Understanding Material Text Cultures

Materiale Textkulturen

Schriftenreihe des Sonderforschungsbereichs 933

Herausgegeben von
Ludger Lieb

Wissenschaftlicher Beirat:
Jan Christian Gertz, Markus Hilgert,
Hanna Liss, Bernd Schneidmüller,
Melanie Trede und Christian Witschel

Band 9
Understanding
Material
Text Cultures
A Multidisciplinary View

Edited by
Markus Hilgert
ISBN 978-3-11-041785-2
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-11-041784-5
e-ISBN (EPUB) 978-3-11-042528-4
ISSN 2198-6932

Dieses Werk ist lizenziert unter der Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives

3.0 Lizenz. Weitere Informationen finden Sie unter http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

A CIP catalog record for this book has been applied for at the Library of Congress.

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen
Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über
http://dnb.dnb.de abrufbar.

© 2016 Markus Hilgert, publiziert von Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Dieses Buch ist als Open-Access-Publikation verfügbar über www.degruyter.com.
Einbandabbildung: Ausschnitt aus Guido Philipp Schmitt, Ruperto Carola (Ölgemälde, 1886)
Foto: © Atelier Altenkirch, Karlsruhe
Druck und Bindung: Hubert & Co. GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen
♾ Gedruckt auf säurefreiem Papier
Printed in Germany

www.degruyter.com
Contents
Markus Hilgert
A Multidisciplinary View on Material Text Cultures 1

Agnès Garcia-Ventura
Defining Collectives: Materialising and Recording the Sumerian Workforce in the
Third Dynasty of Ur 5

Nathan Morello
A giš on a Tree: Interactions between Images and Inscriptions on Neo-Assyrian
Monuments 31

Antonio J. Morales
From Voice to Papyrus to Wall: Verschriftung and Verschriftlichung in the Old
Kingdom Pyramid Texts 69

Sara Campanelli
Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age: Family and Sacred Space in a Private
Religious Context 131

Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

The Didyma Inscription: Between Legislation and Palaeography 203

Anastasia Grib
The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 243

Notes on Contributors 279

Index 283
Markus Hilgert
A Multidisciplinary View on Material Text
Cultures
Editor’s Preface

Generously funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the Collaborative

Research Center (CRC) 933 “Material Text Cultures: Materiality and Presence of
Writing in Nontypographic Societies” was established at Heidelberg University in
2011, in order to promote interdisciplinary research on the material and topological
settings of writing in nontypographic societies and the social practices of reception
presumably prompted by these settings. Since then, operating within a theoretical
framework specifically created for this purpose1 and using an innovative descriptive
vocabulary,2 researchers from more than 20 disciplines of the Humanities have been
able to shed new light on how writing was conceptualized, materialized, and contex-
tualized in societies without widespread means of mass-producing inscribed objects,
thereby contributing significantly to our understanding of the material text cultures
privileged by these societies.
In order to introduce material text culture research as advanced by the CRC 933
on an international level and to provide young scholars from all over the world with
the opportunity to acquaint themselves with the theoretical setting and the research
strategies of the research center, the executive board of the CRC 933 decided in 2012
to stage an international competition for 6 research fellowships to be awarded to
outstanding young researchers. Applications were invited for innovative, high-risk
research proposals pertinent to the CRC 933’s overall research scheme. The strategic
aim of this decision was threefold. First of all, it was felt that a research center char-
acterized mainly by an interdisciplinary research design should also pay attention
to and promote smaller, single-disciplinary projects located outside of, but highly
pertinent to the CRC 933, thus adding a multidisciplinary dimension to material text
culture research. Second, there existed a curiosity as to the applicability of the theo-
retical premises and methodology developed and tested by the CRC 933 to research on
inscribed artefacts carried out on an international level and in different research envi-
ronments. Finally, it was hoped that the research made possible by the CRC’s research
fellowships would contribute to anchoring material text culture research as proposed
by the CRC 933 within the tradition and broader context of other research strategies
devoted to the material dimension of writing, such as the filologia materiale.

1 Hilgert 2010; Hilgert 2014.

2 Ibid.

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-001, © 2016 Markus Hilgert, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
2 Markus Hilgert

The present volume comprises 6 highly original studies on material text cultures
in different nontypographic societies stretching from the 3rd millennium cuneiform
textual record of Ancient Mesopotamia to 20th century Qur’anic boards of north-
ern and central African provenience. Thus, the volume provides a multidisciplinary
approach to material text cultures complementary to the interdisciplinary, strongly
theory-grounded research scheme of the CRC 933. It illustrates that the questions
and aims driving research within the CRC are valid even outside this academic envi-
ronment and may generate new, exciting research on different subjects and strongly
varying evidence.
The first article presented here is an excellent example of the volume’s breadth
of scope. In her stimulating study “Defining Collectives: Materialising and Recording
the Sumerian Workforce in the Third Dynasty of Ur” (p. 5‒30), Agnès Garcia-Ventura
combines the formal and material analysis of cuneiform administrative records of the
late 3rd millennium BCE with “gender studies and, more specifically, feminist episte-
mologies and postfeminism” (p. 6). Using this innovative approach, Garcia-Ventura
proposes “a new way of reading work groups as they are registered in Ur III texts,
paying attention to their similarities and differences and focusing less on biological
or sexual ties” (p. 6).
Nathan Morello’s investigation entitled “A giš on a Tree: Interactions between
Images and Inscriptions on Neo-Assyrian Monuments” (p. 31‒68) addresses some
of the most salient research problems of CRC 933, as it focuses “on the analysis of
visual and semantic interactions between images and inscriptions that occur in some
Neo-Assyrian monuments when part (i.e. one or more cuneiform signs) of an inscrip-
tion interplays with the part of the sculpted image (i.e. one element of the image or
part of it) that it crosses” (p. 31): “Is it possible to positively identify interactions of
this kind? Is it possible to interpret their meaning and to understand their function (or
functions)? Were they meant to be a sort of concealed ‘game’ within the inscription,
or were they meant to be seen? And once they were seen, who was the intended recip-
ient, the audience, of such interactions?” (p. 31). Morello is able to define a “complex
technique of monument manipulation” (p. 62) that creates “a new level of perception
of the work of art, one that is not only visual or literary, but a combination of the two,
a combination that produces a new message” (p. 62).
In “From Voice to Papyrus to Wall: Verschriftung and Verschriftlichung in the Old
Kingdom Pyramid Texts” (p. 69–130), Antonio J. Morales deals with the “process of
emergence and development of the Pyramid Texts from their oral form to their inscrip-
tion in the chambers of the late Old Kingdom pyramids of kings and queens” (p. 71).
Morales argues in favor of a “re-interpretation of long-standing assumptions on the
origin and development of the Pyramid Texts” (p. 119), as he presents evidence for
the fact, “that the rituals represented by the Pyramid Texts were already in use by the
community before theologians and editors in Heliopolis planned the monumentali-
zation of a king’s pyramid with fixed recitations” (p. 71). He furthermore suggests that
“the royal corpus incorporated not only mortuary service and temple materials, but
 A Multidisciplinary View on Material Text Cultures 3

also other types of recitations associated with magical practices, guilds’ ceremonies,
local festivities, and even arcana” (p. 120).
Analysing “Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age: Family and Sacred
Space in a Private Religious Context” (p. 131–202), Sara Campanelli examines five
inscriptions from the south-Aegean Doric area with a view to “an aspect that has
hardly been touched on in studies on this topic, namely, the physical spaces as an
integral part of the foundation system” (p. 133). Campanelli attempts to “look more
specifically into how the spaces were meant to be used in material and conceptual
terms and to see how they contributed to defining group identity” (p. 133), in order to
show “how and to what extent inscriptions can be used as sources for reconstructing
the architectural layout of places known only from epigraphic records” (p. 134). As one
result of her investigation, Campanelli concludes that “in terms of family self-preser-
vation, a foundation might have been intended to ensure the legitimate transmission
of the inheritance under the aegis of the ‘ancestral’ gods and family heroes. This is all
the more likely if one considers that the cult places were themselves an integral part
of family assets and were used in most cases as sources of income” (p. 193f.).
Another research area of significant importance for the CRC 933 is covered by
Flavia Manservigi’s and Melania Mezzetti’s study on “The Didyma Inscription:
Between Legislation and Palaeography” (p. 203–242). Based on an inscription found
in the town of Didyma (Caria) in 1991 and containing a rescript of Justinian I dated to
533 CE, the authors’ aim is “to investigate the shift from a majuscule to a minuscule
writing system in the Roman world, which started in the 3rd century A.D.” (p. 203).
Carrying out a scrupulous paleographic analysis, Manservigi and Mezzetti are able to
show that “the opening lines of the gesta praefectoria of the Didyma inscription can
be considered a missing link between the opening script of the reports of proceedings
from Egypt and those of the Ravenna papyri” (p. 234). They also contend that “the
main function of the inscription, that is, to show a public message to the people,
failed, and [that] the writing was the bearer of another function, which was to grant
authenticity to a document” (p. 235).
The volume concludes with Anastasia Grib’s fascinating investigation into “The
Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa” (p. 243–278). Grib “pro-
vides a transcription of the symbolic code of the Qur’anic board based on the study of
124 samples from the Brooklyn Museum, the Gallery of Sam Fogg, the Musée du quai
Branly, and other collections” (p. 243). Her aim is to decode “the symbolic language
of the MCQ [i.e. Material Culture of the Qur’an] in the local Islamic centres of West and
North Africa, where the most striking example of the MCQ is the Qur’anic board allo”
(p. 244). Among the various results of the study is the observation that “in West and
North Africa, one finds a semantic unity between two main types of objects belong-
ing to the Material culture of the Qur’an: the Qur’anic manuscripts and the Qur’anic
boards” (p. 277).
The research fellowships of the CRC 933 were awarded with the stipulation that
each fellow gives a public lecture and teaches a seminar on their chosen research
4 Markus Hilgert

topic at Heidelberg University. Both lectures and seminars have turned out to be
highly stimulating for the CRC’s researchers and created new cooperations likely to
spark new material text culture research. Therefore, it is the editor’s hope that the
present volume is not only witness to the dynamic the CRC 933 has created within his
field of investigation, but will also serve as a basis for further research on the numer-
ous intriguing questions raised here.

Literature
Hilgert, Markus (2010), “‘Text-Anthropologie’: Die Erforschung von Materialität und Präsenz des
Geschriebenen als hermeneutische Strategie”, in: Markus Hilgert (ed.), Altorientalistik im 21.
Jahrhundert. Selbstverständnis, Herausforderungen, Ziele (Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-
Gesellschaft 142), Berlin, 85–124.
Hilgert, Markus (2014), “Praxeologisch perspektivierte Artefaktanalysen des Geschriebenen. Zum
heuristischen Potential der materialen Textkulturforschung”, in: Friederike Elias, Albrecht
Franz, Ulrich W. Weiser and Henning Murmann (eds.), Praxeologie. Beiträge zur interdiszi-
plinären Reichweite praxistheoretischer Ansätze in den Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften
(Materiale Textkulturen 3), Berlin, 149–164.
Agnès Garcia-Ventura
Defining Collectives: Materialising and
Recording the Sumerian Workforce in the Third
Dynasty of Ur
Kinship is one of the main aspects that scholars have borne in mind in their attempts
to characterise the workforce recorded in administrative texts of the Mesopotamian
Third Dynasty of Ur (ca. 2112–2004 BCE). In my view, although some of the hypoth-
eses proposed regarding marital status and filiation can improve our understanding
of these texts, others risk distracting our attention from possible complementary or
alternative readings.
The twentieth-century scholars who first proposed the translations of Sumerian
terms that are currently quoted and used1 began by considering the biological family
and kinship as the main structuring institutions; only rather later did they begin to
consider other ways of defining collectives and the workforce. In fact, their first trans-
lations may actually have been more a reflection of their own context than of the
context they meant to describe. Aware of this possible bias, I propose to reassess some
of these terms in an attempt to identify what they highlight, and consequently what
they tell us about the ways in which work collectives were built and perceived.
Certain studies of the organisation of work and society in the Mesopotamian
Third Dynasty of Ur give the impression that it was arranged on the basis of the het-
erosexual couple, the typical situation in most of the societies which have carried out
research into Assyriology. This means that at different levels—that is, the biological
level (for the production of new members of society), and the social or administrative
level (for the production and distribution of goods)—the nuclear family is regarded as
the foundation. However, extended families might also be focal points for the organ-
isation of labour: great organisations like Mesopotamian temples and palaces could

This article emerged from the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cultures.
Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies”. The CRC 933 is financed by the
German Research Foundation (DFG). I wish to thank Érica Couto-Ferreira and Lorenzo Verderame for
their valuable comments on the first version of this paper. Obviously all remaining errors and omis-
sions are my own responsibility.

1 See the following sections for references—some of them merely quoted, others discussed in more
detail. The transliteration of terms follows the Assyriological form: spacing for Sumerian, italicised
for Akkadian. Abbreviations follow the usage of the Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasia-
tischen Archäologie. A complete list is also available at http://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/doku.php?id=abbre-
viations_for_assyriology (last accessed: December 2013). However, to simplify references for readers
unfamiliar with the discipline, I include in the footnotes the reading of the abbreviation the first time
it is quoted in the paper, together with its correspondence to the author and year as quoted in the final
bibliography list.

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-002, © 2016 Agnès Garcia-Ventura, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
6 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

be considered as extended families, reproducing the relationships of patriarchy and

dependency that typify the family defined from the purely biological point of view.
Taking these different levels of social organisation into account, in this paper I
intend to show that a careful study of the sources can alert us to the presence of col-
lectives that are larger than the nuclear family and are not based solely on biological
ties. In order to do this, I concentrate on a sample of texts dealing with textile produc-
tion, one of the industries that flourished in southern Mesopotamia at the threshold
of the third and second millennia BCE.
The paper is organised in four sections, plus some concluding remarks. First,
I offer a short introduction to the context and sources of the Mesopotamian Third
Dynasty of Ur. Second, I briefly present the theoretical framework used—that is,
gender studies and, more specifically, feminist epistemologies and postfeminism.
Third, I discuss how different premises have been used to analyse groups of both
males and females, and how these analyses have led to different results, despite the
fact that the evidence from the texts from different periods and the evidence we can
deduce from archaeological records do not vary greatly. Fourth, I propose a new way
of reading work groups as they are registered in Ur III texts, paying attention to their
similarities and differences and focusing less on biological or sexual ties.

1 The Third Dynasty of Ur: Historical Context and

Sources
The period known as the Third Dynasty of Ur, or Ur III, lasted for roughly 100 years.
The exact chronology is still debated, but one of the most widely accepted possibili-
ties is the period between 2112 and 2004 BCE.2 We know the names of five monarchs
who ruled the southern part of ancient Mesopotamia in this period: Ur-Namma (who
ruled for 18 years), Šulgi (with the longest reign, 48 years), Amar-Suena (nine years),
Šu-Suen (nine years) and Ibbi-Suen (25 years). From this period of approximately 100
years we have a large number of cuneiform texts written in Sumerian, most of them
administrative texts. The data vary depending on the study we cite; however, taking
BDTNS3 as a reference, around 120,000 tablets from this period have been unearthed,

2 Among the relative chronologies, 2112–2004 BCE is the one that is most widely supported and is
quoted by, among others, Marc Van de Mieroop 2004, 282, Jacob Dahl 2007, 2, and Piotr Michalowski
2011, 1. However, Walther Sallaberger proposed some slight differences in his Ur III reference vol-
ume (Sallaberger 1999, 123–124) where he suggested the chronology 2111–2003 BCE, and more recently
2110–2003 BCE (Sallaberger 2004, 42).
3 The Online Database of Neo-Sumerian Texts: http://bdtns.filol.csic.es/ (last accessed: December
2013).
 Defining Collectives 7

of which roughly 80,000 have been published so far.4 Since this documentation is
highly standardised, we can focus on only a few examples in order to broaden our
understanding of the whole group.
Usually, the high volume of texts and the information they contain are inter-
preted as indications of the degree of centralisation and bureaucratisation5 of the Ur
III period. But there are other possibilities: this bureaucracy might have emerged due
to institutional mistrust of administrative staff who were breaking the rules for their
own personal benefit. If so, bureaucracy would have been a tool for preventing fraud.6
In any case, administrative texts are numerous in Ur III. Some of them are related
to the textile sector.7 There are lists showing the names of textile workers organised in
teams under a supervisor, sometimes indicating the sum paid for the work. There are
also lists of the types of cloth to be sold to the wealthier classes or to be traded abroad.
Other administrative texts contain information on the stages of production and
include terms related to tasks prior to spinning and weaving, such as sheep shearing
and the initial work on the wool. Thus the administrative and economic texts provide
both numerical data (prices, wages, the number of workers involved in each task),
information on the quality of the cloth, and other data of a social nature, such as the
origin of the workforce and the conditions in which they lived and worked.
Finally, we should note that this vast body of written material is not without its
limitations as a source for research. One of them is that most clay tablets come from
looting and illegal digs; as nothing is known of their archaeological context, a great
deal of information is lost. Examples of this are Umma and Puzriš-Dagan, the two
main settlements from which most Ur III tablets come, but which have never been
systematically excavated.8

4 Molina 2008, 20.

5 For a reflection on the use of the word “bureaucracy” when referring to Ur III administration, see
Civil 1987, 43.
6 Warburton 2005, 174.
7 The main reference on the Ur III textile sector today is the volume edited by Hartmut Waetzoldt in
1972. Subsequent studies have added more information or have tried to summarise and interpret some
of the data that Waetzoldt discusses. With a specific focus on the workforce see, among others, Firth
2013; Garcia-Ventura 2012a, 2012b, 2013, 2014a and 2014b; Maekawa 1980, 1989 and 1998; Uchitel 1984
and 2002; Verderame 2008; Verderame/Spada 2013; Waetzoldt 1987, 1988 and 2011; Wright 1996, 1998
and 2008.
8 Zettler 2003, 59–61.
8 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

