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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Aegean Islands
ii.	Region	Lesbos
iii.	Site	Mytilene region: area of Moria

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	οἱ γναφεῖς (IG XII.2 271, l. 2)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	hoi gnapheis

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

Imp.

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Professional:

gnapheis

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	IG XII.2 271 (Imp.: SEG 45: 1098)
	Note	See also: AGRW Chaniotis 1997: 17-8, no. 9 Labarre and Le Dinahet 1996: 68, no. 1 Waltzing 1895-1900, vol. 3: 64, no. 177 cf. Zimmermann 2002: 198
	Online Resources	IG XII.2 271 AGRW ID# 12098
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Boundary marker (horos) with a Greek inscription.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Inscription carved on rock in very large letters (26 cm.).
ii.	Source(s) provenance	In the area of Moria, at Achlia, opposite a hot water spring, on the road to Mytilene.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

ii.

Realty

It is not certain that the gnapheis formed a private association (see below: 'Evaluation'), but if they did, the boundary marker may indicate that they owned land. According to Harland online (see AGRW ID# 12098) the horos inscription served as grave boundary marker for a rock cut tomb, but it is not clear on what evidence that suggestion is based.

XII. NOTES

ii.	Poland concordance	Poland Z 15
iii.	Bibliography	Chaniotis, A. (1997), ‘New inscriptions from old books: inscriptions of Aigion, Delphi and Lesbos copied by Nicholas Biddle and Stavros Táxis’, Tekmeria 3: 7-21. Labarre, G., and Le Dinahet, M.-Th. (1996), ‘Les métiers du textile en Asie Mineure de l'époque hellénistique à l'époque impériale’, in Aspects de l'artisanat du textile dans le monde méditerranéen: Égypte, Grèce, monde romain, Lyon: 49-116. Waltzing, J.-P. (1895-1900), Étude historique sur les corporations professionnelles chez les Romains: depuis les origines jusqu'à la chute de l'Empire d'Occident. Louvain. Zimmermann, C. (2002), Handwerkervereine im griechischen Osten des Imperium Romanum. Mainz.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Possible
	Note	While this group has been referred to as an 'association' (SEG 45: 1098; cf. Chaniotis 1997: 17-8, no. 9) and has been included in collections of testimonies of professional associations (Waltzing 1895-1900, vol. 3: 64, no. 177; cf. Zimmermann 2002: 198), it is not certain that the fullers (gnapheis) formed an association in the sense of a durable private organization. Although the existence of a boundary marker (horos) may point in that direction (demarcating land owned by the group), there is the alternative option that the inscription was set up to demarcate activities of fullers in the area (with a water source nearby), possibly because of the smell.

CAPInv. 148: hoi gnapheis