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Last Updated on 24 Mar 2017

Author: Benedikt Eckhardt

CAPInv. 1049: hetairoi

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area The Near East and Beyond
ii. Region Syria
iii. Site Šayḫ Hlāl

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) ἑταῖροι (IGLS IV 1848, l. 2)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hetairoi

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 230 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Other:hetairoi

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IGLS IV 1848 (AD 230)
Note See also: Gatier and Rousset 2010: 147-67
Online Resources IGLS IV 1848
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Greek dedicatory inscription on the architrave of a building
i.c. Physical format(s) Large block of lime stone, decorated with palmettes.
ii. Source(s) provenance Šayḫ Hlāl

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i. Archaeological remains The outline of a building is still clearly visible (photo of the site: Gatier and Rousset 2010: 165, fig. 21). If the block was used in the main entrance, the building it referred to was rather small; maybe a room inside a larger sanctuary (see comments).
ii. References to buildings/objects The building is referred to solely through the verb ἀφιερώθη, aphierothe (l. 1).

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership Three men (Maternus, Pappos, Marcus) are mentioned by name; "through them" and the hetairoi the building was dedicated. This may point to leadership.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The text was re-editet by Gatier and Rousset 2010 (ph.). They note that the last line actually ends not just with ἑταίρων, hetairon, but with ἑταίρω[ν ...]ων, hetairo[n ...]on, and tentatively suggest [λοιπ]ῶν, [loip]on.
iii. Bibliography Gatier, P.-L., and Rousset, M.-O. (2010), ‘Temples romains et mausolées de la Syrie centrale’, in P.-L. Gatier, B. Geyer, and M.-O. Rousset (eds.), Entre nomades et sédentaires. Prospections en Syrie du nord et en Jordanie du sud, Lyon: 147-67.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note In IGLS IV 1848, these hetairoi are treated as comrades in arms, and there are clear instances in the Near East where this is the appropriate translation. But Gatier and Rousset 2010: 166-7, point to the absence of any indication (e.g. common ethnic origin) to bolster this hypothesis, and argue that hetairoi "signifie, au Proche-Orient, membres de la confrérie religieuse" (166). While this is not always true, the dedication of a building does suggest an organized group; Gatier and Rousset think that the building was a temple, or the meeting place of an association within a temple.