2 Theoretical Framework: Feminist Epistemologies

and Postfeminism
The starting point for my analysis of the texts is the debate proposed above all by
so-called “feminist epistemologies”. The aim of this debate is to question and rethink
the process of knowledge production and the choice of topics of study in an attempt
to include women in historical discourses, avoiding the preconceptions that have led
to androcentric interpretations and conclusions.9
In addition, I also start from some debates arising from postfeminism—more spe-
cifically, the academic postfeminism that is linked to the principles of post-modern-
ism. I will refer especially to some of the proposals made by Judith Butler.
Of course, the label “postfeminism” groups together diverse, even contradictory
schools of thought and trends.10 Some postfeminist proposals, which are particularly
relevant to the topic of this paper, deal with the notion of kinship understood as a
cultural entity and not as a natural one. Usually, we tend to define kinship relation-
ships as those established through sexual ties (basically through heterosexual mar-
riage) or biological ties (basically through filiation), and then reduce kinship to them.
However, taking into account these proposals and placing the emphasis on friendship
and solidarity networks unrelated to sexual and biological ties creates new perspec-
tives of analysis. In this regard the notion of “homosociality”11 is interesting, referring
as it does to same-sex relationships and ties that are not necessarily of a sexual or
romantic nature.
The definition of kinship as surpassing biological and sexual ties was an issue
raised by thinkers like Gayle S. Rubin and Monique Wittig. In her classic 1975 essay
The Traffic in Women: Notes on the ‘Political Economy’,12 Rubin analysed the concepts
of “family” and “kinship” and discussed some proposals from Marxism (mainly the
proposals of Marx and Engels) and from psychoanalysis (mainly from Lacan). Rubin
insisted on the concept of kinship defined more as a social entity than as a biological
one. For her part, Wittig proposed an idea of heterosexuality not merely as a sexual
option but as a political one as well.13

9 As a classic reference see Alcoff/Potter 1993, including papers by (among others) Helen Longino
and Sandra Harding.
10 For a good summary of the diverse trends of postfeminism, see Genz/Bravon 2009 (especially pp.
106–131 for a presentation of “Postmodern (Post)feminism” and “Queer (Post)feminism”, chapters 5
and 6). For a summary from a sociological perspective, see Seidman 2008, 235–249.
11 On their potential application to the analysis of ancient Near Eastern written sources, see Lion
2007, 59–64. On their application to archaeological analysis, see Voss 2012.
12 Rubin 1975, 169 and 179–180. See also Rubin 2011, 33–65 for a compilation of her essays, including
the one referenced here.
13 Wittig’s best-known essay, The Straight Mind, was first published in 1980 in the first number of the
journal Feminist Issues and had previously been read as a lecture in New York in 1978. However, the
 Defining Collectives 9

More recently, taking these first proposals into account, Judith Butler14 proposed
to define kinship as follows:

If we understand kinship as a set of practices that institutes relationships of various kinds which
negotiate the reproduction of life and the demands of death, then kinship practices will be those
that emerge to address fundamental forms of human dependency, which may include birth,
child rearing, relations of emotional dependency and support, generational ties, illness, dying,
and death (to name a few). Kinship is neither a fully autonomous sphere, proclaimed to be dis-
tinct from community and friendship—or the regulations of the state—through some definitional
fiat, nor is it ‘over’ or ‘dead’.15

Finally, to close this section, I should mention another issue that has been extensively
discussed within feminist epistemologies and postfeminism, particularly by Butler
herself—the very definition of “woman” as a category of analysis.16 It is a problem-
atic issue, especially for feminist epistemologies: while questioning certain terms and
their uses, they defend and try to deconstruct “women” as a category of analysis.17 To
quote Donna Haraway, in an extract that also alludes to race and class and proposes
that all three are culturally constructed:

There is nothing about being «female» that naturally binds women. There is not even such a
state as ‘being’ female, itself a highly complex category constructed in contested sexual scientific
discourses and other social practices. Gender, race, or class-consciousness is an achievement
forced on us by the terrible historical experience of the contradictory social realities of patriar-
chy, colonialism, and capitalism.18

At this point, as occurs with “race” as a category of analysis in postcolonial studies,

the aim of feminist epistemologies is that the term “woman” should be discussed as a
category of analysis in such a manner as to make it wither away. Wittig summarises it
thus in her essay The Straight Mind:

‘Man’ and ‘woman’ are political concepts of opposition, and the copula which dialectically
unites them is, at the same time, the one which abolishes them. It is the class struggle between
women and men which will abolish men and women.19

classic edition usually quoted is that of 1992, a volume that includes several more essays by Wittig. I
quote only the 1992 reference in the final bibliography list and I use it for further citations.
14 Butler 2004, 25–35 and 102–105.
15 Butler 2004, 104.
16 Butler 1990, 3–9.
17 cf. Haraway 1991a, 148: “the identity of ‘woman’ is both claimed and deconstructed simultane-
ously”.
18 Haraway 1991b, 155.
19 Wittig 1992, 29.
10 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

3 Homosociality versus the Harem: Two Patterns for

Interpreting Groups
Ur III administrative texts contain two Sumerian words that identify the two main
groups of low-ranking workers: geme 2 (female workers) and guruš (male workers).
Their belonging to a group is usually defined by first considering their family context,
understood as being based on biological and sexual ties. However, in this study I
propose to analyse it by seeing the group as based on solidarity and kinship net-
works, which are not totally dependent on biology. In addition, as far as women are
concerned, the only collectives considered in the secondary literature (besides the
family) are harems. In this section I will discuss both models, focusing on homosoci-
ality and solidarity networks to explore the shaping of workers’ groups and present-
ing some criticisms of the specific way in which women’s collectives are treated in the
secondary literature.

3.1 Homosociality and Solidarity Networks

Textile workers (mainly females) were organised in teams of varying sizes, which
shared the same supervisor and performed similar day-to-day tasks. It is clear from
the data compiled in the workers’ lists that they spent many hours together. Some-
times they were listed together with children, probably their offspring.20 Therefore,
although in these administrative texts their existence is not explicitly stated, it is
likely that in this context personal relationships and solidarity networks would have
been key elements in these working groups.
One argument in favour of this hypothesis is the fact that female solidarity has
supported both productive and reproductive work over the ages.21 Probably for this
reason, it has been feminist thinkers who have stressed the existence of solidarity net-
works as a characteristic of female work environments. Obviously this does not mean
that I defend an essentialist view of female and male work environments—only that
certain features of stereotypical femininity and stereotypical masculinity have been
constructed, in certain working environments. For example, in the tobacco industry
in nineteenth-century Spain, female cigar makers worked in groups, whereas male
employees in the same factories performed more individual tasks.22
Indeed, throughout history, solidarity networks have traditionally been associ-
ated with activities considered pertinent to women’s arenas.23 Stories passed down in

20 For examples of texts, see the following section (number 4).

21 Juliano 1998.
22 Gálvez Muñoz 2000, 237.
23 Juliano 1998, 79–84.
 Defining Collectives 11

the oral tradition show how certain conceptions of kinship and homosociality operate
in women’s groups. Today, most of these stories are regarded as oppressive towards
women. Nevertheless a closer analysis suggests that, on occasion, they may present
opportunities for women: indeed, women have traditionally been the main transmit-
ters of stories, which have sometimes been used to claim a space for freedom built
upon solidarity networks.24 An example is one of the possible interpretations of the
Sleeping Beauty story: the princess grows up outside the heterosexual nuclear family,
in a context in which she is cared for by fairies (all female). This tale is a good example
of kinship based not only on biological or sexual ties—an example of a homosocial
context.
However, if we go back to ancient Mesopotamia and look now at male workers,
the Ur III administrative texts recording only the male workforce (identified as guruš
[low rank “male workers”] or erin 2 [“male gangs”]) include the same information
as those recording only female workers. In other words, the workforces are recorded
without any information about the sexual or biological ties among the individuals
listed. As in lists of female workers, children are sometimes listed with male workers.
As the data and the format of texts are the same, it seems plausible that we will also
find examples of solidarity networks and homosociality as well. At a much later date,
in eighteenth-century Turin, spinners working in textile production were mainly
male: sources show that these men lived outside biologically based family structures,
in households composed of fellow workers and neighbours.25 This can be considered
as another example of homosociality.
Another useful example, despite the even greater geographical and chronological
distance from the texts of Mesopotamian Ur III, is the analysis of Chinatown in San
José, California, at the end of the nineteenth century. The process was characterised
by a clear sexual segregation: while the women stayed in China, the men emigrated
to the US in order to trade, and created new communities abroad. This situation is not
exceptional, as in fact sexual segregation is frequent in migratory processes. Barbara
Voss26 used this example to show how placing the focus on homosociality leads to
interesting results. Voss’s study shows that we can find evidence of solidarity net-
works that are usually hidden if the main research question focuses on traditional
kinship (i.e., based on sexual and biological ties) and heterosexual relationships. In
this regard, Voss notes that when we are asked about the frequency of homosexuality
in homosocial contexts we fall into the trap of again imposing political content on the
sexual options, as the question is heavily loaded.27

24 Juliano 1992, 53–54.

25 Carbonell 1997, 52–53.
26 Voss 2012. Cf. Hall 2012.
27 Voss 2012, 187–188.
12 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

Moving back to the ancient Near East, it seems logical that solidarity relation-
ships were common not only inside same-sex groups of workers, but among groups
containing both males and females. If we focus on status instead of sex or gender in
our research questions, then certain situations can be more easily explained. Solidar-
ity networks seem to have worked better among workers of the same or similar status
(regardless of their sex) than among workers of the same sex but different rank. A
similar panorama is shown by María Rosa Oliver and Eleonora Ravenna in their anal-
ysis of certain aspects of Old Babylonian society in the light of some articles in the
Code of Hammurabi (reign 1792–1759 BCE, according to the middle chronology).28 As
with the analysis of some Ur III texts, when the starting point is the interest in women
in Antiquity and the construction of gender identity, paradoxically, we realise that
concentrating on sex and gender alone cannot reflect what is in fact a very complex
picture. To achieve our goal we need to combine several factors and apply an intersec-
tional approach. In fact, intersecting gender and class usually produces stimulating
results.
All of these reflections suggest that kinship (defined in a broad sense) and
homosociality affected males and females of similar status interacting in a variety of
arenas. Take, for example, the monastery, an institution that is closer to us as a cul-
tural model and has survived over the centuries. Monastic communities are sexually
segregated, and among same-sex groups (i.e., monks and nuns) there arise relation-
ships of solidarity that are not necessarily based on sexual or biological ties. Bridging
the gap, probably the females designated nadītu in ancient Mesopotamia also lived
together in communities, i.e. in communities that were sexually segregated as well.29
Moreover, even in these sexually segregated contexts there are examples of solidarity
networks between male and female communities or individuals. The friendship and
collaboration among San Juan de la Cruz and Santa Teresa de Jesús in sixteenth-cen-
tury Spain is one of the most emblematic examples.
Of course the performance of certain duties—for instance, some of those related
to textile work—involved physical proximity and cooperation, which would have
facilitated the emergence of these solidarity relationships.30 It is also interesting to
analyse this phenomenon through Butler’s thoughts on how subjects are constituted.
Butler explains what she terms “stubborn attachment” as the preference we have for
being part of a collective (good or bad, better or worse) instead of being part of noth-
ing.31 Difference feminism also describes this condition as a feeling of lack, and a

28 Oliver/Ravenna 2001, especially p. 250.

29 For an overview on nadītu, with further references, see Sallaberger/Huber Vuillet 2005, 633–634.
30 Naji 2009.
31 Butler 1997, 31–62.
 Defining Collectives 13

consequent ongoing search that generates the wish to transcend ourselves through
the relationships we establish.32
Thus, even assuming that many of the female and male workers registered in Ur
III texts were probably members of heteronormative families, it also becomes clear
that these families were neither their only resource nor their only daily context.
Often, nuclear families survive precisely thanks to solidarity networks that extend
beyond their limits. What is more, how a family is defined and formed is dynamic,
and changes over a person’s lifetime and over history. So we cannot expect a single
model to be able to give a full account of the lifetime of a worker in Mesopotamia, as
his or her situation may well have changed over time due to age, illness or factors over
which they had no control (being taken prisoner in times of war, for example).

3.2 Collectives of Women: The “Harem” under Suspicion

So far, we have seen that we need to add more elements to our research, and not
rely solely on gender. But paradoxically, we cannot help but pay special attention to
gender because, in my view, it is a key to understanding why the study of groups of
females in the ancient Near East focused on “harems” and not on groups of workers.
The choice of one group over the other is the result of a process of hypersexualisation
of women in traditional historiography.33 This process places the spotlight on the
“harem” (with the sexual connotation that the term implies), while neglecting collec-
tives of work as potential groups in their own right and as scenarios for the creation
of solidarity networks. Probably as a consequence, the “harem” has been studied in
depth, and the suitability of the use of the term “harem” itself has come in for criti-
cism. Let us now look at some of the main contributions on the “harem”, applied to
the study of the ancient Near East.
The publication that represents the turning point in the study of the “harem”
in the ancient Near East is Nele Ziegler’s monograph, published in 1999, entitled Le
harem de Zimri-Lim. La population féminine des Palais d’après les archives royales de
Mari. Ziegler begins by noting some criticisms of the use of the term “harem” applied
to the ancient Near East, for instance, the objections raised by Joan Goodnick West-
enholz.34 Moreover, she acknowledges that there are major differences in the concep-
tions of women’s seclusion and the sexual nature attributed to Ottoman harems (the
main reference when discussing the term) and the collectives described as “harems”
in Mari. However, in the end she accepts the use of the word on the grounds that it is
applied to describe a collective of women living together in the same area of a palace,

32 Rivera Garretas 2001, 43.

33 Cf. Assante 2006.
34 Westenholz 1990.
14 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

the most private area, and that it has clear connotations of polygamy. She therefore
uses “harem” for want of a more appropriate word to refer to

[…] l’espace habité par les femmes dans le palais royal et plus largement l’ensemble des femmes
appartenant à la famille ou au service du roi, qu’elles fussent mères, filles ou épouses du roi ou
bien musiciennes, servantes ou gardiennes de portes.35

This definition is completed by a list of what is not included in Ziegler’s concept of

“harem”: “Le harem ne comprend donc pas les femmes travaillant dans les ergastules
(nepârum), tisseuses ou autres”.
More recently, Adelina Millet36 has studied the texts of the Chagar Bazar “harem”.
The Chagar Bazar and Mari “harems” are contemporary, geographically close, and
share certain similarities. Millet quotes Ziegler with regard to the discussion of the
suitability of the term, reiterating the differences between the realities of northern
Syria at the beginning of the second millennium BCE and the Ottoman empire of the
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Millet’s proposal to define the term “harem” in this
context is more inclusive than the previous one: “nous utilisons le terme ‘harem’ au
sens large pour désigner la famille d’un roi ou d’un personnage important et, dans
le cas qui nous intéresse, la famille de Sîn-iqišam, dirigeant de Chagar-Bazar”.37 We
see, then, that the term is not restricted to women here, but to all those receiving beer
allocations, i.e., masculine deities, sons and other characters who can be identified
by their proper names as males, alongside females.
Both Ziegler and Millet make convincing criticisms of the use of the term “harem”,
showing that the evidence from the ancient Near Eastern and the Ottoman era suggest
that there are more differences than similarities. However, faute de mieux, both defend
the use of the word.
Of course all words have connotations, and we are obliged to use them nonethe-
less. I think, though, that at least we can avoid using the ones that are most heavily
loaded. In my view, “harem” is one such word: its definition in the Collins Dictionary
is “a group of female animals of the same species that are the mates of a single male”.
Other definitions in this dictionary and in Webster’s always link the term “harem”
with women (wives, concubines, servants and so on) even though the “harem”
recorded in Chagar Bazar texts also includes men.
Zainab Bahrani38 contends that the use of the term “harem” is a paradigmatic
example of the survival of the concept of “Orientalism” defined by Edward Said
in 1978. Following Said, Bahrani observes that scholars use a static concept of the
“Orient” as the starting point of their research and as a way to identify some common

35 Ziegler 1999, 8 and 8, footnote 5, respectively for both quotations.

36 Millet Albà 2008.
37 Millet Albà 2008, 239 and 248–249 for a breakdown of who is included in this “harem”.
38 Bahrani 2001, 16.
 Defining Collectives 15

issues shared by both the ancient Near East and the Islamic world. Bahrani also
states that the word “harem” is used to identify all the contexts and realities that
link women and palaces. So the proposal of avoiding the use of this word aims to
show that nothing is static and that the imaginary linked to the Ottoman Empire that
we still apply in our research is one created in the nineteenth century, especially as
depicted in Western art.39
On the other hand, when Ziegler and Millet justify their use of the term, they do
it to highlight either polygamy (Ziegler) or the notion of family (Millet). Consequently,
they reinforce the definition of kinship as based on sexual and biological ties, leaving
aside the potential relevance of other ties like the ones described above, e.g., solidar-
ity networks or friendship. In this regard the Mari letters are especially interesting,
as they allow us a glimpse inside the “harem” and of the complex relationships that
were created there by hierarchy and inequality—factors that were not restricted to,
or totally dependent on, traditional kinship.40 Millet also reports the participation
of males in the so-called “harems” and questions the presence of eunuchs (at least
in Mari and Chagar Bazar) at the beginning of the second millennium BCE, as their
existence has not been proven. Taking all this evidence into account, we see that the
idea of the “harem” as an entity linked exclusively to women fades away.
Finally, other scholars followed Ziegler and Millet in considering that the use of
the term “harem” was more problematic than advantageous, and came up with new
proposals. Saana Teppo,41 for instance, proposes “female administrator” to translate
the Akkadian šakintu, instead of “female manager of the harem”. Similarly, Oliver
suggests using “house of women” in contexts like Mari, avoiding the use of “harem”,
which, she says, “se utiliza por la imposición de su uso no porque se asimile al harem
islámico ni turco otomano”.42 In taking these decisions, scholars show that kinship
ties based on biology or sex are neither “natural” nor the only ones that are useful for
interpreting data.
In summary, I think it is important to state explicitly that the use of the word
“harem” emphasises certain relationships and renders others invisible. The same
happens when we present a group of female or male workers as a work collective: we
highlight some links while hiding others. So we should tread carefully when defin-
ing groups and collectives, and state explicitly why we privilege certain choices over
others. Let us look now at some specific proposals along these lines.

