Associations in the Greco-Roman World (AGRW)

An expanding collection of inscriptions, papyri, and other sources in translation (run by Philip A. Harland)

[229] Renovation of a Temple for the Pure Goddess by Syrians (200-166 BCE) Delos - Southwestern islands


Delos (Southwestern islands, Aegean Islands — Pleiades map), 200-166 BCE
AGRW 229 = Gérard Siebert, “Sur l’histoire du sanctuaire des dieux syriens a Délos,” BCH 92 (1968) 359-374 = RICIS 202/0194 = AGRW ID# 1597


bibliography            

Slab of blue marble (35.5 x 25 x 6.5 cm). Found in 1967 in the southwestern part of the sanctuary of Atargatis, the Syrian goddess (inv. A 7248). This inscription describes the extension of an existing building as far as the neighboring sanctuary of Sarapis, what would be expanded to become Sarapieion C. Numerous other inscriptions from the final decades of the second century BCE attest to a cult of Syrian deities on Delos centered around the worship of a goddess called variously “Pure Goddess,” “Pure Aphrodite,” “Pure Aphrodite, the Syrian Goddess,” or “Atargatis, Pure Goddess” (see IDelos 2220-2304).

The priest, Nikon son of Apollonios, and the priestess, his wife Onesako daughter of Xenon, arranged for the reconstruction of the previously existing building (oikos), by which it was extended as far as the temple of Sarapis (or: by which it was separated from the area of the temple of Sarapis), on behalf of themselves and their children as a thanksgiving to Hagne Thea (“Pure Goddess”).  The association (koinon) of society members (thiasitai) of Syrians which the goddess gathers together on on the twentieth day (eikadistai) of the month have also made a collection towards the renovation of the building in the amount of fifty Delian drachmas.

Translation by: Harland



ὁ ἱερεὺς Νίκων Ἀπολλωνίου καὶ ἡ ἱέρεια | ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ Ὀνησακὼ Ξένωνος τὸν | προϋπάρχοντα οἶκον ἐξ οὗ ἀφειρέ|θη εἰς τὸν τοῦ Σαράπιδος ναὸν κα||τεσκεύασαν ὑπὲρ αὑτῶν καὶ | τῶν τέκνων Ἁγνεῖ Θεᾶι χαριστήριο[ν]· | καὶ οἵδε συμβέβληνται εἰς τὴν ἐπι|σκευὴν τοῦ οἴκου· τὸ κοινὸν τῶν θιασιτῶ[ν] | τῶν Σύρων τῶν εἰκαδιστῶν οὓς συνήγαγε || ἡ θεός· {erasure} | δ̣[ραχ]μ̣ὰς δηλίας πεντήκοντα.

Item added: January 22, 2012
Item modified: May 25, 2016
ID number: 1597
Short link address:
http://www.philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/?p=1597

Leave a Question, Comment or Correction

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*