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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Western Asia Minor
ii.	Region	Lydia
iii.	Site	Attaleia

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	ἡ σπεῖρα (TAM V.1 817, l. 7)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	he speira

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

198 / 199 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

i.

Name in other forms

cf. οἱ συνγενεῖς, hoi syngeneis, (TAM V.1 817, l. 9)

ii.

Name elements

Cultic:

The word means ‘religious college’, but is mostly related to Dionysos

iii.

Descriptive terms

σπεῖρα, speira,
cf. οἱ συνγενεῖς, hoi syngeneis

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	TAM V.1 817 (198/9 AD)
	Note	Ed.pr. Keil and von Premerstein 1911: 72-3 no. 152 Cf. SEG 17: 535
	Online Resources	TAM V.1 817
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Funerary inscription for a narthekophoros (TAM V.1 817, ll. 7-8) dedicated by his family, by the speira and by his association colleagues, syngeneis.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Funerary altar
ii.	Source(s) provenance	Attaleia

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.	Members	The members of the association are called syngeneis. For the meaning of this term as members of a syngeneia cf. comment to TAM V2, 1256. In this case, the syngeneia would be the speira.
iv.	Officials	The funerary inscription is dedicated to a ναρθηκόφορος, narthekophoros, i.e. the bearer of the stalk used as a thyrsos in the mysteries of Dionysos. He was a high official.
viii.	Obligations	The members of the association dedicate a funerary altar to their narthekophoros together with his family. The association probably had funerary obligations towards its members.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i.

Treasury/Funds

The association surely had funds to accomplish its funerary obligations.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii.	Worship	The speira worshipped Dionysos, though there is no worshipping evidence concerning this speira, apart from the fact that it had a narthekophoros.
	Deities worshipped	Dionysos

XI. INTERACTION

i.

Local interaction

The narthekophoros was also πρωτοκωμήτης, ,protokometes, ‘the first of the village’, what invites to assume that he had some official charges or was a benefactor of the community.

XII. NOTES