supplied></w><gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_6" n="6"/><w lemma="ἐπί">ἐπὶ</w> <name type="structure"><w lemma="τράπεζα">τράπεζαν</w></name> <name type="portion"><w lemma="καταρχή"><add place="overstrike">καταρχὴ</add><supplied reason="lost">ν</supplied></w></name> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> <name type="animal" key="generic"><name type="age"><w lemma="γαλαθηνός"><supplied reason="lost">γαλα</supplied>
	    					    					
	<lb xml:id="line_7" n="7" break="no"/><add place="overstrike">θηνοῦ</add></w></name></name> <add place="overstrike"><pc>∶</pc><num value="1.5">ΙU+10141</num><pc>∶</pc></add>
<add place="overstrike"><name type="portion"><w lemma="δίδωμι">διδόναι</w></name> δὲ καὶ
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<lb xml:id="line_8" n="8"/><add place="overstrike"><name type="portion"><w lemma="σκέλος">σκέλος</w></name>, <name type="portion"><w lemma="πλευρόν">πλευρόν</w></name>,</add> <name type="portion"><w lemma="ἡμίκραιρα"><add place="overstrike">ἡμίκραιρα</add><supplied reason="lost">ν</supplied></w></name> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
	    					
<lb xml:id="line_9" n="9"/>τὴν <name type="portion"><w lemma="καταρχή">καταρχήν</w></name>. <space quantity="1" unit="line"/>
	    					
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	    				<p>[...] of [...] a first-offering. Priestly perquisites (are) the following: [...] skins, a leg of the [...] portions of flesh of each [...] (5) of lambs, a leg of each [...] on the table a first-offering [...] for a suckling animal, 1.5 obol. And give also from [...] a leg, a side (or rib), a half-head [...] the first-offering.</p>
				</div>
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					<head>Traduction</head> 
					<p>[...] de [...] une offrande préliminaire. Voici les émoluments du prêtre : [...] les peaux, une patte de [...] des parts de chair de chaque [...] (5) d'agneaux, une patte de chaque [...], sur la table, une offrande préliminaire [...] pour un animal de lait, 1½ obole. Et donner aussi de [...] une patte, un côté (ou une côte), une demi tête [...] l'offrande préliminaire.

					</p>
				</div>
					<div type="commentary">    
						<head>Commentary</head>    
					
<p>The context of the document is regrettably lost, though intriguingly it was once on the Acropolis, which may point to a connection with civic cults or a subcivic group. Given that it is so fragmentary, its precise character also remains to some degree uncertain. In terms of its content, lines 2-6 appears to have contained lists of sacrificial portions as priestly perquisites (ἱερειώσυνα τάδε, line 2), some of which seem to have been offerings "on the table" (line 6; see line 1 for discussion). In the following lines (6-7), the text apparently specifies sacrificial tariffs, i.e. sums to be deposited in the money-box depending on the animal sacrificed (for such tariffs, see here <ref target="CGRN_70">CGRN 70</ref>, Oropos, lines 5-9). This list (or lists) may have been organised by type of sacrificial animal, but in our inscription only the lambs (gen. pl. in line 5) have been preserved. The lost top part of the inscription may have contained another list of sacrificial portions (only the "first-offering", καταρχή, in line 1 is preserved, cp. the same word in line 6; and see line 1 for discussion), while in the last lines of the inscription (lines 6-8), yet more priestly perquisites (among which again a "first-offering", καταρχή, line 8) are seemingly specified. These last lines apparently corresponded to the end of the document as whole, since line 8 concludes with empty space. Note that this final section of the lists (lines 6-8) has been revised at some point (text struck over an erasure). </p> 
						