39 Graham-Brown 1987.
40 Solvang 2008, 420.
41 Teppo 2007.
42 Oliver 2008, footnotes 10 and 57; see also Oliver 2010, 117, especially footnote 6.
16 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

4 Materialising and Recording the Ur III Textile

Workforce
In Ur III administrative texts, low-ranking female workers or low-ranking male
workers may be recorded together, in the same text, or segregated by sex, i.e., in texts
that list exclusively either males or females. When males and females appear segre-
gated by sex, one of the frequent aims in the secondary literature is to look for possi-
ble relationships between these male and female workers.43 These proposals all start
from the heterosexual family model, and assess the extent to which the data fit this
model. Here I propose to do the opposite, i.e., first analysing how people are grouped
in the texts, in an attempt to see whether biological and sexual ties are among the
criteria used to group them. I contend that this approach, which does not rely on pre-
conceptions regarding the presence of the heterosexual nuclear family and the sexual
relationship between males and females, may shed light on how the scribes who reg-
istered the workforce envisaged the collective and personal relationships.
As we are dealing with administrative texts, we have to keep in mind that the
primary aim was not to provide information on the family context of the workforce.
However, this can be interpreted in two ways. On the one hand, perhaps it was irrele-
vant to determine the marital status and offspring of the workers. On the other, things
that are self-evident are not usually written down, and perhaps there was no need
to record kinship relationships based on sexual or biological ties. If we consider this
second option, it is impossible for us to determine whether it was evident to them that
certain kinship ties did or did not exist.
In any case, I propose that marital status was probably not the main factor in
listing the workforce in different groups. Analysing texts listing rations and alloca-
tions for the workforce and texts listing workers assigned to specific tasks, it is pos-
sible to determine the criteria that were applied to group personnel. Here I highlight
four of these criteria: the sexual division of labour,44 hierarchy, speciality, and work-
place.
The first criterion, the sexual division of labour, is evident in the lists segregated
by sex. The second criterion (often interacting with the first one) is hierarchy. Accord-
ingly, some lists only include foremen/forewomen and supervisors in various produc-
tive sectors; others include only low-ranking workers without separating females and

43 See among others, Gelb 1973, 75; Maekawa 1987, 64; Waetzoldt 1988, 41–44; Wright 1996, 89, 91 and
98; Wright 2008, 259 (with previous references).
44 There is some debate concerning the suitability of the term “sexual” in this context. Some scholars
propose the use of “gender” instead of “sex”. See, among others, proposals like “gendered tasks” or
“gendered division of labour” (Asher-Greve 2008, 128–132), or “division of labour by gender” (Harding
1986, 17). Despite the criticisms, here I will use “sexual division of labour” as it is the label that is most
commonly used and is easy to understand outside the field of gender studies.
 Defining Collectives 17

males. The third criterion, speciality, is clear when in the same list we find females
and/or males who may or may not share the same status but are listed together simply
because they were employed in the same productive sector—for instance, textile pro-
duction. The fourth and last criterion proposed here is the shared workplace. After
examining certain administrative texts that mentioned the workforce involved in
textile production, I realised that most texts were governed by one or several of the
criteria presented here.45
In my view, it is particularly interesting that kinship is rarely made explicit. In
fact, there are only occasionally explicit references to offspring, although it is not
possible to establish whether they are references to biological offspring.46 Moreover,
even when kinship is made explicit, it is never the main criterion for explaining why
a specific group of workers is listed together. Below, I show some texts in translitera-
tion and translation into English, which illustrate how the four criteria here proposed
serve to shape collectives. At the end, I also include an example that does not fit in
my proposal.
Beginning with the first criterion, there are a number of examples of the use of the
sexual division of labour as a criterion for the recording of workers. See for example
text 1:47

Text 1

obverse obverse
1. 20+2 geme2 u41-še3 22 female workers for 1 working day
2. ša3 Ummaki in Umma
3. 2 geme2 u46-še3 2 female workers for 6 working days
4. ša3 I7-lugal-ka at the king’s channel
5. gir3 Ur-e11-e under the authority of Ur-E’e
6. udu kur-ra ur4-ra to shear mountain sheep.*

45 The sample I initially used to develop these proposals is a selection of 100 representative texts,
in turn selected from a sample of almost 2000. See Garcia-Ventura 2012a, 103–117 and 432 for a
description and for some statistics from the first sample (2000 texts) and for the complete list of the
second sample (100 texts) respectively.
46 For the state of research on the Sumerian term du m u , usually translated as “son”, see Pomponio
2013. Pomponio summarises arguments for and against considering dumu as proof of biological ties
among those recorded in Ur III administrative texts. See also Verderame/Spada 2013, 426–427, and
Garcia-Ventura 2014b, 305–312.
47 NBC 887 = BPOA 6, 1319 = Sigrist/Ozaki 2009a, t. 1319. The text is from Umma, from the 46th year
of Šulgi’s reign. Cf. among others with SAT II, 509 (= YBC 376 = Sigrist 2000, t. 509) or BPOA 7, 2108
(= NBC 3259 = Sigrist/Ozaki 2009b, t. 2108), both from Umma, from the same regnal year and listing
low-ranking female workers required for seasonal duties.
18 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

reverse reverse
7. ki Da-da-ga-ta From Dadaga
8. kišib ensi2-ka sealed by the governor.
9. iti dDumu-zi Month: 12
10. mu ki-maški ba-hul Year: 46th of Šulgi’s reign
+ seal + seal

Notes on Text 1: * For the translation “mountain sheep” and their frequent attestation in Umma, see
Waetzoldt 1972, 8–9 and Steinkeller 1995, 54.

This text lists female workers using the Sumerian word geme 2. It is an example of
the texts in which low-ranking female or male workers are required to carry out sea-
sonal duties related to digging channels or to sheep shearing, among other tasks.
These workers are usually divided by sex, without their specialisation or age, or any
reference to offspring. Many other lists of workers, besides those referring to seasonal
duties, follow the same pattern. In these texts the number of workers varies widely.
For this reason, any consideration of the idea of the collective and the possible soli-
darity networks among workers should include the size of the group.
In other words, various scales should be considered when characterising work-
force collectives. This is obvious enough in our modern-day employment contexts:
groups of people working closely together coexist with other, larger groups. These
other groups often comprise members we do not know directly if we work in a big
company, but in some way (perhaps only symbolically) we all are part of the same
collective, even though we do not share a direct, daily relationship. In my view,
this is what we find (among other things), in text Um 2282.48 In each line we have
a number of female workers and the grain allotment they receive. The text includes
only low-ranking female workers, geme2 in Sumerian. This sequence is repeated 13
times with similar numbers of female workers: it is an account of the whole year (the
third year of Šu-Suen’s reign) detailed month by month. Each month, a group of more
than 100 female workers is recorded. The fact that this number of workers is larger
than the one shown above raises the question of different scales.
Moving on now to the criterion of hierarchy, let us look at text 2:49

48 Um. 2282 = UTI 3, 2282 = Yildiz/Gomi 1993, t. 2282.

49 U 5086 = UET 9, 38 = Loding 1976, t. 38. The text is from Ur, from the 8th year of Ibbi-Suen’s reign.
 Defining Collectives 19

Text 2

obverse obverse
1. 11 ugula uš-bar 11 foremen/forewomen of the textile workshop
2. 5 sila3-ta (receive) 5 sila each one
3. 5 sila3 Ur-AB šar2-ra-ab-du 5 sila (for) Ur-abba, šarrabtû* official.

reverse reverse
4. iti a2-ki-ti Month: 7
5. mu us2-sa bad3-gal ba-du3 mu us2-sa-bi Year: 8th of Ibbi-Suen’s reign

Notes on Text 2: * I opt not to translate the term, as the duties of these officials are not clear to us. As
a guide, I quote the description proposed by Waetzoldt: “a functionary with a scribal education who
appears in the documents in the capacity of an inspector. The precise nature of this office remains
uncertain” (Waetzoldt 1987, 136).

In this text, 11 foremen or forewomen at the textile workshop receive a payment.

Whether they are male or female is not specified, nor are their proper names listed.
We do not have any information about the workers under their charge, or their tasks.
The absence of these details suggests that the scribes making the record considered
them as a collective by then. Indeed the only information given explicitly is their posi-
tion, which suggests a concern with hierarchy.
For the third criterion—the speciality or productive sector—text 350 is a good
example:

Text 3

obverse obverse
1. 600 geme2 uš-bar 1 sila3 ninda-ta 600 female weavers,1 sila of bread (for each one)
2. 12 lu2azlag2 1 sila3 ninda-ta 12 fullers, 1 sila of bread (for each one)
3. 8 ugula uš-bar 1 sila3 ninda-ta 8 foremen/forewomen at the textile workshop,
4. 8 ra2-gaba 1 sila3 ninda-ta 1 sila of bread (each one)
8 messengers, 1 sila of bread (each one)

reverse reverse
5. geme2 uš-bar lu2azlag2! female weavers and fullers
6. ugula uš-bar u3 ra2-gaba foremen/forewomen at the textile workshop (and) messen-
gers
7. igi-kar2-de3 gen-na going to pass inspection
8. Gir2-suki -ta Gu2-ab-baki -še3 from Girsu to Guabba
9. šu ba-ab-ti received.
10. gir3 Lu2-kal-la Under the authority of Lukalla,

50 AO 27476 = DAS 255 = Lafont 1985, t. 255. The text is from Girsu, from the 1st year of Šu-Suen’s reign.
20 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

11. gir3 Inim-dBa-u2- i3-dab5 under the authority of Inim-Ba’u

12. u3 Lu2-kiri3-zal dumu na-mu and Lu-Kirizal, son of Namu (all them) received.
13. iti gu4-ra2-izi-´mu2-mu2` Month: 2
14. mu dŠu-dSuen ´lugal` Year: 1st of Šu-Suen’s reign

In lines 5 and 6, female weavers and fullers, foremen/forewomen of the textile work-
shop, and messengers are mentioned. Therefore, there is neither a sexual division
of labour nor a hierarchical criterion, as all of them have to pass the inspection. The
heterogeneous group includes male and female workers of different ranks. But in this
case, unlike others, the speciality is stated: with the exception of the messengers, all
the others are explicitly linked to textile production.
An example of how some of the criteria mentioned to date (sexual division of
labour, hierarchy, speciality or productive sector) might be combined is text 4,51 where
sexual division of labour and productive sector are presented together.

Text 4

obverse obverse
1. 1 tug2 Ša3-igi-na engar 1 garment for Ša-igina, the farmer
2. 1 tug2 Ur-dUtu dumu bar-ra 1 garment for Ur-Utu, son of Barra
--- (1 line blank) --- (1 line blank)
3. ugula Šeš-kal-la dumu da-da foreman Šeškalla, son of Dada
4. 2 tug2 ka-guru7 2 garments for the granary supervisor
5. 2 tug2 Ur-dNin-tu ugula uš-bar 2 garments for Ur-Nintu, foreman at the textile workshop
6. 1 tug2 Šeš-kal-la dumu tir-gu 1 garment Šeškalla, son of Tirgu
--- (1 line blank) --- (1 line blank)
7. lu2 didli-me they are for one (they are not part of a team)
8. 1 tug2 Ur-Gu2-eden-na engar` 1 garment for Ur-Guedena, the farmer
9. 1 tug2 A-kal-la ša3-gu4 1 garment for A(ya)kalla, the oxherd

reverse reverse
--- (1 line blank) --- (1 line blank)
10. ugula Lugal-nesag-e foreman: Lugal-nesag’e
==== (blank space) ==== (blank space)
11. tug2 mu-kuX iti min-eš3 (=DU) garments were delivered the 7th month
12. mu dŠu-dSuen lugal year: 1st of Šu-Suen’s reign

This text describes cloth allocations for several males (there are no females) sharing
a professional sector in a broad sense, as all of them are related to animal husbandry
and agriculture in some way. The text mentions two farmers, a granary supervisor, a
foreman at the textile workshop and an oxherd. Someone called Ur-Utu receives allo-

51 Crozer 79 = Rochester, 106 = Sigrist 1991, t. 106. The text is from Umma, from the 1st year of Šu-
Suen’s reign.
 Defining Collectives 21

cations as the son or apprentice of Barra (dumu), although the occupations of these
two characters are not stated. The same applies to Šeškalla, the son or apprentice
of Tirgu. Two foremen are also mentioned as superiors (from the hierarchical point
of view) of the farmers and the oxherd; they are recorded as distributing payment
rather than receiving it. All the workers in their charge receive one garment, while
the supervisor and the foreman of the textile workshop, apparently not listed under
the authority of others, receive two. Here, then, the number of garments received plus
the presence or absence of a superior are elements that reveal differences in rank but,
despite these differences, they are listed together. So in this case the criterion used to
group them seems to have been not hierarchy, but professional sector and sex.
Moving on now to the fourth and last criterion, the workforce’s shared workplace,
we find good examples in a number of texts listing working groups and their foreman
or supervisor. When a duty is mentioned in these texts, I suggest that the whole group
would have worked together in the same place, carrying out the same task. Some of
the texts mentioned above evidence this, but below I will show two slightly different
examples, texts 5 and 6:52

Text 5

obverse obverse
1. 300 sa gi 300 reed bundles*
2. gu-nigin2-ba 16 sa-ta there are 16 bundles in each bale**
3. ša3-gu4-´ke4` ga6-ga2 carried by the oxherd
4. 1200 s[a-gi] 1200 reed bundles
5. gu-[nigin2-ba 16 sa-ta] there are 16 bundles in each bale
6. ša3 [giš-gi] from the reed bed

reverse reverse
7. geme2 [uš-bar ga6-ga2] carried by the female weavers
8. ga2-nun e2-lu[gal]-/ka ku4-r[a] to the royal storehouse
9. ugula Ur-lugal foreman: Ur-lugal
10. Kišib A-kal-la sealed by A(ya)kalla
11. mu bad3 mar-/tu ba-du3 year: 4th of Šu-Suen’s reign

seal seal
1. A-kal-l[a] A(ya)kalla
2. dub-s[ar] scribe
3. dumu Lu2-sa6-[ga] son of Lu-saga

Notes on Text 5: * On the sorts of reeds and their use in Ur III texts from Umma, see Waetzoldt 1992.
On the collection and management of this type of reed as a duty of foresters in Umma, see Steinkeller
1987, especially 92–93. ** For the transliteration gu- n ig i n 2 instead of gu-k i l i b (Sumerian terms for
“bale”) in texts from Umma, see Heimpel 2003 (with previous references).

