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Last Updated on 20 May 2019

Author: Benedikt Eckhardt

CAPInv. 1337: U-WAM-023

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Ionia
iii. Site Smyrna (?)

II. NAME

i. Association with unknown name U-WAM-023

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 100 (?) - 250 (?) AD

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Smyrna 728 (100 (?) - 250 (?) AD)
Note See also:
GRA II 140
Online Resources I.Smyrna 728

AGRW 195
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Lex sacra, greek
i.c. Physical format(s) White marble plate
ii. Source(s) provenance Probably Smyrna

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects τέμενος, temenos (l. 2): The inscription refers to a sacred precinct with several temples and a propylon (l. 7).

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership θεοφάντης, theophantes (l. 1): The “revealer of the god” is certainly derived from the “revealer of the holy things” (hierophantes), common in mystery cults. He may have been the leader of an association, but this is not certain (see comments).

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship Entrance into the sanctuary is regulated by purity rules; in addition, a number of specific taboos (eating unsacrificed meat, eating eggs during the Bacchic meals, sacrificing a heart, eating mint) relates to gatherings of mystai. Orphic connections have been plausibly suggested (Sokolowski 1955: 187-9; Nilsson 1957: 133-43; Merkelbach 1988: 29; more skeptical is Harland 2014: 322-4).
Deities worshipped Dionysos Bromios

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Harland, P.A. (2014), Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, Translations, and Commentaries. II. North Coast of the Black Sea, Asia Minor. Berlin, Boston.
Merkelbach, R. (1988), Die Hirten des Dionysos. Die Dionysos-Mysterien der römischen Kaiserzeit und der bukolische Roman des Longus. Stuttgart.
Nilsson, M.P. (1957), The Dionysiac Mysteries of the Hellenistic and Roman Age. Lund.
Sokolowski, F. (1955), Lois sacrées de l'Asie Mineure. Paris.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note The lex sacra starts with general rules on purity, addressed to all visitors of the sanctuary, but then continues with more specific regulations that are relevant only to the initiates (mystai, l. 16). It is possible that these were organized as an association, perhaps with the theophantes (l. 1) as its leader. The inscription is therefore included by Harland 2014: 317-24. However, it is also possible that the mystai were all tied individually to the theophantes (who set up the lex sacra and presumably carried out the initiations), but did not form a collective apart from certain cultic occasions like the Bakcheia.
ii. Historical authenticity Certain