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Last Updated on 27 Feb 2017

Author: Takashi Fujii

CAPInv. 1519: Meloucheaton [ho thiasos]

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Cyprus
ii. Region Cyprus
iii. Site Melousha, to the north-east of ancient Golgoi.

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Μηλουχεάτων [ὁ θίασος] (Hermary 2004: 61, no. M.1, l. 1)
ii. Full name (transliterated) Meloucheaton [ho thiasos]

III. DATE

i. Date(s) Hell.

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Ethnic:Meloucheatoi: the ethnic probably referred to the village of Melousha. See Hermary 2004: 49-50.
iii. Descriptive terms θίασος, thiasos (?)
Note thiasos: Hermary 2004: 61, no. M.1, l. 1. The descriptive term is a restoration. Scholars have proposed other restorations.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Hermary 2004: 61, no. M.1 = SEG 54: 1532 (Hell.)
Note Other publications: Colonna-Ceccaldi 1875: 99, no. 1; Mitford 1980: 1308, no. 80
Online Resources SEG 54: 1532 and AGRW ID 20878
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Greek dedication of a statue probably to Aphrodite by the association.
i.c. Physical format(s) A fragmentary statue base
ii. Source(s) provenance Melousha, to the north-east of ancient Golgoi.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i. Archaeological remains The inscription may have originally been set up in the sanctuary of Aphrodite. For this deity in Melousha, see Hermary 2004: 49-50.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

iv. Status If the restoration thiasos is correct, the association may have consisted of Ptolemaic military settlers and their descendants, as other thiasoi in the Mesaoria (see Hermary 2004: 54-5).

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship Given the dedication to Aphrodite, one may suppose worship by the group.
Deities worshipped Aphrodite

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The term thiasos is entirely restored: Scholars have proposed other restorations, e.g. polis or demos. See: Colonna-Ceccaldi 1875: 99, no. 1; Mitford 1980: 1308, no. 80.
iii. Bibliography Colonna-Ceccaldi, G. (1875), ‘Nouvelles inscriptions grecques de Chypre’, RA 29: 95-101.
Hermary, A. (2004), ‘Autour de Golgoi: Les cités de la Mesaoria à l’époque hellénistique et sous l’Empire’, CCEC 34: 47-68.
Mitford, T.B. (1980), ‘Roman Cyprus’, ANRW 2.7.2: 1285-384.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note The fragmentary state of the inscription does not allow absolute certainty about the character of private association of the group.