52 Text 5: MM 381 = AuOrS 11, t. 187 = Molina 1996, t. 187 // Text 6: MM 853 = AuOrS 11, t. 611 = Molina
1996, t. 611. Both are from Umma, from the 4th year of Šu-Suen’s reign.
22 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

Text 6

obverse obverse
1. ´1800+60`[(+x) sa gi] 1860 reed bundles
2. gu-nigin2-ba 10[+6? sa-ta] there are 16 bundles in each bale
3. ša3-gu4-k[e4 g]a6-[ga2] carried by the oxherd
4. 1200 sa gi 1200 reed bundles
5. gu-nigin2-ba 16 sa-ta there are 16 bundles in each bale
6. ša3 giš-gi from the reed bed

reverse reverse
7. geme2 uš-bar ga6-/ga2 carried by the female weavers
8. ga2-nun E2-lugal-/ka ku4-ra to the royal storehouse
9. ugula Ab-ba-sig5 foreman: Abbasig
10. kišib A-kal-l[a] sealed by A(ya)kalla
11. [m]u bad3 [mar-tu ba-du3] year: 4th of Šu-Suen’s reign

seal seal
1. [A-a-]-kal-[la] A(ya)kalla
2. dub-sar scribe
3. dumu Lu2-sa6-[ga] son of Lu-saga

These texts count reed bundles and bales taken by the oxherd and the female weavers
to the royal storehouse. We have no information about the number of female weavers
involved in this operation. Nevertheless, we do have other data: we know that both
texts refer to the same year (the fourth year of Šu-Suen’s reign), that both were sealed
by A(ya)kalla, and that the foreman supervised the work being performed. Taking all
this into account, here I propose that there are probably two different foremen con-
trolling two different gangs of workers, and so the members of each group would have
shared the same place or places where the transport tasks were carried out. In addi-
tion, the two groups would sometimes have coincided. Another possibility is that the
two texts actually mention only one group, and that it was the same group controlled
by two different foremen at two different points in time. In my view, it is difficult to
determine which option is more plausible, as we lack other potentially helpful data
such as month names.
Other examples of this fourth criterion, the shared workplace, are texts that list
female weavers and millers together. In some cases it is not specified how many were
weavers and how many were millers; they are considered as a group, and conse-
quently were not listed separately. In text 7,53 for instance, female weavers and female
millers are referred to as a collective receiving allocations of oats, fat and bread:

53 Text 7: NBC 476 = BPOA 6, 1072 = Sigrist/Ozaki 2009a, t. 1072. The text is from Umma, from the 1st
year of Amar-Suena’s reign.
 Defining Collectives 23

Text 7

obverse obverse
1. 0.3.0 ninda-gen 3 barig of regular quality bread
2. 0.0.1 nig2-ar3-ra sig5 10 silas of good quality oats
3. 0.0.1 3 sila3 i3-šah2 13 silas of fat
4. […] geme2 uš-bar geme2 kinkin-na […] for the female weavers and the female millers
5. […]-še3 de6-a u3 […] (some of them) going to […] and
6. […]-uru-sag tuš-a […] (the others) settled at […]-irisag

reverse reverse
7. gir3 Ur-e11-e under the authority of Ur-E’e
8. mu d Amar-dSuen lugal year: 1st of Amar-Suena’s reign

These cases of female weavers and millers show how several criteria coexisted in
shaping an idea of the collective, e.g. the sexual division of labour, hierarchy and
work-place—but, in this case, not speciality. The example is especially interest-
ing because it highlights a well-known feature often mentioned in Ur III workforce
studies, i.e., that female weavers and female millers sometimes worked together and
might even exchange duties. Lorenzo Verderame has compiled several texts and ref-
erences to this phenomenon, and has shown that the same people might supervise
both sectors.54
However, this relationship between female weavers and millers has led to some
misunderstandings in the translation and presentation of texts. Although their tasks
may be interchanged in the records, if they are explicitly mentioned as female weavers
and female millers and not only as female workers, this should be reflected in the
translation. An example is the case of two texts published recently in transliteration
by Marcel Sigrist and Tohru Ozaki.55 Both mention garment allocations for female
millers (ge m e2 k i nkin), but both texts are presented in the catalogues of the two
volumes as “garments for weaver women”.
To complete the examples for this proposed classification, let us look at a particu-
lar case that does not fit into my model—the exception that proves the rule. Text 856
lists several proper names with their garment allocations.57 The last lines of the text
specify specialties of these preceding proper names, and specialties of some other
individuals who also received garment allocations. Below are a transliteration and

54 Verderame 2008, 114, footnote 25; Verderame/Spada 2013, 439–441.

55 NBC 637 = BPOA 6, 1204 = Sigrist/Ozaki 2009a, t. 1204. The text is from Umma, from the 9th year
of Šu-Suen’s reign / NCBT 1315 = BPOA 7, 2614 = Sigrist/Ozaki 2009b, t. 2614. The text is from Umma,
from the 8th year of Amar-Suena’s reign.
56 Text 8: YBC 13419 = BPOA 6, 21 = Sigrist/Ozaki 2009a, t. 21. The text is from Umma, from the 2nd
year of Šu-Suen’s reign.
57 Each line, from line 1 to line 21, reproduces the structure “1 garment for PNx”.
24 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

translation into English of the last lines of the text in which these occupations are
explicitly stated:

Text 8

reverse reverse
[…] […]
22. lu2-tir-me ugula Ur-e2-maš They are foresters;* foreman: Ur-emaš;
23. 7 nar-munus 7 (garments) for the female musicians
24. 1 Šeš-kal-la šu-ku6 1 (garment) for Šeškalla, the fisherman
25. 1 Ze2-ze2-ga šu-ku6 1 (garment) for Zezega, the fisherman
26. 1 Lugal-sig5 šu-ku6 1 (garment) for Lugal-sig, the fisherman
27. 1 [... šu-k]u6 ugula Šeš-pad3-da 1 (garment) for [NP?], the fisherman, foreman Šeš-
pada
28. mu-kuX mu ma2 dEn-ki ba-ab-du8 (=DU) Delivery. Year: 2nd of Šu-Suen’s reign

Notes on Text 8: * Referring to all workers listed in previous lines (lines 1 to 21).

This text records garment allocations for foresters (previously mentioned individually
with their names), for female musicians (referred to as a collective, without listing
their personal names), and for fishermen, again listed in detail along with their per-
sonal names. In my view, the data detailed in the text do not indicate why they were
listed together, and were considered in the same register for the distribution of the
garment allocation.
Consequently, none of the criteria mentioned here apply to text 8. Sexual divi-
sion of labour does not apply, because males (foremen and fishermen) and females
(musicians) are explicitly mentioned together. Equally, neither speciality nor shared
workplace serves as a criterion: it is difficult to imagine a context in which forest-
ers, fishermen and musicians would share a workplace. Only one of our criteria
remains: hierarchy or status. Indeed, all of these occupations probably shared the
same status, but as far as I know there is no clear evidence to support this claim. An
additional (fifth) criterion to be considered would be a geographical one, so listing
together workers with a shared origin or having been stationed in the same place
during periods of compulsory service to the state, like the bala.58 Whether this cri-
terion would work for this and other texts that do not fit the previous proposal is a
possible path for future research.
In any case, in this example, it is difficult to defend the idea of the collective as we
have done in this section. What it shows, I think, is that the proposal works for most
texts, though not for all. For this reason, my proposal may be useful for explaining
who is listed together in accounts including relatively small numbers of workers, but

58 This geographical criterion has been suggested by Lorenzo Verderame (personal communication).
 Defining Collectives 25

not for general accounts in which the idea of the collective is blurred by the diversity
of the people listed together and/or for the size of the group considered. So the pro-
posed model appears to have been valid for both the scribes writing the texts and the
workers who appeared in them.

5 Some Concluding Remarks

One frequent research question when analysing Ur III lists of workers is whether the
men and women registered had a “family life”, that is, whether they were married,
whether they had offspring, and who they lived and shared their lives with when they
were not at work. Here I have outlined two main objections to this approach. First,
asking this question presumes that the nuclear family, understood as it is today in our
Western societies, was also a structural feature of ancient Mesopotamia several mil-
lennia ago. Second, the question has been applied in different ways to male workers
and to female workers, thus generating different results.
Regarding the first objection, I have suggested considering kinship in a broad
sense following the proposals made in gender studies—among others, those of Judith
Butler. With this broad definition, I do not propose to abandon the idea of the hetero-
sexual couple as one of the axes of ancient societies, but rather to highlight the greater
complexity of the concept of kinship. In this regard, then, kinship is understood as
including all the practices that establish relationships with the aim of managing pro-
duction, reproduction, the maintenance of life, death, and physical and emotional
dependency. From this perspective, whether or not these practices were carried out
by people with blood ties loses some of its relevance and, in my view, bearing this
definition in mind when analysing Ur III administrative texts will help to enrich the
resulting picture. Rather than (or in some cases in addition to) widows, single women,
abandoned sons and daughters and happily married men, we find solidarity networks
and working groups that provide the context for kinship ties in a broad sense.
In brief, if we move the focus of the research from biological and sexual ties to
how collectives were shaped, new possible readings appear. Shifting the emphasis
from marital status or filiation to non-family contexts allows us to see that the people
who registered the workforce applied certain criteria in order to group workers, crite-
ria which were not related to biological kinship. In other words, here I have suggested
that collectives and groups of workers are valid categories of analysis that help us to
gain a better understanding of how the workforce was organised.
Moving to the second objection (the differential treatment of men and women in
the lists in secondary literature) I discussed the use of the term “harem”. Collectives
of men are usually described on the basis of sharing a professional relationship. This
is clear from the Sumerian term erin2, usually translated as “male gangs”, a trans-
lation that highlights the idea of men working together. Groups of women, however,
26 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

are usually explained via the model of the “harem”, i.e., emphasising sexual ties and
kinship as based on blood ties. This differential treatment reinforces the links “men:
professional world” and “women: sex & body”, and the ideal of the function of the
male (working outside the home, concentrating on productive work) in contrast to
that of the female (working at home, concentrating on reproductive work).59
Needless to say, this model is wholly inapplicable to the Mesopotamia of the end
of the third millennium BCE, where most of the population worked only part-time for
great organisations like temples or palaces. Therefore, most of the workforce would
not have been registered. To quote Marc Van de Mieroop: “The common worker in the
state sector of the Ur III period was thus only part-time employed by the state, worked
with other family members, and spent a substantial amount of time engaged in a
world inaccessible to us”.60 While agreeing and acknowledging that most issues are
“inaccessible to us”, I would contend that applying explicit theoretical approaches
like the ones proposed by feminist epistemologies would help us to gain a better and
closer understanding of the realities which we might, to a greater or lesser extent, find
to be “accessible”.

Bibliography
Alcoff, Linda/Potter, Elizabeth (1993), Feminist Epistemologies, New York.
Asher-Greve, Julia M. (2008), “Images of Men, Gender Regimes, and Social Stratification in the Late
Uruk Period”, in: Diane Bolger (ed.), Gender Through Time in the Ancient Near East, Lanham/
New York/Toronto/Plymouth, 119–171.
Assante, Julia (2006), “Undressing the Nude: Problems in Analyzing Nudity in Ancient Art, with an
Old Babylonian Case Study”, in: Silvia Schroer (ed.), Images and Gender. Contributions to the
Hermeneutics of Reading Ancient Art, Fribourg/Göttingen, 177–207.
Bahrani, Zainab (2001), Women of Babylon. Gender and Representation in Mesopotamia, London.
Butler, Judith (1990), Gender Trouble. Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, London/New York.
Butler, Judith (1997), The Psychic Life of Power. Theories in Subjection, Stanford.
Butler, Judith (2004), Undoing Gender, London/New York.
Carbonell i Esteller, Montserrat (1997), Sobreviure a Barcelona, dones, pobresa i assistència al segle
XVIII, Vic.
Civil, Miguel (1987), “Ur III Bureaucracy: Quantitative Aspects”, in: McGuire Gibson and Robert
D. Biggs (eds.), The Organization of Power. Aspects of Bureaucracy in the Ancient Near East,
Chicago, 43–53.
Dahl, Jacob (2007), The Ruling Family of Ur III Umma. A Prosopographical Analysis of an Elite Family
in Southern Iraq 4000 Years Ago, Leiden.
Firth, Richard (2013), “Considering the Finishing of Textiles Based on Neo-Sumerian Inscriptions
from Girsu”, in: Marie-Louise Nosch, Henriette Koefoed and Eva Andersson Strand (eds.),

59 Garcia-Ventura 2014b.
60 Van de Mieroop 1999, 92.
 Defining Collectives 27

Textile Production and Consumption in the Ancient Near East. Archaeology, Epigraphy and
Iconography, Oxford/Oakville, 140–151.
Gálvez Muñoz, Lina (2000), Compañía arrendataria de tabacos 1887–1945. Cambio tecnológico y
empleo femenino, Madrid.
Garcia-Ventura, Agnès (2012a), El trabajo y la producción textil en la Tercera Dinastía de Ur, PhD
Thesis, University Pompeu Fabra.
Garcia-Ventura, Agnès (2012b), “Tejedor@s en la Tercera Dinastía de Ur: nuevas perspectivas
de estudio”, in: Claroscuro (Revista del Centro de Estudios sobre diversidad cultural, de la
Universidad Nacional de Rosario) 11, 13–31.
Garcia-Ventura, Agnès (2013), “Trabajar en tiempos de guerra en Mesopotamia”, in: Jordi Vidal and
Borja Antela-Bernárdez (eds.), Más allá de la batalla. La violencia contra la población en el
Mundo Antiguo, Zaragoza, 1–25.
Garcia-Ventura, Agnès (2014a), “Ur III Biopolitics. Reflections on the Relationship between War and
Work Force Management”, in: Davide Nadali and Jordi Vidal (eds.), The Other Face of the Battle.
The Impact of War on Civilians in the Ancient Near East (Alter Orient und Altes Testament 413),
7–23.
Garcia-Ventura, Agnès (2014b), “Mano de obra y relaciones de parentesco en Mesopotamia: madres
trabajadoras versus hombres ‘ganadores de pan’”, in: Arenal. Revista de historia de las mujeres
21 (2), 297–316.
Gelb, Ignace J. (1973), “Prisoners of War in Early Mesopotamia”, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies
32, 70–98.
Genz, Stéphanie/Brabon, Benjamin A. (2009), Postfeminism. Cultural Texts and Theories, Edinburgh.
Graham-Brown, Sarah (1987), Images of Women, London.
Hall, Martin (2012), “Sexuality and Materiality. The Challenge of Method”, in: Barbara L. Voss and
Eleanor Conlin Casella (eds.), The Archaeology of Colonialism. Intimate Encounters and Sexual
Effects, Cambridge, 323–340.
Haraway, Donna (1991a), “‘Gender’ for a Marxist Dictionary: The Sexual Politics of a Word”, in: Donna
Haraway (ed.), Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The Reinvention of Nature, London/New York,
127–148.
Haraway, Donna (1991b), “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in
the Late Twentieth Century”, in: Donna Haraway (ed.), Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The
Reinvention of Nature, London/New York, 149–181.
Harding, Sandra (1986), The Science Question in Feminism, Ithaca/London.
Heimpel, Wolfgang (2003), “gu-nigin2, ‘bale’”, in: Cuneiform Digital Library Notes 3, 1 http://cdli.
ucla.edu/pubs/cdln/php/index.php (last accessed: 29.09.2015).
Juliano, Dolores (1992), El juego de las astucias. Mujer y construcción de modelos sociales
alternativos, Madrid.
Juliano, Dolores (1998), Las que saben. Subculturas de mujeres, Madrid.
Lafont, Bertrand (1985), Documents administratifs sumériens provenant du site de Tello et conservés
au Musée du Louvre, Paris.
Lion, Brigitte (2007), “La notion de genre en assyriologie”, in: Violaine Sébillotte Cuchet and
Nathalie Ernoult (eds.), Problèmes du genre en Grèce ancienne, Paris, 51–64.
Loding, Darlene (1976), Economic Texts from the Third Dynasty, London/Philadelphia.
Maekawa, Kazuya (1980), “Female Weavers and Their Children in Lagaš -Pre-sargonic and Ur III”, in:
Acta Sumerologica (ASJ) 2, 81–125.
Maekawa, Kazuya (1987), “Collective Labor Service in Girsu-Lagaš: The Pre-sargonic and Ur III
Periods”, in: Marvin A. Powell (ed.), Labor in the Ancient Near East, New Haven, 49–71.
Maekawa, Kazuya (1989), “Rations, Wages and Economic Trends in the Ur III Period”, in: Altorien-
talische Forschungen 16, 42–50.
28 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

Maekawa, Kazuya (1998), “Ur III Girsu Records of Labor Forces in the British Museum (1)”, in: Acta
Sumerologica (ASJ) 20, 63–110.
Michalowski, Piotr (2011), The Correspondence of the Kings of Ur. An Epistolary History of an Ancient
Mesopotamian Kingdom, Winona Lake.
Millet Albà, Adelina (2008), “Le harem de Sîn-iqišam”, in: Önhan Tunca and Abdul-Massih Baghdo
(eds.), Chagar Bazar (Syrie) III. Les trouvailles épigraphiques et sigillographiques du chantier I
(2000–2002), Louvain/Paris/Dudley (MA), 239–279.
Molina, Manuel (1996), Tablillas administrativas neosumerias de la Abadía de Montserrat
(Barcelona). Transliteraciones e índices con un apéndice de Hartmut Waetzoldt: Siegelliste,
Sabadell.
Molina, Manuel (2008), “The Corpus of Neo-Sumerian Tablets: An Overview”, in: Steven J. Garfinkle
and J. Cale Johnson (eds.), The Growth of an Early State in Mesopotamia. Studies in Ur III
Administration, Madrid, 19–53.
Naji, Myriem (2009), “Gender and Materiality in the Making: The Manufacture of Sirwan Femininities
Through Weaving in Southern Morocco”, in: Journal of Material Culture 14 (1), 43–73.
Oliver, María Rosa (2008), “Entre lechos, alianzas y alta política: las mujeres como botín de guerra
durante el reinado de Zimrî-Lîm de Mari”, in: Claroscuro (Revista del Centro de Estudios sobre
diversidad cultural, de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario) 7, 11–34.
Oliver, María Rosa (2010), “La perspectiva de género en el análisis de las relaciones entre centros
alternativos de poder en el antiguo reino de Mari (reinado de Zimrî-Lîm) a través de la corres-
pondencia femenina”, in: Rivista degli Studi Orientali 83 (1–4), 115–132.
Oliver, María Rosa/Ravenna, Eleonora (2001), “Identidades, desigualdades y solidaridades
femeninas en la época Hammurabiana”, in: Claroscuro (Revista del Centro de Estudios sobre
diversidad cultural, de la Universidad Nacional de Rosario) 1 (1), 235–251.
Pomponio, Franco (2013), “The Ur III Administration: Workers, Messengers, and Sons”, in: Steven
Garfinkle and Manuel Molina (eds.), From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Sumerian Studies Madrid, 22–24 July 2010,
Winona Lake, 221–232.
Rivera Garretas, María Milagros (2001), Mujeres en relación. Feminismo 1970–2000, Barcelona.
Rubin, Gayle S. (1975), “The Traffic in Women. Notes on the ‘Political Economy’”, in: Rayna R. Reiter
(ed.), Toward an Anthropology of Women, New York/London, 157–210.
Rubin, Gayle S. (2011), Deviations. A Gayle Rubin Reader, Durham/London.
Sallaberger, Walther (2004), “Relative Chronologie von der späten Frühdynastischen bis zur altbaby-
lonischen Zeit”, in: Jan-Walke Meyer and Walter Sommerfeld (eds.), 2000 v. Chr. Politische,
Wirtschaftliche und Kulturelle Entwicklung im Zeichen einer Jahrtausendwende, Berlin, 15–43.
Sallaberger, Walther/Huber Vuillet, Fabienne (2005), “Priester A. I”, in: Reallexikon der Assyriologie
und vorderasiatischen Archäologie, vol. 10 (7/8), 617–640.
Sallaberger, Walther/Westenholz, Aage (1999), Mesopotamien. Akkade-Zeit und Ur III-Zeit,
Göttingen.
Seidman, Steven (2008), Contested Knowledge. Social Theory Today, Oxford.
Sigrist, Marcel (1991), Documents from Tablet Collections in Rochester, New York/Bethesda.
Sigrist, Marcel (2000), Texts from the Yale Babylonian Collections, vol.1 (Sumerian Archival Texts 2),
Bethesda.
Sigrist, Marcel/Ozaki, Tohru (2009a), Neo-Sumerian Administrative Tablets from the Yale Babylonian
Collection, vol. 1, Madrid
Sigrist, Marcel/Ozaki, Tohru (2009b), Neo-Sumerian Administrative Tablets from the Yale Babylonian
Collection, vol. 2, Madrid.
Solvang, Elna K. (2008), “Classifying Women: The ‘Harem’ and What it Does and Doesn’t Tell Us
about Women”, in: Robert D. Biggs, Jennie Myers and Martha T. Roth (eds.), Proceedings of the
 Defining Collectives 29

