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Last Updated on 03 Jun 2019

Author: Vincent Gabrielsen

CAPInv. 97: Aphrodisias[tan - - -] Noume[n]eion (koinon)

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Aegean Islands
ii. Region Rhodes
iii. Site Lindos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Ἀφροδισιασ[τᾶν - - -] Νουμη[ν]είων κοινόν
ii. Full name (transliterated) Aphrodisias[tan - - -] Noume[n]eion (koinon)

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 10 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:From Noumenia the 'new moon', a ritually significant date for a number of associations: Poland 1909, 64, 253. But whereas elsewhere worshippers of the New Moon take names ending in -stai (Noumeniastai: Lys. frg. 53 (Athens), our association uses the ending -eioi.
Most probably the full name of this association consisted of one more element that is not preserved.
Theophoric:From Aphrodite, whose priest and cult are attested in I.Lindos II 134, l. 11, and in IG XII 1, 705. l. 25 (Kamiros). There is sparse evidence for the cult of Aphrodite on Rhodes, so the use of her name in the name of quite a number of associations on Rhodes and its possessions may reflect an eastern (Phoenician) influence: H. van Gelder, Geschichte der alten Rhodier (The Hague, 1909), 336-37; D. Morelli, I culti in Rhodi. Studi classici e orientali 8 (Pisa, 1959): 34-35, 117-18.
iii. Descriptive terms κοινόν, koinon
Note Even though it is not explicitly attested, the word koinon is clearly implied.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Lindos II 392b, l. 20.
I.Lindos II 391, ll. 37-8
Note The name is best preserved in the first of these inscriptions.
Online Resources I.Lindos II 391
I.Lindos II 392a-b
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script I.Lindos II 391: Honorary dedication
I.Lindos II 392a-b: Honorary dedications
In Greek
i.c. Physical format(s) I.Lindos II 391 is a rectangular stele of Lartian marble. The upper right corner is broken. The upper and lower surfaces joined with other blocks. On the lateral faces there is a protruding decorative fillet.
I.Lindos II 392, too, is a rectangular stele of Lartian marble carrying text (a) above text (b).
ii. Source(s) provenance Both stelai have been found on the acropolis of Lindos.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities Our association honoured Lapheides son of Lapheides, the priest of Athana Lindia of AD 10, with a golden wreath (χρυσέω στεφάνω], chryseo stephano) (I.Lindos II 391, l. 38), and his son Lapheides, also with a golden wreath (ibid. 392b, l. 20). Considering the identical honours recorded in the more fragmentary I.Lindos II 392a, which concerns Nikasa (the wife of the priest of Athana), it is likely that our association awarded similar honours to her, too.
In both stelai, the Aphrodisias[tan - - -] Noumeneion (koinon) is listed together with other honouring bodies (public as well as private), which, in addition to other private associations, include the Rhodian demos and the Lindian demos: for the full list, see table in Lindos II col. 747.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The Aphrodisias[tan - - -] Noumeneion (koinon) is listed together with a number of important public bodies (e.g. the Rhodian demos, the Lindian demos) and private associations, all of which (including our association) had awarded honours to members of a very prominent Lindian family: Lapheides son of Lapheides, priest of Athana Lindia of AD 10, his wife Nikasa and their son Lapheides: see I.Lindos II, cols. 41-2, stemma 14.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The cultic and theophoric elements in the name of this association make it certain that it was a private one.