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Last Updated on 24 Jun 2019

Author: Jan-Mathieu Carbon

CAPInv. 1650: hoi pros polin kepouroi oikountes

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Lycia
iii. Site Kibyra (Kibyratis)

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ πρὸς πόλιν κηπουροὶ οἰκοῦντες (I. Kibyra 64, lines 4-7)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi pros polin kepouroi oikountes

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 1 (?) - 200 (?) AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Professional:κηπουροί, kepouroi
Garden-workers, likely forming a group of (semi)professional gardeners.
Topographical:πρὸς πόλιν... οἰκοῦντες, pros polin... oikountes
These elements of the name likely indicate the group's residence and places of occupation were "beside (i.e. outside and around) the city".

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I. Kibyra 64 (ca. 1 - 200 AD?)
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Altar and honorific inscription (the name of the honorand appears in the accusative).
Greek.
i.c. Physical format(s) Round altar of limestone.
ii. Source(s) provenance Gendscherli Mezarlik, at Gölhisar-Horzum (Kibyra).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
Women
Note Male membership is likely, but female membership cannot be excluded.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship Since the inscription is possibly a small altar, it may be imagined that the group of gardeners worshipped its "common benefactor" (see immediately below, X.iv.).
iv. Honours/Other activities The inscription is set up in honour of an individual called Krateros(?) son of Xouamoos, described as the "common benefactor" of the group: [--] Κ̣ρ̣ά̣τ̣ε̣ρ̣ο̣ν̣ Ξ̣ο̣υαμοου τὸν κοινὸν εὐεργέτην (lines 1-3).

XII. NOTES

i. Comments For another inscription from the Kibyratis (area of Boubon) mentioning a group of gardeners and one of their number who prepared his own heroon, cf. I. Boubon 36 (lines 4-8: κηπουρῶν̣ ἄριστος τὸ ἡρῷον ἑαυτῷ̣ κατεσκεύασεν). See also Harland, AGRW no. 13533 for this text.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note At first glance, it might reasonably be doubted that the gardeners "dwelling next to the city" formed a cohesive and well-organised private group. A name like οἱ πρὸς πόλιν κηπουροὶ, on its own, may even have indicated gardeners who worked "with (/for) the city", i.e. a board of "officials". However, the fact that the group here honours its own "common benefactor" with an inscription corroborates both its private and associational character.