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I. LOCATION

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

II. NAME

i.

Association with unknown name

U-CGR-011

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

iii BC

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	Batziou-Efstathiou forthcoming (iii BC)
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Unpublished votive inscription in Greek to the 'Mother of the Gods' (Meter Theon).
ii.	Source(s) provenance	Demetrias

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i.	Archaeological remains	Excavation in the eastern sector of Demetrias revealed parts of an intramural building with a peristyle court; it was initially interpreted as a house with peristyle court hosting a domestic shrine (Batziou-Efstathiou and Triantafyllopoulou 2000: 301-3), while more recently it has been identified tentatively with a Metroon, the cult seat of the Mother of the Gods/Cybele (Batziou-Efstathiou 2002: 30-2, figs. 33-6; Batziou-Efsthathiou forthcoming).
ii.	References to buildings/objects	The building delivered a well and drainage pipe dated to the end of the third/beginning of the second century BC and a clay incense burner, while clay figurines of the Mother of the Gods/Cybele, along with those of Aphrodite Epitragia, En(n)odia, Hecate and Zeus Milichios were found in the court. Figurines of the Mother of the Gods/Cybele are also known from at least two other localities in the northern sector of the city: one has been interpreted as a house with peristyle hosting a domestic shrine, while the other is probably a household cult of Cybele and Demeter (Arvanitopoulos 1916: 121; Triantafyllopoulou 2000; cf. Mili 2015: 206-7; Kravaritou 2016: 139).

XII. NOTES

iii.

Bibliography

Arvanitopoulos, A. (1916), ‘Ανασκαφαί και έρευναι στη Θεσσαλία’, AEph: 121.
Batziou-Efsthathiou, A. (2002). Demetrias. Athens.
Batziou-Efsthathiou, A. (forthcoming), ‘The Sanctuary of the Mother of the Gods in Demetrias’, in C. Morgan and M. Stamatopoulou (eds.), Sanctuaries and Cults in Ancient Thessaly. Proceedings of the Conference held at the British School at Athens, 30 November-1 December 2012, Oxford.
Batziou-Efsthatiou and Triantafyllopoulou, P. (2000), ‘εότερα δεδομένα από τον αρχαιολογικό χώρο της Δημητριάδας’, in Το Έργο των Εφορειών Αρχαιοτήτων και Νεωτέρων Μνημείων του ΥΠ.ΠΟ. στη Θεσσαλία και την ευρύτερη περιοχή της (1990-1998). Πρακτικά Επιστημονικής Συνάντησης. Volos: 301-7.
Kravaritou, S. (2016), ‘Sacred Space and the Politics of Multiculturalism in Demetrias (Thessaly)’, in M. Melfi and O. Bobou (eds.), Hellenistic Sanctuaries. Between Greece and Rome, Oxford.
Mili, M. (2015), Religion and Society in Ancient Thessaly. Oxford.
Triantafyllopoulou, P. (2000), ‘Δημητριάδα. Οικόπεδο Κατσιφά’, AD 55: 466-8.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Probable
	Note	The presence of the cult of the Mother of the Gods/Cybele in various loci of Demetrias indicates in every probability the presence of a local cultic association.