51st Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale Held at The Oriental Institute of The University of
Chicago, July 18–22, 2005, Chicago, 415–420.
Steinkeller, Piotr (1987), “The Foresters of Umma: Toward a Definition of Ur III Labor”, in: Marvin A.
Powell (ed.), Labor in the Ancient Near East, New Haven, 73–115.
Steinkeller, Piotr (1995), “Sheep and Goat Terminology in Ur III Sources from Drehem”, in: J. Nicholas
Postgate and Marvin A. Powell (eds.), Domestic Animals of Mesopotamia, vol.1 (Bulletin of
Sumerian Agriculture), Cambridge, 49–70.
Teppo, Saana (2007), “The Role and the Duties of the Neo-Assyrian šakintu in the Light of Archival
Evidence”, in: State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 16, 257–271.
Uchitel, Alexander (1984), “Women at Work: Pylos and Knossos, Lagaš and Ur”, in: Historia.
Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 33, 257–282.
Uchitel, Alexander (2002), “Women at Work: Weavers of Lagaš and Spinners of San Luis Gonzaga”,
in: Simo Parpola and Robert M. Whiting (eds.), Sex and Gender in the Ancient Near East,
Helsinki, 621–631.
Van de Mieroop, Marc (1999), Cuneiform Texts and the Writing of History, London/New York.
Van de Mieroop, Marc (2004), A History of the Ancient Near East, ca. 3000–323 BC, London.
Verderame, Lorenzo (2008), “Il controllo dei manufatti tessili a Umma”, in: Massimo Perna and
Francesco Pomponio (eds.), The Management of Agricultural Land and the Production of Textiles
in the Mycenaean and Near Eastern Economies, Paris, 111–133.
Verderame, Lorenzo/Spada, Gabriella (2013), “Ikalla, Scribe of (Wool) Textiles and Linen”, in:
Steven Garfinkle and Manuel Molina (eds.), From the 21st Century B.C. to the 21st Century A.D.
Proceedings of the International Conference on Sumerian Studies Madrid 22–24 July 2010,
Winona Lake, 425–444.
Voss, Barbara L. (2012), “The Scale of the Intimate. Imperial Policies and Sexual Practices in
San Francisco”, in: Barbara L. Voss and Eleanor Conlin Casella (eds.), The Archaeology of
Colonialism. Intimate Encounters and Sexual Effects, Cambridge, 173–192.
Waetzoldt, Hartmut (1972), Untersuchungen zur neusumerischen Textilindustrie, Rome.
Waetzoldt, Hartmut (1987), “Compensation of Craft Workers and Officials in the Ur III Period”, in:
Marvin A. Powell (ed.), Labor in the Ancient Near East, New Haven, 117–141.
Waetzoldt, Hartmut (1988), “Die Situation der Frauen und Kinder anhand ihrer Einkommensver-
hältnisse zur Zeit der III. Dynastie von Ur”, in: Altorientalische Forschungen 15, 30–44.
Waetzoldt, Hartmut (1992), “‘Rohr’ und dessen Verwendungsweisen anhand der Neusumerischen
Texte aus Umma”, in: J. Nicholas Postgate and Marvin A. Powell (eds.), Trees and Timber in
Mesopotamia (Bulletin of Sumerian Agriculture), Cambridge, 125–146.
Waetzoldt, Hartmut (2011), “Die Textilproduktion von Garšana”, in: David I. Owen (ed.), Garšana
Studies, Bethesda, 405–454.
Warburton, David A. (2005), “Working”, in: Daniel C. Snell (ed.), A Companion to the Ancient Near
East, London, 169–182.
Westenholz, Joan Goodnick (1990), “Towards a New Conceptualization of the Female Role in
Mesopotamian Society”, in: Journal of the American Oriental Society 110, 510–521.
Wittig, Monique (1992), The Straight Mind and Other Essays, Boston.
Wright, Rita P. (1996), “Technology, Gender, and Class: Worlds of Difference in Ur III Mesopotamia”,
in: Rita P. Wright (ed.), Gender and Archaeology, Philadelphia, 79–110.
Wright, Rita P. (1998), “Crafting Social Identity in Ur III Southern Mesopotamia”, in: Cathy Lynne
Costin and Rita P. Wright (eds.), Craft and Social Identity, Virginia, 57–69.
Wright, Rita P. (2008), “Gendered Relations and the Ur III Dynasty: Kinship, Property, and Labor”, in:
Diane Bolger (ed.), Gender Through Time in the Ancient Near East, Lanham/New York/Toronto/
Plymouth, 247–279.
Yildiz, Fatma/Gomi, Tohru (1993), “Die Umma Texte aus den Archäologischen Museen zu Istanbul”,
vol. 3: Nr. 1601–2300, Bethesda.
30 Agnès Garcia-Ventura

Zettler, Richard L. (2003), “Archaeology and the Problem of Textual Evidence for the Third Dynasty of
Ur”, in: Bulletin of the Canadian Society for Mesopotamian Studies 38, 49–62.
Ziegler, Nele (1999), Le harem de Zimri-Lim. La population féminine des Palais d’après les archives
royales de Mari, Paris.
Nathan Morello
A giš on a Tree: Interactions between Images
and Inscriptions on Neo-Assyrian Monuments

1 Introduction
The study of the relationships between images and writing in the Ancient Near East is
a broad field, which includes different approaches of historical and philological anal-
ysis. In this article, I would like to focus on an aspect of such relationships that has
been only partially analysed in previous studies, and which I find particularly inter-
esting in the sphere of a comparative study on materiality and presence of writing in
non-typographic societies, such as the one offered by the present occasion.1
I will focus on the analysis of visual and semantic interactions between images
and inscriptions that occur in some Neo-Assyrian monuments when part (i.e. one
or more cuneiform signs) of an inscription interplays with the part of the sculpted
image (i.e. one element of the image or part of it) that it crosses. More specifically,
the purpose of this article is to try to answer the following questions: is it possible to
positively identify interactions of this kind? Is it possible to interpret their meaning
and to understand their function (or functions)? Were they meant to be a sort of con-
cealed “game” within the inscription, or were they meant to be seen? And once they
were seen, who was the intended recipient, the audience, of such interactions? As will
become evident in the course of the article, my belief is that there are no unequivocal
answers to these questions.
To develop my analysis I will concentrate primarily on four examples coming from
the decorative record of Aššurnasirpal II’s North-West Palace (henceforth NWP) in the
Assyrian capital Nimrud/Kalhu (in modern north-eastern Iraq).2 The examples come

This article emerged from the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cultures.
Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies”. The CRC 933 is financed by the
German Research Foundation (DFG). I would like to thank particularly Prof. Markus Hilgert, for al-
lowing me, through this project, to deepen my analysis of the subject presented in this article. I am
grateful to Prof. F. Mario Fales for his kind remarks and his correction of the English text, and to Cinzia
Pappi for her remarks and stimulating comments during the writing of this article. I would also like
to thank Prof. Stefan M. Maul, Kamran V. Zand, Alexander Edmonds, Christian W. Hess and Simone
Bonzano for discussing my research with me and for their suggestions. Any mistakes or errors are the
sole responsibility of the author.

1 For a theoretical approach to the subject of text as artefact and the many questions that such a
perspective raises, see Hilgert 2010. For the materiality and visual aspects of Assyrian monumental
inscriptions see Russell 1999, with previous bibliography.
2 The palace was excavated by Layard (1845–47, 1849–51), Rassam (1853–54), Mallowan (1949–53,

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-003, © 2016 Nathan Morello, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
32 Nathan Morello

from three bas-reliefs on orthostats attached to the walls of three different rooms of
the palace: specifically, one on relief No. 23 from throne room B, one on No. 4 from
room H, and two on No. 3 from room G.3
Besides being the first and one of the best-preserved cases in Assyrian architec-
ture in which bas-reliefs were used to decorate almost all of its public spaces, the
NWP is the only Assyrian building in which more than half of its reliefs are crossed in
their central part by an inscription of ca. 20 lines. All of the inscriptions are more or
less exact copies of the same text, repeated hundreds of times throughout the palace,
the so-called Standard Inscription (SI).4
I will first try to analyse how to define an image-inscription interaction. When, in
other words, can we almost certainly identify an intentional interaction (as opposed
to a mere coincidence), and what are its main visual and, possibly, semantic char-
acteristics. Namely, the de-contextualization of one or more signs of the inscription,
the de-contextualization of the corresponding part of the image, the direct or indirect
relation between the two of them, and the possible meaning and/or message inferred
by the visual-literary “game” resulting from their interplay.
Secondly, I will present four examples of interactions coming from the NWP with
some discussion of previous interpretations.
Then, I will try to show how the interactions on the NWP’s orthostats should be
considered as part of a broader compositional project that was behind at least some
of the most important reliefs of the palace, a project that involved the SI and the ways
in which it was engraved on the palace’s slabs.
I will then try to analyse whether these interactions were meant to be visible to
the public or not. I will argue that the nature of both Ancient Near East figurative

1956), by the Iraqi Directorate General of Antiquities (1959–60, 1969–74) and by a joint expedition
between the IDGA and a Polish mission directed by J. Meuszyński (1974–75), see Postgate/Reade 1980,
304–307, and Oates/Oates 2001, with previous bibliography. For a study that combines NWP’s reliefs
and inscriptions, see Russell 1999. The reconstruction of the decorative program of the NWP, with
the exact position of each of the surviving sculpted orthostats, was carried out first by J. Meuszyński
(1981) and then by S. M. Paley and R. P. Sobolewsky (1987). See also Russell 1998.
3 The first two examples have already been noted by Brian Brown in his article on the NWP’s reliefs
and cultic architecture (Brown 2010), but while I agree with the majority of his conclusions, I believe
that something can be added to his analysis. The interactions from slab G-3 were noted by me during
a recent visit to the British Museum conducted for the purpose of this research.
4 RIMA 2 A.0.101.23. The SI contains all the topics of a typical royal inscription: the king’s name
and genealogy, some of his epithets, mentions of his military conquests (in geographical, rather than
chronological, order), some other epithets and a description of the king’s works at Kalhu with a focus
on the construction of the NWP. A. K. Grayson counted 406 specimens of the inscription (RIMA 2, 274).
We shall use here the same distinction between “text” and “inscription” used by Russell (1999, 7): “A
‘text’ is a verbal composition, while an ‘inscription’ is the physical result of replicating all or part of
such a text in a durable medium.” However, like Russell, we will make an exception for the Standard
Inscription’s text, for conventional reasons.
A giš on a Tree 33

art and cuneiform writing suggests that they were meant to be seen, though how
explicitly they were to be understood depended on the context, and on the intended
recipient of the interactions. With the aim of thoroughly analysing the question of the
intended public, I will make use of a comparison with another Assyrian monument,
the stele erected by King Esarhaddon (680–669 BC) at Sam’al/Zincirli (Turkey). This
stele has already been analysed by B. N. Porter in a study on Assyrian propaganda,
in which she noticed some examples of image-inscription interactions that will be
useful for our purpose.
Finally, I will try to sum up some conclusions, with a reflection on the method-
ology that I think we should follow when treating image-inscription interplay and
its possible meanings and/or functions in relation to other research questions, espe-
cially those focused on the functions of the reliefs in their architectural context.

2 Identifying Image-Inscription Interactions5

The main problem, when seeking to define an interaction between part of an inscrip-
tion and the image that it crosses, is the possibility that the interaction occurred cas-
ually, and the observer’s wish to identify it confers meaning where there is none. The
very nature of multiple reading, which characterizes cuneiform writing and which
(as we will see in the examples below) often makes an interplay between image and
inscription possible through specific word games, can in other cases be misleading
and lead the observer to an erroneous identification. Put more simply, the presence
of a word “in the right place” is not a sufficient substantiation for the existence of the
relative interaction with the image behind it.

5 These kinds of image-inscription interactions can only be effectively investigated with a precise
knowledge of where the signs of the inscription are positioned on the monument. Modern editions
of royal inscriptions, though providing in-depth information on the philological and literary aspects
of the inscriptions’ texts, do not allow such an analysis, and it is only by constantly comparing them
with photos retrieved from other sources, or with the direct examination of the originals, that it is
possible to perform this kind of analysis. Some older studies represent a good example of a more
useful edition for our purpose. For instance, in C. F. Lehmann’s copy of Aššurbanipal’s Stele S3, in
Šamaššumukîn, König von Babylonien 668–648 v. Chr. (1892), the exact position of each sign is pre-
cisely indicated, making it easier to analyse any possible interactions between image and inscription.
If we compare Lehmann’s study with that of Grayson—which is currently the most widely used (and
rightly so) edition of Assyrian royal inscriptions, but doesn’t offer copies of the inscriptions—it is clear
that the interactions described here will inevitably be overlooked. Now, it is obvious that an edition
like Lehmann’s of, for example, the more than four hundred versions of the SI from Aššurnasirpal II’s
NWP would be nearly impossible, especially if we consider how very few are the clear cases that we
will define here as image-inscription interactions. Nevertheless, it is my belief that a digital project,
in which high-definition photos of the monuments could be compared with the transliterations, the
translations and the positions of their inscriptions would prove to be of great benefit.
34 Nathan Morello

We shall take as a negative example fig. 1, where it is possible to see the arm of a
protective two-winged genie (apkallu) sculpted on slab S-a-2 (upper, right).6 At line 5 of
the relief, the signs that form the word “arms” (i-da-at) are easily visible right on the
genie’s arm. These signs are taken from the phrase “When Aššur, my Lord, who called
me by name (and) made my sovereignty supreme, placed his merciless weapon in my
lordly arms”.7 However, we may note in the first place the presence, on the same genie’s
arm, of the sign -na from the preposition ana, which precedes the word for “arms”,
and secondly we see the absence of any additional expedient, such as an empty space
before or after the word, aimed at highlighting it. As a matter of fact, we lack any possi-
ble evidence that the word was deliberately put in that particular position.
Therefore, it is necessary to meet specific conditions in order to determine a visual
interaction between image and inscription. Essentially, these conditions are two: the
sign or group of signs have to be isolated or partly separated from the rest of the inscrip-
tion by leaving empty space before and/or after it (but also above and/or below it); and
the image element that interplays with the sign or group of signs has to encircle (and so
isolate) it/them. Sometimes, the two conditions may occur together, acting as a further
confirmation of the existence of the interaction.
Once the actual existence of the interaction is proven, the possible kinds of inter-
play between image and cuneiform sign/s will be worth considering. As may be seen in
the table at the end of the article (Table 1, on p. 64–65), where all of the examples con-
sidered here have been summarized, images and inscriptions can interact in different
ways:

a. Possible de-contextualization of the sign or group of signs from the inscription to

which they belong. a.1) The sign or even the group of signs can belong to a split
word, i.e. only part of the word will be included in the interaction. a.2) Even when
the word is entirely included in the interaction, the fact of being part of this interac-
tion puts it in a new context, which can be (and usually is) different from that of the
inscription’s text. a.3) Because of the nature of cuneiform writing, one sign can be
read in different ways depending on its syllabic or logographic values. A different
reading of the sign is then possible but will necessarily depend, first, on its being
isolated from the rest of the inscription and, second, on a sort of “indication” given
by the image with which the sign interacts. The first example that we will see below
of the “GIŠ on the tree” meets all of these conditions.
b. Possible de-contextualization of the image. As part of the interaction, the image, or
rather, the element of the image that plays with the inscription, can be extrapolated
from its original context. For instance, in the interaction example noted by Porter

6 Paley/Sobolewsky 1987, 47, pl. 3. See also Stearns 1961, pl. 19.
7 RIMA 2, A.0.101.23, 5–6: e-nu-ma aš-šur EN na-bu-ú MU-ia mu-šar-bu-ú MAN-ti-a GIŠ.TUKUL-šú la
pa-da-a a-na i-da-at EN-ti-a lu-ú it-muḫ. I have preferred to keep here the transliterated form, for the
sake of clarity, in dealing with the single cuneiform signs.
A giš on a Tree 35

Fig. 1: Relief S-a-2 from North-West Palace. In the frame the signs (a-)na i-da-at, “(in)to (my lordly)
arms” are visible © Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (elaboration by the author).
36 Nathan Morello

in Esarhaddon’s stele (see below), the king’s sculpted feet “lie” upon a written text
that describes them in the act of trampling on the rulers that did not surrender to
Esarhaddon.
c. The existence of a direct or indirect relation between image and sign/s. The interact-
ing sign/s and image can have a direct relation, i.e. a relation in which the sign or
word identifies the visual element on which it is written. The example described
below from slab H-4, on which the name of king “Aššurnasirpal” is encircled by the
hand of a sculpted king, would be, if the two were the same man, a perfect example
of a direct relation. Elsewhere, when more complex reasoning is necessary to guess
the relation between image and sign/s, we will have an indirect relation. The degree
and quality of knowledge necessary to understand this indirect relation will then
define the typology of the interaction and, to a certain extent, its intended audience.

