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Last Updated on 22 May 2019

Author: Nikolaos Giannakopoulos

CAPInv. 778: to bennos ho Totrianos or to bennos <to> Otrianos

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Bithynia
iii. Site Prusias ad Hypium

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) τὸ βέννος ὃ Τοτριανός or τὸ βέννος <τὸ> Oτριανός (SEG 58: 1453, ll. 1-2)
ii. Full name (transliterated) to bennos ho Totrianos or to bennos <to> Otrianos

III. DATE

i. Date(s) l. i BC - iii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:bennos. See below under field XII.i: Comments
Personal:Totrianos or Otrianos? See below under field XII.i: Comments.
Topographical:Totrianos or Otrianos? See below under field XII.i: Comments.
iii. Descriptive terms βέννος, bennos
Note bennos: SEG 58: 1453, l. 1

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) SEG 58: 1453 (i BC - iii AD)
Note See also:
Adak, Akyürek Şahin and Güneş 2008: 81-2 no. 5
BE 2010: no. 846.
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Honorary inscription in Greek erected by the bennos for Menagoras and his wife Menophila.
i.c. Physical format(s) Marble pedimental stele with wreath.
ii. Source(s) provenance The inscription was found in Akkaya Köyü, in the area of Prusias ad Hypium.

VII. ORGANIZATION

i. Founder(s) See below under field XII.i: Comments.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities The bennos attributed a crown (l. 3: στεφανοῖ, stephanoi) to Menagoras and Menophila as a response to generosities offered by the couple (l. 6: ἕνεκα φιλοδοξίας, heneka philodoxias). See below under field XII.i: Comments.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Bennos is a term denoting a religious association devoted to the cult of the fertility god Zeus Bennios (see Şahin 1978; Drew-Bear and Naour 1991: 1956-61 and 1987-91; Schwabl 1999; Adak, Akyürek Şahin and Güneş 2008: 81-2).
In ll. 1-2 of the inscription the name of the honouring group appears as: τὸ βέννος ὃ Τοτριανός (to bennos ho Totrianos). The first editors (Adak, Akyürek Şahin and Güneş 2008: 81-2 no. 5) gave the following translation: ‘The religious association which is called Totrianos’. However, the obvious grammatical inconsistency between the definite article and the relative pronoun led Brixhe (BE 2010: no. 846) to assume a possible mistake on the engraver’s part and to suggest the following reading: τὸ βέννος <τὸ> Ὀτριανός (to bennos <to> Otrianos). As Brixhe himself admits, this does not solve the problem of the inconsistency between the masculine Otrianos and the neutral bennos. Totrianos or Otrianos may be an adjective denoting either the founder of the association or the place where the group held its meetings.
The cost of the honours awarded to Menagoras and his wife may indicate the existence of a common treasury of the bennos, but there is no clear proof for that. The cost may have been covered from ad hoc contributions paid by the members of the group. If the bennos had a common treasury, the members may have been obliged to offer contributions.
iii. Bibliography Adak, M., Akyürek Şahin, N.E., and Güneş, M. Y (2008), ‘Neue Inschriften im Museum von Bolu (Bithynion/Klaudiupolis)’, Gephyra 5: 73-120.
Drew-Bear, T. and Naour, C. (1990), ‘Divinités de Phrygie’, ANRW II.18.3: 1907-2044.
Şahin, S. (1978), ‘Zeus Bennios’ in S. Şahin, E. Schwertheim, and J. Wagner (eds.), Studien zur Religion und Kultur Kleinasiens. Festschrift für Friedrich Karl Dörner zum 65. Geburtstag am 28. Februar 1976. 2 vols, Leiden: 771-90.
Şahin, S. (1986), ‘Studien über die Probleme der historischen Geographie des nordwestlichen Kleinasiens I: Strabon XII 3,7 p. 543. Der Fluß Gallos, die Stadt Modr<en>e in Phrygia Epiktetos und die Schiffbarkeit des Sangarios’, EA 7: 125-52.
Schwabl, H. (1999), ‘Zum Kult des Zeus in Kleinasien (II). Der phrygische Zeus Bennios und Verwandtes’, AAntHung 39: 345-54.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The term bennos in this inscription denotes a private cultic association.