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Last Updated on 19 Jun 2019

Author: Stella Skaltsa

CAPInv. 1232: U-WAM-019

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Mysia
iii. Site Kyzikos

II. NAME

i. Association with unknown name U-WAM-019

III. DATE

i. Date(s) i BC

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IMT 1539 (i BC)
Note Ed.pr.
Mordtmann 1885: 204-207 no. 30

AGRW II 107
Online Resources IMT 1539
AGRW ID 7084
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Dedicatory inscription in Greek to Poseidon and Aphrodite Potnia set up by business partners in the fishing industry.
i.c. Physical format(s) Stele with relief in two registers. Upper register depicts Kybele and Apollo. Lower register depicts an altar and a servant making an offering.The dedicatory inscription to Poseidon and Aphrodite Potnia does not match the deities depicted in the relief.
H. 57 x W. 36 cm.
ii. Source(s) provenance Kyzikos area.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The occupations recorded in the text point to the fishing business (Robert 1950; Marzano 2013: 41-3):
- ἀρχώνης σκοπιᾶς, archones skopias (l. 2)- chief-lessee of the lookout
- ἐπὶ τοῦ χρηματισμοῦ, epi tou chrematismou (l. 3) - in charge of the business/ or the funds
- μέτοιχοι, metoichoi (l. 5) - partners
- ἐπαγωγοί, epagogoi (l. 16) - a category of fishermen, i.e. those attracting the fish in the nets (Robert 1950: 97)

Eleven metoichoi are recorded in the text. Their participation would be of financial nature, namely the funding of fishing activities and sharing of financial liability (see Marzano 2013: 80).
iii. Bibliography Marzano, A. (2013), Harvesting the sea, the exploitation of marine resources in the Roman Mediterranean. Oxford.
Mordtmann, J.H. (1885), 'Zur Epigraphic von Kyzikos III', MDAI(A) 10: 200-11.
Robert, L. 1950: 'Inscriptions de l'Hellespont et de la Propontide', Hellenica IX: 78-97.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Discarded
Note The inscription attests to the disparate parties involved in fishing activities, shedding thus light on the complex organization of the fishing business in Kyzikos. Business partners set up a dedication as a thanks-offering (charisterion), presumably for a successful and profitable undertaking. Joint activities in business alone do not suffice to identify a group as a private association.