The analysis of the above-mentioned characteristics allows us to study the possible

meaning(s) and function(s) an interaction might have. In the following examples, we
will see how in certain cases an interpretation of such meanings and functions was
attempted. In other cases, such an interpretation was not possible, a fact that had the
consequence of partly undermining previous theories.

3 A GIŠ on a Tree
Slab B-23 is one of the most studied reliefs from the NWP. It is located on the eastern
wall of throne room B, behind the throne dais, and it shows two kings, traditionally
identified as two portraits of Aššurnasirpal II, facing each other with pointing fingers
in the typical gesture of greeting.8 Behind both kings, in a symmetrical pattern, two
human-headed apkallus are sculpted. Each carries a ritual bucket in its left hand,
while with its right it points a pine-cone-like object towards the back of the king’s
neck. Both bucket and pine cone object are closely connected to the image of a styl-
ised tree, which stands between the two kings as the axis of the entire scene: the
so-called Assyrian Sacred Tree, whose image is constantly reproduced (about one
hundred times) all over the palace’s rooms.9 Above the tree floats a winged disc, and
within it, a god greets the king on the right side of the panel, showing him the divine
ring (fig. 2).
In this particular relief, the SI is written with evident care: the signs are clear,
well-separated, and not indiscriminately carved on every part of the image they

8 The interpretation that the two figures represent the same king has been undermined by recent
studies, see Brentjes 1994 and Brown 2010.
9 See Brentjes 1994 and Richardson 1999–2001. Bucket and pine-cone object should most probably be
identified with the Akkadian terms banduddû and mullilu, see Porter 2003, 27.
A giš on a Tree 37

Fig. 2: Relief B-23 from North-West Palace (taken from Budge 1914, pl. XI).

cross. The AST, in particular, is left almost completely untouched. This is not the only
element of the relief to be free from signs (the same holds for the fringes of the charac-
ters’ dresses, as well as the hands of the king and of the apkallu on the left side, and
almost the entirety of the king’s sceptre on the right side). This is, however, the only
relief in the NWP in which the AST is left completely bare, with not a single element
of it inscribed by cuneiform signs,10 except for one sign right in the middle of the tree
trunk: a GIŠ, the Sumerian logogram for “tree” (fig. 2a).
As part of the inscription, the sign gets its syllabic value /is/, as the last sign of the
participle mukabbis in the sentence NÍTA dan-nu mu-kab-bi-is GÚ a-a-bi-šú “strong

10 There are other ASTs that are partially left uncrossed by the inscription, but none of them is com-
pletely untouched by it. I have found four of them, see Meuszyński 1981, pl. 12, H-30, H-32; pl. 15,
L-21 and pl. 16, N-2. Slab B-13 is an almost exact copy of B-23. Like B-23, it was set in a very important
position, directly in front of the entrance D that led into the throne room from the external courtyard.
The only noteworthy difference between the two slabs is in the iconography of the god in the floating
winged disc, who faces left (= east) instead of right (= south; note that both gods’ gestures point at
the doorway that leads from throne room B to room F, see Brown 2010, 28). Moreover, the floating
god greets the king with his open right hand (instead of the divine ring), while keeping in his left an
undrawn bow. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of slab B-13 with high enough resolution to check
how its inscription fits on the tree. See Meuszyńsky 1981, pl. 2 for a line drawing of the slab, and Reade
Iraq 27 (1965), pl. XXVIII for a photo of the upper-left corner of the slab, where the heads of one king
and one apkallu are visible. The only complete (but too small) picture available of B-13 is the one in
Meuszyńsky 1974, 59.
38 Nathan Morello

Fig. 2a: Relief B-23 from North-West Palace, detail of the GIŠ sign (photo by the author).

Fig. 2b: Relief B-23 from North-West Palace, detail. Arrows indicate two examples of uninscribed
space left for the sake of the tree’s integrity. In the black circle the sign GIŠ is visible. White circles:
1) sign GÚ, slightly deformed to fit into the space between branches; the same happens with 2) sign
UGU, and 4) sign GAL. Sign Ú (3) was too long to fit into the spaces between the branches, and was
therefore engraved in the first possible space before the end of the tree (photo and elaboration by
the author).
A giš on a Tree 39

male who treads upon the necks of his foes”.11 The fact that the sign has been inten-
tionally highlighted by the slab’s artisans is apparent for three reasons:

a. A clear equivalence of GIŠ with “tree”. “Tree” is the first meaning of GIŠ as a logo-
gram, and the same sign is used as a determinative for names of trees.12
b. In no other cases from the NWP (as far as I am aware) is a sign left as “isolated” on
a relief as this one. As already mentioned, save for our GIŠ, not a single element
of the tree is touched by the inscription. Looking closely at the slab, it is clear
that even the space between the branches was filled only with signs, whose
shape would not invade the area of the sculpted tree. There would have been, for
example, not enough room to fit the Ú at line 12 until the last empty space before
the end of the tree. Looking at certain signs, such as the GÚ of line 3 (the sign
just after our GIŠ), the UGU (/ muḫ/, from the sentence a-na i-da-at EN-ti-a lu-ú
it-muḫ13) at line 5 and the GAL (from the sentence É.GAL TÚG.MEŠ14) at line 15,
one can even see how they were partially deformed so as not to touch (or at least,
in the case of GAL, to touch only very lightly) the tree’s branches (fig. 2b).
c. Among the variants of the Standard Inscription copies noted by Le Gac, one is
the use of the sign SI instead of GIŠ.15 Needless to say (however forced this might
be), no interaction between trees and signs are to be spotted in the corresponding
reliefs.

In this example, then, the double reading of the sign reflects a kind of interaction in
which the presence of a peculiar image (the tree) forces the reader to extrapolate a
sign from its textual context (/is/) and to read it alone as a logogram (GIŠ), in direct
connection with the image itself.
Brown’s interpretation of the meaning of this interaction starts from the Assyrian
Sacred Tree. Different scholars16 have argued that the sacred tree—which very much
resembles a palm tree (a feature that could put it in a close relation with kingship, see
below)—served as an index that referred back to several characteristics of Assyrian
kingship.17 On the one hand, however, recent studies have convincingly undermined
the supposed equivalence between the AST and a palm tree,18 and on the other, it has
been argued that the AST was probably not an actual tree, but a wooden and metal

11 Aššurnasirpal II, RIMA 2, A.0.101.23, 3–4.

12 Labat/Malbran-Labat 1988, 136–1371.
13 “He put in my lordly arms”, RIMA 2, A.0.101.23, 6.
14 “Palace of boxwood”, RIMA 2, A.0.101.23, 18.
15 Le Gac 1907, 154.
16 Winter 2000, Richardson 1999–2001.
17 Brown 2010, 31–33.
18 Giovino 2007; Seidl/Sallaberger 2005–2006.
40 Nathan Morello

object that represented a tree.19 Consequently, Brown does not concentrate directly on
the meaning of the sacred tree to explain the equivalence between sign and image.
Instead, he considers the equivalence between the sign GIŠ and the name of the leg-
endary king, prototype and index of the very institution of kingship: Gilgamesh of
Uruk. As a matter of fact, as shown by Parpola, the simple addition of a pre-determi-
native for “god” (AN = d) to the sign is enough to allow us to read the equivalence dGIŠ
= Gilgamesh.20 Brown, then, suggests a double symbolism for this sign on the AST: the
“prototypical warrior and builder king serving as a symbol of the larger institution of
kingship”.21
Before passing to the next example of interaction, I would add to Brown’s conclu-
sions only one consideration, because I believe his reasoning too complex, although I
don’t rule it out altogether. I would not reject a simpler equivalence of GIŠ = AST, even
with the necessary prudence in doing so. Very briefly, the innumerable studies on the
AST (one of the most popular subjects in the history of Assyriology) have now—thanks
to Giovino’s The Assyrian Sacred Tree: A History of Interpretations (2007)—reached a
stage where we can posit a close interrelation between the sacred tree and the secrecy
of kingship. The interpretations of what is or is not an AST, in any case, allow us to
place it within a rather restricted symbolic area. It certainly does represent a tree,
even if not a palm tree, nor a real tree. However, even if they are not directly linked
to one another, the AST and the palm tree share a proximity to the king’s sphere,
since for example, as Richardson22 notes, the palm and the king (Sennacherib) can be
defined with the same Sumerograms GIŠ.GIŠIMMAR, to say nothing of the many met-
aphorical relations between a tree (particularly the palm tree) and its seeds, and the
king’s offspring, which often occur in royal inscriptions. All together, these different
theories do not put any relevant distance between “tree” (GIŠ) and kingship. Hence,
I consider Brown’s equivalence with the “divine tree” Gilgamesh plausible, but too
indirect to be the primary one. I would say that the GIŠ on the tree is not the direct
symbol of Gilgamesh, even though it shares with Gilgamesh (and one of the possible
renderings of his name) the institution of kingship, in the same way that the AST is
not a palm-tree, but shares with it the symbolism of kingship (as in Sennacherib’s
title). In a very similar way, I will admit that the AST was not an actual tree, but I do
not see any reason, after so many convincing studies on this subject, to reject the idea
that those who ritually saw, used, sculpted and finally recognized an AST on a palace
relief would not have called it a “tree”. In the same way, for thousands of years since
the end of cuneiform culture, people in the western world have used the tree to illus-
trate genealogy—though at first the sole prerogative of kings and nobles, in today’s

19 Giovino 2007, 177–196.

20 Parpola 1998, 324.
21 Brown 2010, 33.
22 Richardson 1999-2001, 162.
A giš on a Tree 41

internet world, anybody can have his own digital “genealogy-tree”, even though we
know it has never been an actual tree.

4 A Name on a Hand (Aššurnasirpal)

Slab H-4 from the NWP shows a standing king performing rituals, and behind him, a
two-winged human-headed apkallu. Brian Brown noted that on the king’s left hand is
inscribed the name of Aššurnasirpal (1aš-šur-PAP-A). It will be worth noting, also for
the sake of what we will argue below, exactly how this is presented (fig. 3).

Fig. 3: Relief H-4 from North-West Palace © Daderot, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cour-
tesy of the Brooklyn Museum, New York).
42 Nathan Morello

The Assyrian king (traditionally identified with Aššurnasirpal himself) is shown

facing left (south), performing a libation ritual. With his right hand he raises a drink-
ing bowl, while he keeps his left arm horizontally at waist-level, showing the back of
the hand, which holds a bow from its upper end (the bow being held in rest position
with the lower end on the ground, “opened” externally). The king’s figure is sculpted
very close to the left edge of the slab, and so it happens that the lower part of the
king’s left hand cuts across the sign of the very first part of the SI’s first line, “Palace
of Aššurnasirpal”, consequently encircling Aššurnasirpal’s name. No space is left
before or after the hand; the inscription continues normally. It should also be noted
that the very lowest part of the hand is crossed by the upper part of some of the signs
from the lower line (fig. 3a). Therefore, even if it is true that the king’s name is clearly
visible, highlighted by the presence of the crossing hand, I believe that it cannot be
argued with absolute confidence that the scribe decided to highlight the king’s name
deliberately, by means of this particular image-inscription interaction.

Fig. 3a: Relief H-4 from North-West Palace, detail. In the frame the name Aššurnasirpal (1aš-šur-
PAP-A) is visible © Daderot, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons (courtesy of the Brooklyn
Museum, New York).

Nevertheless, we will admit that the king’s name clearly catches the eye, and it
will be worth discussing its possible meaning(s). Brown’s interpretation is directly
linked to the main subject of his article, i.e. the interpretation of the reliefs and their
relation to the functions of the palace’s rooms in the sphere of the ancestors’ cult.
A giš on a Tree 43

Brown rightly underscores the fact that this is the only relief in which Aššurnasirpal’s
name is interacting with an image in the NWP’s reliefs. He also considers this detail
while describing the difference, in particular, between NWP rooms G and H. As Brown
notes, there is a strong similarity between all the kings depicted in room G, while in
room H the kings are different from one another.23 Consequently, while the kings in
room G can all be identified as Aššurnasirpal II himself (an identification that is also
due to the functions of the cult that Brown posits for the room), those depicted in
room H are different kings, probably ancestors. The name on the hand, then, identi-
fies the only king that actually is Aššurnasirpal II or his eponymous Aššurnasirpal I,
an identification that can become a substitution once Aššurnasirpal II dies.24
Notwithstanding the value of Brown’s interpretation of the NWP’s architectural
functions, we will try to show in the next paragraph how attributing actual direct
functions to image-inscription interactions can be misleading and risks undermining
part of the general theory.

5 A Name on a Throne (Shalmaneser)

Slab 3 from room G is the central part of a three-slab relief showing a banquet theme.
The king is depicted seated on a backless throne, holding a drinking bowl with his
right hand, while his left hand rests on his legs. Left of the king (i.e. in front of him)
stand a eunuch and, behind him, a winged human-headed apkallu. Similarly, to the
right of the king (behind him) are two eunuchs and an apkallu with the same features.
The scene is flanked by two other slabs bearing one large AST each. The inscription
runs on a band that crosses the figures’ bodies from under their waists to the upper
half of their legs (the lower half in the case of the seated king). Each slab contains a
complete copy of the SI (fig. 4).
Looking closer at G-3’s inscription, one can see how many parts of the image have
been left uninscribed in the area around and including the backless throne (fig. 4a).
Considering the inscription as a horizontal band that crosses the relief from left to
right, we see how it invades the left part of the king’s figure, covering his bent legs up
to the fringes of his clothing. Then, following the line of the fringes it stops, leaving
intact the rest of the king’s vest, his backside, the back drape of his clothing, the
throne’s cushion and its ornamental ram-heads. On the throne, the inscription runs
along its side and legs. The space between the throne’s legs is filled with an undu-
lating motif that represents textile fringes coming down from the throne’s side. This
part is not inscribed, so that in this area the inscription is carved only on the throne’s

23 Brown 2010, 10–12.

24 Brown 2010, 11, 38.
44 Nathan Morello

legs. To the right of the king and his throne, the inscription starts again, continuing
uninterrupted to the end of the slab. There is one more distinctive trait: the last line,
which consists of only eight signs, is carved after the right leg of the throne instead of
starting from the left edge of the slab.

Fig. 4: Relief G-3 from North-West Palace © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Fig. 4a shows how the scribe roughly followed the curved line of the king’s cloth-
ing, creating a smooth aesthetic effect, but was not as careful in the lower part of the
inscription, where the lines are at throne-level. In comparing those spaces with the
lines carved on the throne, we get the impression that he deliberately left the exact
space that he needed to fit the signs he wanted. In this relief, we find two examples of
image-inscription interactions, one on the throne’s side and one on the throne’s legs.
The side of the throne can be divided in two parts. An upper part corresponds to
the seat, on which the cushion is laid. In its real appearance, this part was probably
made of wood, while to its front and back metallic ram-heads were attached. All of the
A giš on a Tree 45

Fig. 4a: Relief G-3 from North-West Palace, detail. The arrows indicate spaces intentionally left
empty. In the frame: the last eight signs of the Standard Inscription, starting at the right of the
throne instead of at the left edge of the slab © The Trustees of the British Museum (elaboration by
the author).

Fig. 4b: Relief G-3 from North-West Palace, detail. The arrow indicates the empty space left after the
line, in the “wooden” band of the throne. The black frames are: (upper) the signs for the name of
Shalmaneser ([1]dšùl-ma-nu-MAŠ) and for his epithet, “King of Assyria” (MAN KUR aš-šur); (lower)
two interactions between the throne’s legs and the signs for meskannu wood (GIŠ mes-kan-ni)
© The Trustees of the British Museum (elaboration by the author).

