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Last Updated on 24 May 2019

Author: Ursula Kunnert

CAPInv. 1786: hoi sy<n>e<l>thontes Mobrenis son of Rhondos kai hoi met' autou

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Eastern Asia Minor
ii. Region Cilicia
iii. Site Lamos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ συ<ν>ε<λ>θόντες Μωβρενις Ρονδου καὶ οἱ μετ’ αὐτοῦ (Hagel-Tomaschitz, Repertorium Ada 3a, l. 3)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi sy<n>e<l>thontes Mobrenis son of Rhondos kai hoi met' autou

III. DATE

i. Date(s) s. i - ii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Personal:'the ones who have joined together, Mobrenis, son of Rhondos and those with him'

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Hagel-Tomaschitz, Repertorium Ada 3 (s. i - ii AD)
Note Other editions/commentaries:
AGRW 214
Bean-Mitford 1962: 211, no. 35
Bean-Mitford, Journeys -- Rough Cilicia, 1962-1963: 31-3, no. 34
Bean-Mitford, Journeys -- Rough Cilicia, 1964-1968: 172, n. 38 (lines 1-6). 175, n. 41 (line 17).
Paribeni-Romanelli 1914: 156-64, no. 113
Online Resources AGRW ID#1532
Bean-Mitford, Journeys -- Rough Cilicia, 1962-1963: 31-3, no. 34
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Funerary inscription in Greek with regulations about the use of the tomb.
i.c. Physical format(s) Free-standing sarcophagus with a two-storey design with a striking substructure. The stone slabs of the upper burial level are adorned with numerous reliefs, as is the substructure: besides full-figure representations and busts of women and men, shields and swords, bulls’ heads and an eagle are represented. Two recumbent lions can be seen on the lid of the monument. The inscription is to be found on the slabs between the two floors of the grave.
Paribeni-Romanelli 1914 saw the tomb still standing, at the time of the visit of Bean and Mitford in the early 1960s it was already destroyed.
ii. Source(s) provenance Built tomb on the eastern hill of Adanda (ancient Lamos)

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i. Archaeological remains The regulations arrange a separation into two burial levels. Those are documented in the two-storey design of the tomb.
ii. References to buildings/objects The signature of the artists has survived (lines 1-2); it is that of two brothers from Selge.

The μνῆμα/μνημεῖον (mnema/mnemeion) is described as two-storey monument.

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership The group is formed around an individual, from whom it also takes its name: 'the ones who have joined together, Mobrenis, son of Rhondos and those with him' (line 3), followed by a list of these men. We can assume from this that Mobrenis is the leader of the group.
iii. Members The mention of the group is followed by a list of its members (6 men):
Motas son of Oxalibes,
Komdi son of Oxalibes, Rhondas son of Konnis Merdoutos,
Mos son of Rhondos,
Mos son of Eneknes,
Rhondas son of Knes
vi. Laws and rules Regulations, which were jointly decided on in a homologon, an agreement mentioned in line 6, follow the list of members. The share of the grave owned by a member and the arrangement in which the various family members are to be placed in the grave seem to be precisely regulated in this homologon. A separation into two burial levels is arranged (lines 6-11): members’ wives and male relatives are buried in the upper chamber of the grave and the remaining female family members in the lower chamber. Consequently, married daughters are excluded from the opportunity of being buried in the grave as they are buried with their respective husbands.
In lines 15-6 it is striktly interdicted to try to alter these regulations by going to court or to the xomendys, 'an official body (…) concerned (…) with the upkeep and preservation of tombs (Bean-Mitford, Journeys -- Rough Cilicia, 1964-1968: 175, n. 41). It is interesting that two official authorities might get involved in internal matters of the association.
Prohibitions against the removal of those buried in the grave follow from line 17 onwards. The funerary fines to be imposed for contravention of the regulations, which are to be paid to the demos of Lamos, are also specified. Here, the payment consists of coins and various precisely designated animals: one thousand drachmas, ten white and ten black bulls, ten rams and ten goats.

A further inscription is to be found on the back of the monument. If the reconstruction of Bean and Mitford is accurate (Bean-Mitford, Journeys -- Rough Cilicia, 1962-1963: 33), the association around Mobrenis has granted exceptions to two individuals, allowing them to be buried in the grave, although stressing that this concession applies to them alone, and by no means to their families, as well.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

ii. Realty Common burial space

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number The documented regulations suggest the size of the association with which we are dealing: in fact, only seven men are mentioned by name as members. With their wives, children and other male and female relatives, however, the group reaches quite a size.
ii. Gender Men
Women
iii. Age Children
Adults
Elders
Note οἱ πρεσβύτεροι, hoi presbyteroi, are mentioned in line 22 in an unclear context.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The funerary fines to be imposed for contravention of the regulations are to be paid to the demos of Lamos. The payment consists of coins and various precisely designated animals.

In lines 15-6 it is striktly interdicted to try to alter the regulations by going to court or to the xomendys, 'an official body (…) concerned (…) with the upkeep and preservation of tombs (Bean-Mitford, Journeys -- Rough Cilicia, 1964-1968: 175, n. 41). It is interesting that two official authorities might get involved in internal matters of the association.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments From line 19 onwards, the surviving inscription is too fragmentary to be reconstructed.
iii. Bibliography Bean, G.E., and Mitford, T.B. (1962), ‘Sites Old and New in Rough Cilicia’, AS 12: 211, no. 35.
Paribeni, R., and Romanelli, P. (1914), ‘Studii e ricerche archeologiche: nell'Anatolia meridionale’, Monumenti antichi 23: 156-64, no. 113.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The body is an association and not just an ad hoc-group, which jointly own a grave, on a number of grounds: in addition to the distinctive name and precisely defined membership, the association has jointly defined regulations. These assume a longer-term existence of the fraternity, beyond the death of the founders of the association.
ii. Historical authenticity Certain