<p>Even if we are correct in presuming that the text contained at least three different lists of sacrificial portions as perquisites, as well as rules for sacrificial tariffs, the relationship between these elements remains enigmatic. Given its content, this text perhaps resembles most closely one regulation for the orgeones of Bendis in the Piraeus, <bibl type="abbr" n="IG II²">IG II²</bibl> 1361 (ca. 350-300 BC), which combines lists of priestly perquisites with tariffs, though it also bears much similarity with the account from Aixone, <ref target="CGRN_57">CGRN 57</ref>, which lists priestly perquisites alongside portions to be set "on the table". In the account from Aixone, a distinction is made between the emoluments for various priests serving different gods; perhaps a similar division is to be envisaged here. For a much more copiously restored text, see Sokolowski, but since neither the length of the lines nor the precise nature of this document can be established, more caution is thus warranted (cf. lines 6-8).</p>

<p>Line 1: The term καταρχή is rare, seemingly attested only here and in an inscription from Pergamon, cf. <title>MDAI(A)</title> 35 (1910) 409 no. 3 (ca. 75-50 BC), line 9: [κ]αὶ ποιήσασθαι τὴν καταρχὴν̣ ἀπὸ τῆς εἰς ... Sokolowski interprets the term in contrast with the ἱερώσυνα, thinking of a distinction between amounts for tariffs and portions in kind; there is no evidence for this view. Jim (p. 42-45 with n. 62) holds that κατάρχεσθαι only refers to pre-kill first-fruits like hair cut from the animal and sprinkled grains (for this sense, see probably here <ref target="CGRN_84">CGRN 84</ref>, Salaminioi, lines 61-62: τὸ δὲ πρόθυμα το͂ ἁμίλλο ἐμ μέρ|ει ἑκατέρος κατάρχεσθαι). Yet the verb can probably also refer to more tangible or sizeable offerings, such as small portions of meat cut from the animal. Especially here, a καταρχή, apparently placed on the table (cf. line 6), must almost certainly be of a different character and of greater value, more like other first-offerings placed on tables (cp. the terms ἐπαρχή and ἀπαρχή). For table-offerings, see here e.g. <ref target="CGRN_13">CGRN 13</ref> (Selinous), Face A, lines 15-16; cp. also <ref target="CGRN_129">CGRN 129</ref> (Patara), line 4, for first-fruits given to priests. 
</p>			

<p>Line 4: Sokolowski thinks of the portions in lines 2-4 as deriving from oxen. In this, he may be correct (though his restorations are probably misleading). The term σάρξ refers generally to "flesh" or "meat" (of humans and animals, note e.g. its use for the human flesh in Homer, <title>Il.</title> 8.380 and <title>Od.</title> 9.293). However, in ritual norms this word is recurrently used as a technical term for (equally?) divided portions of beef: cf. here <ref target="CGRN_26">CGRN 26</ref> (Athens), Face B, lines 13-14: [ἐὰ]ν δὲ βο̑ς θύεται, σάρ[κας], and <ref target="CGRN_84">CGRN 84</ref> (Salaminioi), line 33: βοὸς δὲ ἐννέα σάρκας καὶ τὸ δέρμα.</p>

<p>Lines 6-7: For "suckling" animals, see again esp. <bibl type="abbr" n="IG II²">IG II²</bibl> 1361 (lines 4-5: γαλαθηνοῦ μὲν ∶ΙU+10141... τοῦ δὲ τελέου ⋮ΙΙ∶ ), and also here
e.g. <ref target="CGRN_21">CGRN 21</ref> (Athens), lines 9 and 14. In <ref target="CGRN_64">CGRN 64</ref> (Epidauros), lines 7-8, the term ἁπαλίας is used for a "suckling pig". </p>

<p>Line 8: The portions listed here, namely a leg, a rib (or side) and a half-head, closely match other
standard lists of priestly perquisites in Attica: cf. <ref target="CGRN_57">CGRN 57</ref> (Aixone), <ref target="CGRN_74">CGRN 74</ref>, lines 5-8, and <ref target="CGRN_103">CGRN 103</ref> (Phrearrhioi), lines 5, 20-21, with further discussion. It is possible that, as at Aixone, the half-head may have been one of tripe (hence suggesting the restoration [χορδῆς]), but this is by no means assured, since an actual half of the head of the animal could also be given (e.g. at Phrearrhioi).</p>
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