“wooden” parts of the throne’s seat are inscribed, i.e. three complete lines of inscrip-
tion are carved, while where the outline of the seat bends to receive the cushion, only
the lateral parts of the seat are inscribed, so as not to touch the “fabric”. This upper
part lies on the throne’s legs (which show six inscribed lines each). Seat and legs
46 Nathan Morello

together frame a lower part of the throne’s side, formed by a strip of “wood” and the
band of “textile” fringes hanging from it.
The “wooden” lower side of the throne is engraved with only nine signs (fig. 4b),
with a long empty space between them and the throne’s right leg (the only part of the
relief with some empty space on the right side of the inscription). If compared with
the line above, this space looks large enough to have enclosed a further 6–7 signs.
Furthermore, the space below the signs could have been filled with a further line,
which starts on the throne’s left leg but continues only on the right one. The thus
isolated nine signs form the name of Shalmaneser and his epithet, “King of Assyria”
(= [1]d šùl-ma-nu-SAG MAN KUR aš-šur25). As part of the inscription, the king’s name
refers to Shalmaneser I (1274–1245 BC), who is said to have been the founder of the city
of Kalhu, rebuilt by Aššurnasirpal. Therefore, the name is highlighted in two ways: by
encircling it in the frame of the throne’s lower side, and by leaving some empty space
to the right and below it. Here, there is no different reading of the signs when follow-
ing the inscription or when looking at them alone. For its part, however, the role of
the image is unclear. Is the name referring to the king seated on the throne? Does it
refer to the throne itself, as a sort of property label? As far as I have been able to make
out, this is the only other king’s name highlighted on the NWP’s reliefs, besides that
of Aššurnasirpal on H-4.
Now, as I mentioned above, the presence of Shalmaneser’s name on this relief
could undermine Brown’s theory. If, in fact, the king on H-4 is given a name because
he is the only one to be identified with Aššurnasirpal (I or II), shouldn’t the king seated
on G-3—the very room (and right on its “banquet” relief) that, as Brown convincingly
explains, was decorated with only Aššurnasirpal’s representations—be the only one
not to be identified as Aššurnasirpal, but as Shalmaneser? And which Shalmaneser?
The first, founder of the city of Kalhu, or the third, Aššurnasirpal’s son and legitimate
successor? My inclination tends to neither of these. This king is not Shalmaneser (I
or III), nor can we have any certainty that the one on H-4 is or is not Aššurnasirpal.
I find it similarly difficult to presume a functional relationship between bas-relief,
room functions, and image-inscription interaction as the one suggested for H-4.
Rather, I would look for an ideological interpretation of these interactions that
more broadly stressed the celebration of kingship, similar to what happens with the
example of the “GIŠ on a tree”. Besides deities and kings, the throne may belong
to members of the royal family, members of the assembly, judges, and spirits of the
dead.26 Furthermore, the throne often has a metaphoric meaning of firmly establish-
ing kingship (kussī šuršudu).27 As suggested by C. Pappi, (and also keeping in mind

25 RIMA 2, A.0.101.23: 15. The DIŠ used as determinative ([1]) before the king’s name was probably lost
during the restoration of the relief.
26 Salonen 1963, 65.
27 Pappi 2013, 635. See CAD R, 189. Cf., for example, the 7th-century letter from the exorcist Urad-Gu-
A giš on a Tree 47

the role of a king’s ancestors in the NWP, as underlined by Brown in his analysis), this
could be the ideological meaning behind the presence of the name Shalmaneser—the
king who is celebrated as the prime founder of Nimrud in the inscription—on the
throne of Aššurnasirpal II, his natural heir.28

6 Two Wooden Legs

The second interaction to note on slab G-3 is, admittedly, less evident than the one
mentioned above, but it is rather interestingly repeated twice in the same way. On
the right leg of the throne, fourth line from the bottom, and on left leg, second line
from the bottom, we find the signs for the word “meskannu wood” (gišmes-kan-ni) from
the final description of the construction of the NWP: “I founded therein a palace of
cedar, cypress, daprānu juniper, boxwood, meskannu wood, therebinth, and tamarisk
as my royal residence and for my lordly leisure for eternity […] I hung doors of cedars,
cypress, daprānu juniper (and) meskannu wood in its doorways” (fig. 4b).29
The meskannu/musukkannu (also mesukannu, meskannu, mismakannu, usu-
kannu, Sum. m e s.má.kan.na, original meaning “mes tree of Makkan/Magan”,
possibly to be identified with the Dalbergia sissoo30) is a type of tree known to have
been imported from Magan (presumably modern Oman). By the first millennium BC,
the musukkannu tree also grew in the Near East, as we have attestations of Assyrian
kings planting it (Aššurnasirpal II and Sennacherib), while Tiglath-pileser III (722–
705) found a plantation of it in Babylonia.31 In the royal inscriptions, musukkannu
wood is defined as iṣṣu dārû “lasting wood”,32 and is known to have been used for
the decoration of buildings and furniture of value, especially legs and bands.33 It is
particularly noteworthy that the musukkannu is known as one of the valuable woods
used for thrones.34

la SAA 10, 294: 10, “May they (the gods) keep the foundation of the throne of your kingship as firm as
a mountain rock forever (išdi kussī šarrūtika kīma šipik šadî lišaršidu ana ūmē ṣâti).”
28 Pappi, personal communication.
29 RIMA 2, A.0.101.23, 18–21.
30 Gershevitch 1957, 317ff.
31 Postgate 1992, 183.
32 See entry musukkannu on the CAD M II, esp. p. 238. See also for example the inscriptions from
Tukulti-Ninurta II (890–884): RIMA 2, A.0.100.5, 70–73a “from Ilī-Ibni, governor of the land of Suḫu
(I received as tribute): three talents of silver, 20 minas of gold, an ivory couch, three ivory chests, 18
tin bars, 40 furniture legs of meskannu wood, a bed of meskannu wood, six dishes of meskannu wood,
a bronze bathtub, linen garments, garments with multi-coloured trim, purple wood, oxen, sheep,
bread, (and) beer.”
33 Salonen 1963, 221.
34 Pappi 2013, 633. See also, from the Mari archives, the throne in musukkannum wood that Zimrī-Lîm
48 Nathan Morello

Except for the sign -ni that “falls” out of the right leg, both words are precisely
fitted in the “wooden” parts of the image and I believe that this position, with no
inscribed space before and after the signs (except for the right side of the right leg),
leaves room for the possibility that they were set there deliberately. If so, we would
have here an interaction in which the word is kept (almost) in its entirety on the image,
keeps its reading and is partly extrapolated from its original context, even though,
when Aššurnasirpal claims to have built a palace of mesakanni wood, he might also
mean its valuable furniture like the ritual throne. Moreover, if my interpretation of
the aforementioned interaction between the throne and the king’s name proves to be
correct, a relation could be seen between the everlasting character of the meskannu
tree and the ideological motif of kussī šuršudu, providing an interesting example of
two interactions conceived around the same image, both aimed at conveying a similar
message.

7 Image-Inscription Interactions in the Frame of the

NWP Decorative Project
The examples shown above need to be analysed in the broader framework of the con-
struction of Kalhu and its palace. In particular, studies from the past forty years have
permitted more detailed interpretations of the role of inscriptions (especially the SI)
in the decorative project of the NWP.
Besides their textual characteristics (narrative, linguistic, etc.), monumental
inscriptions have a well-known symbolic and propagandistic meaning in their visual
impact, fully aside from the ability of the viewer to read them. In its very essence, the
inscription stands as a representation of the king’s knowledge, and consequently, of
his power and legitimacy.35 The visual effect provided by monumental inscriptions is
particularly evident in the NWP, where each relief-slab had its copy of the SI, which
is visually connected to the ones before and after it, giving the impression of a con-
tinuous text. This inscription formed a horizontal band about 1.5 meters high that
either crossed the images or had a register of its own, dividing the reliefs in two sepa-
rate scenes.36 A closer look at each slab clearly shows that, for the sake of this visual

donates to Nagatmiš, king of Tigunani (north of Šubat-Enlil), to reward him for his victory against the
king of Ašlakka (ARM 30, 424–426).
35 Russel 1999, 47: “the power of these inscriptions must reside not primarily in their content but
rather in the very fact of their existence”.
36 Most of the separated slabs had images of a narrative and historical type, such as battle scenes
and royal hunts of lion and bull. These slabs were posted in the throne room of the palace (B) and in
the rooms to the west of the inner court Y (WG, WH, WK / BB). Other slabs carried images that covered
their entire surface and bore one of three different subjects: 1) the king performing different kinds of
A giš on a Tree 49

effect, when a slab did not have enough space to contain the entire text, the inscrip-
tion was truncated, often mid-sentence. This procedure has been shown to have been
carried out in accordance with some criterion.
With the studies of Paley (1976), de Filippi (1977), Sobolewski (1982), Reade (1985)
and Russell (1999), it has been possible to identify and analyse two versions of the SI.
These versions, Type A and B, differ in few aspects, sometimes of possible chronolog-
ical nature, as in the two ways in which the text defines the northernmost limits of
Aššurnasirpal’s conquests: “to the interior of the land Nirib” (adi māt Nirib ša bītāni)
in Type A, and “to the land of Urartu” (adi māt Urarṭi) in Type B. Type B is thus dated
to a later period, after the eighteenth year of Aššurnasirpal’s reign, when he con-
ducted his first campaign against Urartu.37
Following a reconstruction proposed by Reade (1985) and elaborated by Russell
(1999), Type A, the earlier version, was carved on all or most of the unsculpted slabs
in a period that extends from the king’s ninth year (875 BC) to the campaign in Urartu.
In this period, the sculpted slabs were still under construction. There are no known
examples of Type A on sculpted reliefs, nor any cases of truncated inscriptions on
unsculpted slabs. When the slab was too narrow to contain the entire inscription,
another text with similar literary motifs, the so-called Palace Wall Foundation Text,38
was used. Somehow, after the Urartian campaign, and by the time the sculpted reliefs
were ready to be inscribed, Type B had supplanted Type A and any other text. All
sculpted slabs, in fact, are inscribed with Type B, no matter what size they are. When
a slab is too narrow, the text is left truncated, often in mid-sentence, and no Wall
Foundation Text, nor any other, is used to fill narrow spaces.39
This reconstruction, besides exhaustively explaining the distribution of the texts
in the palace’s inscriptions, suggests a period of time long enough for a group of royal
scribes, entrusted with the composition of the relief inscriptions, to define in detail a
work of great complexity and refinement, a work that could have included the oppor-
tunity to insert variations in the obsessive repetition of the same inscription, without
corrupting the original text.
Sometimes, certain elements of the image were left untouched, usually the most
elaborate ones (wings, fringes of clothing, bowstrings), which could be adversely
affected by the addition of cuneiform signs, and on which, moreover, the signs would

rituals (throne room B and rooms C, F, G, H, S); 2) protective deities with human or bird heads (present
in all the sculptured areas of the palace); and 3) foreign people presenting tribute to the king (on the
throne room façade D, ED, E).
37 For other differences between Types A and B, see Russell 1999, 30–41.
38 Russell 1999, 24–28.
39 Russell 1999, 38.
50 Nathan Morello

have been less readable.40 If we compare slab B-23 (the one with our GIŠ) and B-26,41
for instance, we see that the writing is placed indiscriminately on many parts of the
latter (e.g. including wings and fringes), and is therefore far less legible than on the
former (fig. 5).42
We will imagine these scribes planning the composition of the most important
reliefs of the palace. It is also possible to imagine that they would have painted the
SI’s signs on the sculpted slab to see the possible outcome of the whole work before
ordering the stone-cutters to start working.43
On the other hand, the rest of the orthostats were inscribed without particular
care or distinctive traits, and in some cases they were even left truncated at mid-sen-
tence if space on the slab was insufficient. Yet, even when truncating occurred, a
possible criterion is visible, related to the sculptured subject. As Russell notes, on
the narrow slab 11 in room G (1.12 m), where a king is carved, the SI is included in its
entirety, with a visible overcrowding of signs. Close to G-11, slab G-9 is decorated with
a simple courtier and is only 7 cm narrower, but has a truncated text.44
The creation of the palace reliefs appears to have been a highly complex compo-
sitional project, of which the image-inscription interactions we are dealing with here
were but one feature.

8 Visibility and the Public

If the complex compositional project behind the interactions, and more generally
behind the whole effort of the decorative plan of the NWP, is now clearer, a question
remains: how visible were these interactions meant to be? Were they meant to be con-
cealed in the complex figurative decoration, or were they meant to be seen clearly?
The concealed hypothesis seems to be supported by two substantial elements.
The first is the overall difficulty in understanding some of these interactions, as even
the most evident “GIŠ on the tree” needs a well-trained mind to understand it in its
deepest meaning. The second feature is their inaccessibility, their location in the
rooms of the NWP exposing them to a very limited group of people.45 Furthermore,

40 See for example Stearns 1961 (with the corresponding locating numbers from Meuszyńsky 1981 in
brackets), pl. 2 (H-33), 3 (H-4), 5 (G-11), 9 (L-17), 10 (G-18), 11 (L-35), 16 (N-5), 17 (L-10), 18 (L-8).
41 Sterns 1961, pl. 51. For the identification of this slab’s original position, see Meuszyńsky 1981, pl. 1.
42 Note that in many cases, in which different objects are left untouched by the inscription, no spe-
cific need for a clear reading can be presumed. Ritual buckets, parts of furniture, and hands are all
elements that would not be affected by carving, nor would they render the inscription illegible.
43 For an example of painted cuneiform signs, see Reade 1986, 217.
44 Russell 1999, 40. See also for example Slab H33 (AfO Beich. 15, pl. 2), 1.04 m wide, showing a king
and a complete SI, compared to slab B-26 (fig. 5), 1.31 m wide, showing an apkallu and a truncated SI.
45 Fales 2009, 253.
A giš on a Tree 51

Fig. 5: Relief B-26 from North-West Palace. If compared with B-23 this slab looks as if it had been
inscribed with less care. No part of the sculpted image was left uninscribed. This slab also carries a
truncated Standard Inscription (which ends with the signs for ek-ṣu-te a-pi-ir – RIMA 2, A.0.101.23:
13), although it is 1.31 m wide, almost 20 cm more than G-11 (1.12 m), where the SI is complete
(Russell 1999, 40) (taken from Budge 1914, pl. X).
52 Nathan Morello

sometimes their very positioning in the architectural arrangement made them even
less visible. One should not forget that even the “GIŠ on the tree” was placed behind
the throne dais, therefore behind the throne itself, leaving very few occasions for pos-
sible contemplation.
Nonetheless, one should take into account how Ancient Near East figurative art
and cuneiform writing—the two intimately related forms of art involved in image-in-
scription interactions—not only show a predisposition for approaches of multiple
reading. They are also conceived following arrangements that include the possibility
of focusing the attention of the observer on one particular element of the (literary or
figurative) work by graphically highlighting it.46
Ancient Near East figurative art appears, at least to our eyes, naturally suitable
for double or multiple readings and multiple significance. It is evident at first glance
that the ritual scenes sculpted on the orthostats of the NWP do not represent simple
celebrations of single historically identifiable moments. On the contrary, they bear a
number of different messages relating to many aspects of the cult and institution of
kingship. Furthermore, such works of art are not conceived only to be contemplated.
In fact, they are meant to involve their observer in a periodical (and in some ways per-
petual) ritual.47 The presence of image elements characterized by multiple readings
(the AST is a clear example) gives the bas-reliefs not only a quality of polysemy but
also one of performativity, i.e. the possibility of doing things, or performing actions
with and through them.48

46 As many scholars have pointed out, it is not possible to study figurative art without ­textual
­analysis, especially when they are two parts of the same work of art, i.e. the monument with its im-
age(s) and inscription(s). In the introduction to their brief study on the codes of visual representations
in the reliefs of the Assyrian king Sennacherib (705–681), Carlo Lippolis and Marco Benetti argue that
only by considering the centrality of the bounds between visual art and cuneiform writing can we
hope to coherently interpret Mesopotamian art. The two authors do not refer simply to the message
of royal propaganda shared by the two forms of art, but especially to the way of conceiving visual
representation as a written enunciation (Benetti/Lippolis 2011, 79). Their study develops a less recent
idea proposed by Irene Winter, who, in her article on the royal rhetoric in Neo-Assyrian reliefs (Winter
1981), summarizes the main (physical, ideological, historical, etc.) relationships between Assyrian
royal inscriptions and reliefs, starting from the case of Aššurnasirpal II’s NWP. In particular, she indi-
cates that writing and sculpted reliefs share, on the one hand, “a similar syntax of action and explicit
articulation of action to consequence”, and, on the other, “the same grammatical and compositional
play on the ambiguity between the subject of the action / the king in the first and third persons”
(­Winter 1981, 21). Furthermore, in a more recent article, she underlines the close relationship between
the structural organizations of visual narrative in the reliefs and the very nature of the Akkadian
language (Winter 1997, 362).
47 Nadali 2013.
48 The ritualistic property of figurative art is not limited to reliefs of mythological themes. For similar
characteristics in narrative reliefs see Nadali 2001–2003. The subject of performativity of the Ancient
Near East monuments is in many ways close to the subject of the agency they were to perform on the
society in which they were conceived. See Marian Feldman’s article on the Hammurabi codex-stela
A giš on a Tree 53

This active role of reliefs is also made possible through their graphic arrangement,
which allows for different points of view for the same work of art, following a mul-
ti-centric principle. As we know, Assyrian reliefs were not conceived as static graphic
representations of a given subject that reproduce reality following the principles of
modern (western) perspective. On the contrary, in Mesopotamian reliefs, space is con-
ceived and represented as non-perspective and multi-dimensional.49 This character-
istic is particularly evident in the reliefs of narrative subjects, where different scenes
are gathered on a single sculpted slab. Here, the different sizes of the elements do not
depend on the fixed perspective of Renaissance conception (e.g. the closer objects
appear larger). On the contrary, the principle that rules the size of the depicted ele-
ments is grounded in the spatial, psychological and temporal relationships between
them.50 In the narrative orthostats from the NWP’s throne room, for instance, we see
how the size of the soldiers depends on their status, the role they play in the narrative,
and their relation to a particular part of the scene. Looking at slab B-4 (lower register),
we see that the assault on the fortified city can be divided into different sub-scenes
placed around the city, depending on the size of the characters and their relation to
time and space (fig. 6). Close to the right edge of the slab, two officials, one archer and
one shield bearer, have the same height as the city and represent the main narrative
theme: the overwhelming attack conducted by the Assyrian army against the enemy.
For the sake of dynamism, the enemies, shown at almost half the height of the two
soldiers on the right, are proportionally too big if compared with the walls they are
standing on. In the centre of the relief, two Assyrian soldiers are almost the same size

(Feldman 2010), where she analyses the consequences of the introduction of perspective in spatial
rendering of the sculpted scene, and the work on agency marked and agency ascribed in Mesopotami-
an monuments by Irene Winter (Winter 2007). Winter’s article, in which she reviews Alfred Gell’s Art
and ­Agency. An Anthropological Theory (1998), also deals with the agency of language in monumental
inscriptions, but focuses only on linguistic aspects and semantic relationships with the respective
monuments’ images. I believe that it would be worth adding to her conclusions a study on the active
role of monumental inscriptions that included both their linguistic characteristics and their visual
features. Such a study would start from their physical incorporation onto the monuments—a subject
that Winter mentions in her work on the conception of royal image in Assyrian ideology (­Winter 1997,
74)—and would include the kind of image-inscription interactions we are dealing with here, in the
light of social theory.
49 In their article, Benetti and Lippolis describe the non-perspective nature of Assyrian reliefs. Dif-
ferently than in western art, where space is conceived following the principles of perspective, in the
Assyrian reliefs there is no fixed point of view that defines the shape of objects, deforming them
according to their position relative to the viewer. On the contrary, the objects are depicted “simultane-
ously”, showing the relationships between them in space and time. As recipients of the work of art,
we can appreciate the represented objects as very close—with minute, clearly visible details—and very
far, as single parts of the whole (Benetti/Lippolis 2011, 100). For a critical analysis of western percep-
tion of non-western art (especially Ancient Near Eastern), according to the principles of perspective,
see among others Bahrani 2003, 73–95 (but cf. Fales 2009), and Feldman 2010, 151–159.
50 Benetti/Lippolis 2011, 86.
54 Nathan Morello

as the enemies with whom they are directly interacting, as they try to pull a soldier
down from the walls with a pair of chains (fig. 6a). Still of another size are four Assyr-
ian soldiers, one pair on top of a battering ram (shown as big as the city walls) and
another pair intent on crushing the city walls with maces. The result of such multi-di-
mensional representation is that we are able to “zoom in” on the different parts of the
battle scene, so as to better appreciate the narrated events.

