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Last Updated on 24 Jun 2019

Author: Jan-Mathieu Carbon

CAPInv. 843: Diktynnaistai

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Caria
iii. Site Mylasa

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Δικτυνναϊσταί (I.Mylasa 179, line 4)
ii. Full name (transliterated) Diktynnaistai

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 100 (?) BC - 100 (?) AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:Δικτυνναϊσταί, Diktynnaistai
Name formed from the Cretan goddess Diktynna, see below X.iii.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Mylasa 179 (ca. 100 BC - 100 AD?)
Online Resources PHI: Mylasa 121
Harland, AGRW 10590
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Fragment of an honorific decree (cf. [—] ἀγαθὸς [—], line 5), headed by a date with the eponymous stephanephoros of Mylasa (line 1), thus probably a decree emanating from a civic subdivision (tribe, syngeneia, etc.).
i.c. Physical format(s) Stele. The present text is inscribed below an earlier or later inscription, I.Mylasa 418 (Roman imperial period).
ii. Source(s) provenance Milas.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i. Treasury/Funds There is a tentative reference to a sum of money ([—] δραχμὰς [—], line 6), perhaps indicating monetary benefactions made by the honorand in favour of the association or another body.

X. ACTIVITIES

Deities worshipped The group explicitly worships the Cretan goddess Diktynna. On this goddess, see still Willetts 1962: 179-93, etc.

XI. INTERACTION

ii. Interaction abroad Mythical and historical links of kinship between Crete and Caria ran deep and the cults of deities from Crete are well attested in Caria (see lastly Mastrocinque 2002, focussing on the Hellenistic and Seleucid context; a systematic study remains to be made). A priest of Zeus Kretagenes and the Kouretes is known at I.Mylasa 102, 107 and 806. For e.g. also a priest of Zeus Kretagenes and Diktynna at Amyzon, cf. I.Amyzon 14, line 3.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments It is unclear whether the honorand of the fragmentary decree, one Hegemonios(?) the son of Sotades ([— Ἡγ]εμονείους τοῦ Σωτάδου, line 2), was a member of the association of the Diktynnaistai, though it may be assumed with some probability.
iii. Bibliography Mastrocinque, A. (2002), 'Zeus Kretagenes seleucidico. Da Seleucia a Praeneste (e in Giudea)', Klio 84: 355-72.
Willetts, R.F. (1962), Cretan Cults and Festivals, London.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note Though attested in an extremely fragmentary and likely civic context, it seems probable that, given its name, the association of the Diktynnaistai was a private cultic association.