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Last Updated on 18 Jun 2019

Author: Stella Skaltsa

CAPInv. 1057: hai syntelousai tous kosmous para tei Metri tei Plakianei kai hieropoioi hai prosagoreuomenai thalassiai kai synousai met'auton hiereiai

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Mysia
iii. Site Kyzikos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) αἱ συντελοῦσαι τοὺς κόσμους παρὰ τῇ Μητρὶ τῇ Πλακιανῇ καὶ αἱ προσαγορευόμεναι θαλάσσιαι καὶ συνοῦσαι μετ᾽αυτῶν ἱέρειαι (IMT Kyz Kapu Daǧ 1432 ll. 3-5, 9-11)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hai syntelousai tous kosmous para tei Metri tei Plakianei kai hieropoioi hai prosagoreuomenai thalassiai kai synousai met'auton hiereiai

III. DATE

i. Date(s) i BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:hai syntelousai tous kosmous para tei Metri tei Plakianei
hieropoioi hai prosagoreuomenai thalassiai
synousai met'auton hiereiai
All these names designate priestly offices/ personnel.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IMT Kyz Kapu Daǧ 1432 (l. i BC)
Note CIG 3657

The decree is dated by the eponymous of the city.
Online Resources IMT Kyz Kapu Daǧ 1432
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Honorific decree in greek of the council and the assembly of Kyzikos in honor of Kleidike, daughter of Asklepiades, priestess of Meter Plakiane and deputy-priestess of Artemis Mounichia.
Kleidike was honored with a bronze statue by female priestly officials (αἱ συντελοῦσαι τοὺς κόσμους παρὰ τῇ Μητρὶ τῇ Πλακιανῇ καὶ αἱ προσαγορευόμεναι θαλάσσιαι καὶ συνοῦσαι μετ᾽αυτῶν ἱέρειαι, hai syntelousai tous kosmous para tei mEtri tei Plakianei hai prosagoreuomenai Thalassiai kai Synousai met'auton hiereiai).
The initiative for the decree was taken by Apollonios son of Apollophanes who approached the council and the assembly on behalf of the female priestly officials. The council and the assembly gave their consent to the request and gave permission to the female priestly officials to set up a bronze statue of Kleidike in the agora andreia where Kleidikes' family monument stood.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects εἰκόνα χαλκῆν, eikona chalken (l. 5)

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

iv. Endowments Kleidike requested 700 stateras to the female priestly officials with the purpose to hold sacrifices in the synodos on the 5th day of the month Taureon (ll. 12-14).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Women
Note All priestly officials are women.
iv. Status In light of the priestly offices, these female officials should come form well-off families.

X. ACTIVITIES

i. Assemblies The priestly officials came together to a σύνοδος, synodos (l. 13) on the 5th day of Taureon during which they held sacrifices (ἱερὰ, hiera, l. 13).
iv. Honours/Other activities Female priestly officials honored Kleidike, priest of Meter ek Plakias and deputy priestess of Artemis Mounichia with a bronze statue. The statue was to be set up in the family monument of Kleidike, called synedrion (i.e. an exedra) to the west of the statue of her brother. The synedrion was located in the agoran andreian (l. 6).

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The female priestly officials interacted with the civic authorities of Kyzikos through an intermediary, Aristandros son of Apollophanes, the speaker of the decree (this person was the brother of the speaker of another decree in honor of Kleidike: IMT Kyz Kapu Dağ 1433; for the family of the speaker see Habicht 2005: 94-95).

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Although the collective names point to three distinct female priestly groups in that they assumed disparate duties, they are treated all three together for the following reasons:
- they honour Kleidike collectively, presenting themselves in front of the assembly to request permission for erecting a bronze statue in her honor in a public space.
- Kleidike promised and made a donation of 700 stateras to them all for the sacrifices they made in the synodos on the 5th day of Taureon (ll. 12-14). There was only one recipient of Kleidike's donation and not three distinct recipients. They acted collectively once a year in the synodos on the 5th day of Taureon; there they all gathered together and performed sacrifices funded thanks to Kleidike᾽s donation.


Whereas different boards of priestesses honored Kleidike with a bronze statue set up in the agora andreia, a board of male officials (kosmophylakesantes) set up a painted portrait of Kleidine in the parthenon
iii. Bibliography Habicht, C. (2005), 'Notes on inscriptions from Cyzicus', EA 38: 93-100.
Mylonopoulos, J. (2013), 'Commemorating Pious Service: Images in Honour of Male and Female Priestly Officers in Asia Minor and the Eastern Aegean in Hellenistic and Roman Times', in M. Horster & A. Klöckner (eds.), Cities and Priests: Cult Personnel in Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands from the Hellenistic to the Imperial Period. Berlin/Boston: 121-53.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note Three different boards of female priestly officials honored Kleidike. Although they do not possess a common collective name, they are involved in a collective action, that is the dedication of Kleidike's statue. Of course, this does not qualify them as an organized group. However, Kleidike's endowment of 700 stateres for sacrifices to be performed in the synodos on the 5th day of Taureon allowed these priestly officials to come together for a specific purpose: to hold sacrifices during the meeting/ festival (synodos). This inscription seems to provide evidence for an association in the making.