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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Attica with Salamis
ii.	Region	Attica
iii.	Site	Athens

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	ὀργεῶνες, (Agora 16 161, ll. 2, 12, 24)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	orgeones

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

f. iii BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Cultic:

orgeones

iii.

Descriptive terms

κοινωνία, koinonia (?)

Note

Perhaps the term commonality [κοι]νωνία, [koi]nonia, ll. 5-6 describes the association.

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	Agora 16 161 (f. iii BC)
	Note	Ed. pr. Hesperia 11 (1942) 282 no. 55. Other publications: SEG 21: 530, LSCS 20, GRA I 14, AGRW 1. Cf. SEG 52: 133, SEG 55: 258, BE 1944, no. 67, BE 1950, no. 71.
	Online Resources	Agora 16 161 AGRW ID 2874 CGRN 102
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Decree in Greek moved by Lysias, son of Periandros of Plotheia, concerning the payment of arrears, the sacrifices and the portions of sacrificial meat to be distributed. Beginning of a second decree.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Marble stele broken at both upper corners and bottom, measuring 0,293x0,315m.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	It was discovered on the north slope of Areopagos Hill, now in Agora I 1906.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii.

References to buildings/objects

The decree contains references to a sanctuary (ἱερόν, hieron, l. 7), an altar (βωμός, bomos, l. 6), a stele (to be inscribed with the old decrees, ll. 6, 10), a table (τράπεζα, trapeza, l. 15) for consumating the portions of the sacrificed animal.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.	Members	Members of the group are called ὀργεῶνες, orgeones, ll. 18-20.
iv.	Officials	Host (ἑστιάτωρ, hestiator, ll. 12, 24).
vi.	Laws and rules	In ll. 8-9 there is a passing reference to ancient decrees, τὰ ψη[φίσματα] τὰ ἀρχαῖα, ta pse[phismata] ta archaia: it may be a loose reference to the regulations of the group.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i.	Treasury/Funds	The treasury is expressed with the term κοινόν, koinon, l. 11.
ii.	Realty	There is a reference to a sanctuary (ἱερόν, hieron, l. 7).
iii.	Income	In ll. 5-8 the group reports its decision to inscribe on the stele the names of its debtors together with the debt and the interest. Does this suggest that the association was involved in (large-scale?) lending? Or what is described as debts are fees owed by the membership? Note that the deme of Plotheia, the home deme of the rogator, had passed a decree, IG I³ 258 (II² 1172) c. 420 BC, that sanctioned the lending of money to the person who offered the highest interest.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii.	Gender	Men Women
	Note	Λυσίας Περιάνδρου Πλωθεύς, Athenian Onomasticon s.v. (75). In the section about the distribution of the sacrificed meat, there is an explicit reference to females, either wives or daughters of members. Whether these persons were members of the group, remains vague. Ferguson 1944: 77 thinks that the group consisted of males.
iii.	Age	Adults
	Note	It seems likely that the members were adults.
iv.	Status	Citizen.
v.	Relations	Sons, wives and daughters of members are referred to as getting a portion of sacrificial meats. However, we do not know whether they were members of the group.

X. ACTIVITIES

ii.	Meetings and events	Meeting for sacrifices was held on the 17-18th of Hekatombaion (July/August).
iii.	Worship	A sacrifice (θυσία, thysia, ll. 12-3) is explicitly mentioned as well as the distribution of the sacrificed animal and the portions to be offered.
	Deities worshipped	Hero Echelos, (Ἔχελος, Echelos, ll. 4-5), Kearns 1989: 165. GRA I 14, following Ferguson 1944: 78, assume that Heroines were worshipped by the first of the two groups.

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	The inscription as edited presents us with a puzzle. It assumes that there were two koina, one near the property of Kalliphanes and one devoted to hero Echelos. But then it is not clear which group has issued the decision to re-inscribe the old decrees and the rules about sacrifices. The first editor, B. Meritt, does not comment on it, while Ferguson 1944: 76-79 claims that this is a bi-cellular association like the genos of Salaminioi (followed by GRA I 14). Mikalson 1998: 147 speaks of two amalgamated koina. Nevertheless, these solutions do not address the question. To complicate the situation further the names of the members (of both associations?) owing any amount of money to the koinonia (to be understood as a synonym of koinon?) are to be inscribed on a stone stele to be erected next to the altar in the sanctuary. Does it mean that both associations were using the same hieron?
iii.	Bibliography	Ferguson, W. (1944), ‘The Attic orgeones’, HThR 37: 61-140. Ferguson, W. (1949), ‘Orgeonika’, in Commemorative studies in honor of Theodore Leslie Shear. Princeton: 130-63. Kearns, E. (1989), The heroes of Attica. London. Millett, P. (1991) Lending and borrowing in ancient Athens. Cambridge. Mikalson, J. (1998), Religion in Hellenistic Athens. Los Angeles: 147-8. Jones, N. (1999), The associations of classical Athens. A response to democracy. New York: 251-4. Ismard, P. (2010), La cité des réseaux. Athènes et ses associations VIe – Ier siècle av. J.-C.. Paris: 95, 210, 238, 287.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Certain
	Note	There is no doubt about the private character of the association, since it has a name and officials, and organizes and finances sacrifices.

CAPInv. 227: orgeones