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Last Updated on 23 May 2019

Author: Sofia Kravaritou

CAPInv. 1806: hoi hypostoloi

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Central Greece
ii. Region Eastern Thessaly. Region of Magnesia.
iii. Site Demetrias

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ ὑπόστολοι (IG IX.2 1107b, ll. 3, 28)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi hypostoloi

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 117 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

i. Name in other forms το κοι]νὸν τῶν ὑποστόλων, to koi]non ton hypostolon (IG IX.2 1107b, ll. 12-13)
τῆς τῶν ὑποστόλων συνόδου, tes ton hypostolon synodou (IG IX.2 1107b, ll. 14-15, 24)
ii. Name elements
Cultic:Groups of hypostoloi concentrated around the ritual performance of the Isiac cults are well known from many Hellenistic cities, like Amphipolis (SEG 36: 583 = RICIS Suppl. II 113/0908) and Eretria (IG XII Suppl. 571 = RICIS 104/0103). Cf. CAPInv. 87 ; CAPInv. 819 ; CAPInv. 823. The term hypostoloi was originally considered to refer to those members of the priestly personnel attached to the Isiac cults who wore a long white loincloth of Egyptian type (Bruneau 1975: 73-5, 112-4; Malaise 2007: 301-22).
iii. Descriptive terms κοινὸν, koinon
Note koinon: IG IX.2 1107b, ll. 12-13

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IG IX.2 1107b (c. 117 BC)
Note See also:
Kravaritou 2013/14: 203-33
RICIS 112/0703
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Honorific inscription by the hypostoloi for Kriton, son of Kriton, civic priest of Sarapis in Demetrias (ll. 3-5: ἐπειδὴ Κρ[ίτων Κρί]τωνος κατασταθεὶς ὑπὸ τῆς π̣[όλεως] ἱερεὺς τοῦ Σαράπιδος, epeide Kr[iton Kri]tonos katastatheis hypo tes p[oleos] hiereus tou Sarapidos).
i.c. Physical format(s) Stone stele witch also contains on the top part of a later manumission record in two lines (IG IX.2 1107a).
ii. Source(s) provenance It was found reused in the church of Panagia at Makrynitsa, on the western slopes of Mount Pelion, several km from the site of Ancient Demetrias.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i. Archaeological remains The original second-century BC cult site of the Sarapieion of Demetrias remains unidentified and is yet to be located. Remains of the stone foundations of a large intra-muros building with a peribolos and many stone pedestals, along with a stone stele with traces of Harpocrates' name and a marble statuette of Isis (?) holding Harpocrates (?) or Horus (?) were discovered on the southern edges of the city of Demetrias inside the fortification walls, on the northern flank of the hill of Prophet Elias (Sarapieion?) (Arvanitopoulos 1915: 130-200).

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i. Treasury/Funds The koinon received a thousand silver drachmas from the personal resources of the civic priest of Sarapis, intended for the embellishment of the Isiac ceremonies, by spending the product of the interest.

X. ACTIVITIES

i. Assemblies
ii. Meetings and events The hypostoloi were holding regular annual meetings, synodoi (ll. 14-15, 24)
iii. Worship The name of the association indicates that the gods worshipped were the Isiac deities.
iv. Honours/Other activities The hypostoloi erected the decree in honour of the civic priest of Sarapis, Kriton, son of Kriton; also, they crowned him with a golden crown and honoured him with a painted portrait placed in the most prominent place of the Sarapieion in Demetrias.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The hypostoloi paid honours to the civic priest of Sarapis also for acting with magnificence (spoude) and willingness (philotimia) towards the local therapeutai.

XII. NOTES

ii. Poland concordance Poland B 50
iii. Bibliography Arnaoutoglou, I. (forthcoming). ‘Koinon Isiastan Sarapiastan. Isiac cult associations in the eastern Mediterranean’, in V. Gasparini and R. Veymiers (eds.), The Agents of the Isiac Cults. Proceedings of the Vth International Conference of Isis Studies (Erfurt, May 6-8 2013 - Liege, September 23-24 2013, Leiden, Boston.
Arvanitopoulos, A. (1915) ‘Ανασκαφαί και έρευναι εν Θεσσαλία’, PAE: 130-200.
Bruneau, Ph. (1975). Le sanctuaire et les cultes des divinités égyptiennes à Erétrie. Leiden.
Decourt, J.-Cl., and Tziafalias A. (2007), ‘Cultes et divinités isiawues en Thessalie: identité et urbanisation’, in L. Bricault, M.J. Versluys and P.G.P. Meyboom (eds.), Nile into Tiber. Egypt in the Roman World. Proceedings of the IIIrd International Conference of Isis Studies. Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, May 11-14 2005, Leiden: 329-63.
Kravaritou S. (2013/14). ‘Isiac Cults, Civic priesthood and Social Elite in Hellenistic Demetrias (Thessaly): Notes on IG IX2, 1107 (RICIS 112/0703) and beyond’, Tekmeria 12: 203-33.
Malaise, M. (2007). ‘Les hypostoles. Un titre isiaque, sa signification et sa traduction iconographique’, CE 82: 302-22.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The term koinon and the name of the group (hypostoloi) testify the presence of a cultic association; it displays corporate activity (meetings, reception of funds).