Fig. 6: Relief B-4 lower band, from North-West Palace © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Quoting the neurologist R. L. Gregory, Lippolis and Benetti explain this way of
conceiving space in the Assyrian reliefs as a consequence of the very nature of visual
perception, which is not passive and objective (as though seen through a modern
camera). In fact, visual perception is the result of a decisional process based on
limited sensory evidence, for which the brain dynamically creates an interpretation
of what the eyes perceive.51 Moreover, the eye is naturally attracted to objects that are
in different ways (size, position, etc.) more evident than others.

Cuneiform writing is also well known for its characteristic of multiple reading. The
single cuneiform sign has two main readings, one (inherited from its Sumerian
origins) as logogram, i.e. one sign = one (or more different) word(s), and one as syl-
labogram, i.e. one sign = one (or more different) phoneme(s). The example of the
“GIŠ on the tree” shows this double nature well. In Mesopotamian culture, as has
been explained by such scholars as Bottéro, the relation between the cuneiform sign
and the signified realities is extremely deep, and it is bound to the notion that every
element or phenomenon of reality (including writing) can be interpreted as a message

51 Benetti/Lippolis 2011, 83.

A giš on a Tree 55

Fig. 6a: Relief B-4 lower band, from North-West Palace, detail © The Trustees of the British Museum.

from the divine world.52 Under certain circumstances, the fact that two (or more) reali-
ties can be identified by the same sign (polysemy) or that two (or more) signs meaning
different words can be read in the same way (homophony) can create substantial
relationships. Furthermore, such relationships can sometimes—in specific texts of
high literary importance—be actively modified for specific purposes. Similar word
games, then, are not conceived on a merely linguistic basis.53 They are deeply rooted

52 Bottéro 1987, passim.

53 See, for example, a case from Esarhaddon’s inscriptions (RINAP 4, 104 ii 2–8), where the god
Marduk himself plays with cuneiform signs—in this particular case, fractions. After having punished
Babylon and its inhabitants by designating a 70-year period of destruction (i.e. Sennacherib’s devas-
56 Nathan Morello

in the very idea of knowledge as conceived in Mesopotamia. As Glassner summarizes,

“analogy was woven into the very nature of language. We are struck by the amazing
deftness with which the Mesopotamians plied the resources of their languages to
express the relationships between words and things. It is here that we touch on the
core of their thought, for the analogical relationships were not only consecrated by
words, they were founded by them”.54
The hermeneutical importance of writing is also based on the fact that words and
signs have, as figurative art, a quality of performativity. It should be noted here that,
already in the Sumero-Akkadian royal inscriptions of Old Babylonian times, the pro-
nounced and/or written word represented not only a descriptive means, but in fact
the necessary condition to create a communicative relation with the gods. As Semi-
nara points out, the king’s (building or military) undertakings needed to be perceived
by the gods through their senses, and writing had a central role in such ritual perfor-
mance.55 In a recent article, I used this point of view as a basis to analyse the notably
large number of references to sensorial perceptions (especially sight, hearing, and
smell) used in the descriptions of landscape from Sargon II’s Letter to Aššur. In the
text, the Assyrian king (722–705 BC) writes directly to the main god of the Assyrian
pantheon, giving an account of his victorious military campaign against Urartu in 714
BC.56 My opinion in that article is that such an abundance of references to sensorial
perceptions in a text of high literary and cultic value has the performative function of
facilitating the opening of a communicative channel between king and god during the
reading of the letter.57
The performativity of writing, or more simply its feature of “doing” different
things at one time due to the possibility of multiple reading, is also visible in exam-
ples in which a particular sign seems to be used specifically to attract the eye of
the observer. We should note, for instance, Irene Winter’s textual analysis of one of
Gudea’s royal inscriptions (22nd century BC). In Cylinder A, where the Sumerian king
celebrates the building of a new temple for the god Ningirsu, Winter points out that
after the end of the construction works, the temple is described with the words “it
stood to be marvelled at”. Here, a central role is taken by the Sumerian logogram U6,
“marvellous”, which is composed by two other signs, IGI, the logogram for “eye”, and

tation of the city in 689 BC) on the “Tablet of Destinies”, the mighty god reconsiders his decision and
reverses the order of the two wedges that form the number 70. In this way 70 years become 11, and
Esarhaddon thereby finds the divine authorization to rebuild the ruined city without dishonouring
his father. As Glassner has pointed out, “none of those operations was gratuitous; they were the very
basis of Mesopotamian intellectual production.” (Glassner 1995, 1819).
54 Glassner 1995, 1818. See also Maul 1999 for the use of orthography and etymology as a hermeneu-
tical method of Babylonian scholars, and more recently Selz 2013.
55 Seminara 2004, 537.
56 Thureau-Dangin 1912.
57 Morello 2013.
A giš on a Tree 57

É, the logogram for “house/temple”. It would be difficult to deny that any sufficiently
trained cuneiform reader would notice (and be attracted by) the use of such a com-
posite logogram, which uses the very objects involved in the action of admiring: the
temple and the public’s eyes.58
In considering such characteristics of Assyrian figurative art and cuneiform
writing, we will find it less difficult to understand the nature of the interactions
between image and inscription. In this light, it becomes more plausible to suppose the
existence of compositional projects, behind the reliefs from the NWP, that combine the
possibility of putting certain words or signs in evidence, focusing (zooming) attention
on a particular spot, and creating possible relations between those words or signs and
the part of the image they cut across.
On the other hand, we should not overestimate this phenomenon and conclude
that all written sources coming from the Mesopotamian world were bearers of this
kind of polysemic double meaning. In fact, as Fales recently warned us, we will not
forget that such “games” of multiple significance are confined to very few examples
gathered from particular kinds of literary texts.59
At the same time, we will also agree with Fales on another aspect. When such
examples of multiple readings occur, they seem to be the outcome of the presence,
in the king’s entourage, of scribes and scholars expert in the technical competences
involved in the relations between the divine and human world—what Pongratz-Leisten
has defined as Herrschaftswissen.60 Thanks to the correspondence of Esarhaddon
and Aššurbanipal,61 we know these relations to have been particularly intense during
the 7th century, but we can assume they were also at least partly extant in previous
periods. Those belonging to this restricted circle, namely the king himself, his intel-
lectual entourage and a few others, were the primary recipients, the intended public,
of these complex literary and artistic operations.62

58 Winter 2007, 55–56.

59 Fales 2009, 253: “the vast majority of Assyro-Babylonian written documents, i.e. those which for
more than three millennia were concerned with administration, law, epistolary communication, in-
ternational relations, and historiography, do not exhibit this extraordinary ‘game’ of multiple and
multidimensional significance—and fortunately so, otherwise we would have never been able to piece
together the skeleton of Mesopotamian history as we have painstakingly done for the last 160 years!
In other words, these thousands of texts ‘speak straight’ to us almost 100% of the time—with terms,
syntax and especially logic which we, some two thousand years after the last cuneiform tablet was
written, have fully come to follow and understand, despite the innumerable linguistic difficulties and
contextual obscurities involved.”
60 Pongratz-Leisten 1999.
61 See esp. SAA 13.
62 The more refined and complex example of this kind of sapiential dialogue, conceived for the inner
court only, is the one that we could also define here as the strongest example of interplay between fig-
urative art and writing, in which the images are themselves words: the so-called “astroglyphs”, small
depictions of animals, anthropomorphic elements, objects of everyday life and astral symbols that,
58 Nathan Morello

Hence, our conclusion on the image-inscription interactions coming from the

NWP’s reliefs will be that these complex visual-literary interplays, even if partly con-
cealed by their position in the palace’s spaces, were meant to be seen. Their ideal
recipient would have belonged to one of the three categories indicated by Fales in
his chart of “possible types of audiences for Assyrian bas-reliefs”: the inner court
(scribes, scholars, and other in-groups), gods, and the king himself. Consequently,
the respective functions of the interactions were those of political-ideological internal
propaganda (preaching to the converted), feedback for divine support (through the
celebration of kingship and its bond with the divine world), and self-gratification of
the king, in addition to his intent to preserve the memory of himself for future gener-
ations, especially princes.63

All this said, we shall take into account how very similar image-inscription interac-
tions prove to have been used in a diametrically different context, for a different kind
of recipient and with a different purpose: on a public stele, displayed outdoors and in
a frontier territory. The stele was erected by Esarhaddon in the city of Sam’al/Zincirli
Höyük (in the Anti-Taurus Mountains of modern southern Turkey), two centuries after
the foundation of the NWP (fig. 7). The evidence provided by this monument, as ana-
lysed by B.N. Porter, shows a different use of image-inscription interactions, aimed at
a much more direct, and in a way simpler, propagandistic message. The interactions
briefly described below were meant for two possible classes of people: Assyrian offi-
cials based in frontier regions, and possibly, if we imagine the occurrence of a public
reading of the stele, perhaps with the aid of a translator, a local non-Assyrian public.
The propagandistic functions of the Sam’al stele have been already extensively
analysed by Porter in her article;64 here we will only describe the image-inscriptions
as they appear on the monument.
The stele is 3.46 meters high and it was erected for public display in the gate
leading to the citadel. It shows the king raising an emblem of royal power in one
hand, while the other holds the sceptre and two ropes with which he tames two small
captives, who are kneeling before him: they are the rebellious king Abdi-Milkutti of
Sidon (defeated in 677 BC)65 and the crown prince of Egypt, captured during the Egyp-
tian campaign described in the stele’s inscription.

through the filter of the aforementioned sapiential knowledge (especially astronomy), can be “read”
or “translated” as names and well-attested epithets of the kings who commissioned them (see esp.
Finkel/Reade 1996, Scurlock 1997 and Roaf/Zgoll 2001).
63 Fales 2009, 281, Chart 1.
64 Porter 2003, 75–77.
65 This ruler has also been identified with Ba‛al of Tyre (Pettinato 1975).
A giš on a Tree 59

In the Sam’al stele, we see three different kinds of interactions:

a. the sign -ia, suffix of the 1st person singular possessive pronoun “mine”, repeated
at the end of each of the first ten lines of the inscription, and highlighted by the
space left to isolate it from the rest of the signs (fig. 7a);66
b. the ligature aš-šur right in the middle of Abdi-Milkutti’s beard, isolated by means
of empty space left between the last four signs of line 13 (fig. 7a);
c. the positioning of the sentence “all the non-submissive, the kings who would not
bow to him, like swamp reed he cut down and trampled at his feet”,67 in the area
of the stele under the king’s feet (fig. 7b).

Fig. 7: Stele of Esarhaddon (Sam’al/Zincirli) (photo by the author).

66 RINAP 4, 98: 1–10.

67 RINAP 4, 98: 32–33: kullat lā mā<gi>rēšu malkī lā kanšūtišu kīma qan api / uḫaṣṣiṣma ušakbisa
šēpuššu.
60 Nathan Morello

Fig. 7a: Stele of Esarhaddon (Sam’al/Zincirli), detail. In the white frame: repetition of possessive
pronoun –ia. In the black circles: (upper) the ligature aš-šur on captive’s beard; (lower) sign ŠÁR (<
AN.ŠÁR = Aššur) on captive’s head (photo by the author).

Fig. 7b: Stele of Esarhaddon (Sam’al/Zincirli), detail. Inscription engraved under the king’s feet
(photo by the author).
A giš on a Tree 61

In the first case (a), the lines are visibly and excessively spaced in the inscription area,
so that the pronoun “mine” seems to stand apart from the other signs at the very end
of each line. Here, the “interaction” is created by the absence of any image: the signs
are isolated in the void (filled only by the ruling lines and by the signs themselves)
that constitutes the background of the sculptured scene.
In absence of a particular image, it is nevertheless possible to imagine an indirect
relation between the sign (“mine”) and the stele itself, as well as the place where the
stele was displayed, the inhabitants of that city, and the two rulers at the king’s knees.
In the case of the word “Aššur” on Abdi-Milkutti’s beard (b), Porter points out that
“the spacing of the signs in this line [i.e. 13] and the line before make it clear that this
placement was deliberate […]. The ligature aš-šur was carefully isolated on the beard,
separated from its pre- and post- determinatives [i.e. KUR, “land” and KI, “earth”,
both determinatives for toponyms] by space for a total of about three signs.”68 Porter
suggests interpreting this “Aššur” on the beard as an “ironic”69 property label, and
she compares it with other objects taken as booty and similarly inscribed with a line
of cuneiform labelling them as property of the king, certainly a plausible hypothesis.
In this way, the ruler’s portrait is enriched with a further detail that asserts his tamed
condition.70 In contrast to the case of the GIŠ on the AST, here the word “Aššur”, even
if separated from its determinatives, keeps the same reading in the inscription and
when extracted from its textual context and applied to the image of the captive king.
The relation between image and signs is indirect because it needs “historical” knowl-
edge to support it, suggested by the image.
In the third case (c), the interaction between image and inscription is not due
to their intersection, but to their juxtaposition. Yet the carved feet “trample” on the
sentence, as the king tramples on his foes. Here, the feet are extrapolated from their
iconographic context to take part in a game with the words deliberately positioned
below them.

9 Conclusions
The examples of interactions between images and inscriptions that we have analysed
in these pages are all characterized by extraordinary techniques of elaboration—

68 Porter 2003, n. 182.

69 Personally here, I do not see any irony nor mockery. Rather I take it as a plain and “objective” (with
all its propagandistic consequences) declaration of property.
70 There may also be a similar interaction, although this is admittedly more speculative, on the Egyp-
tian captive’s head. Here too, the scribe left more than enough space between the last four signs of the
line. In fact, there would have been enough space to fill the line with even more signs than in line 13.
The only sign inscribed on the prince’s head is a ŠÁR, part of the word AN.ŠÁR, again “ (god) Aššur”.
62 Nathan Morello

through continuous acts of de-contextualization and re-contextualization—of the

elements that coexist in the same monument. In the form of an inscription, writing
acquires materiality, and it can be physically “moved”, until it finds its place on the
image sculpted behind it. Still, the complexity of this operation resides in the fact that
inscription and image keep their normal reading, even when a new one is added, so
that we end up having two (or more) texts for one inscription. This happens because
of the possibility of multi-significance created by isolating particular words, but also
by the different possible readings of the single sign. The image as well, or rather its
part, is extrapolated from its original context to interact with the signs. We are able
to see the creation of a new level of perception of the work of art, one that is not only
visual or literary, but a combination of the two, a combination that produces a new
message.
This complex technique of monument manipulation can then be applied to com-
pletely different contexts, which require different messages meant for different recip-
ients. The stele of Esarhaddon at Sam’al has a clear propagandistic purpose, which
is surely performed not only by the interactions between images and inscription.
As Porter has pointed out, the analysis of this monument—and Til Barsip’s possible
comparison with monuments with the same iconographic theme—has revealed a
complex project, partly based on information acquired from local tradition and politi-
cal conventions, which is conceived especially for its audience. A certain kind of text,
certain ways to depict the characters (their clothing and their proportions), and a
certain place for the monument display, are all elements carefully manipulated for
the desired purpose.
The case of the reliefs from the NWP is also the result of a complex project, but
within a very different (inner) context. Here, we may observe a similarly careful
choice in the reliefs’ subjects, their arrangement within the architectural spaces of the
palace, and their engraving with many different versions of the same text. However,
the analysis of the interactions in the palace of Aššurnasirpal II has shown how, in
contrast with the analysis of Esarhaddon’s stele, we keep missing the functional rela-
tions between interactions, subjects of the reliefs and architectural spaces.
I would conclude with a very brief reflection, based on this lack of certainty.
Especially in the case of the NWP, as we have mentioned in previous paragraphs, I
believe we should reduce our attempts to interpret functional relations between inter-
actions, reliefs and architectural spaces, and certainly we should avoid unambiguous
solutions that could have the unfortunate outcome of limiting our research. In other
words, as we understand that putting a GIŠ on an AST, even if it clearly creates a
relation between the two, does not imply an equivalence between AST and “tree” (i.e.
does not represent a sufficient datum for the debate on the subject of the nature of
the AST), we will also avoid oversimplified identifications between names and kings.
The name of Shalmaneser on the throne in G-3, or that of Aššurnasirpal on the king’s
hand on H-4, does not represent sufficient evidence to identify either the name of the
depicted king nor the function of the room. As a matter of fact, what we have seen of
A giš on a Tree 63

Esarhaddon’s stele shows that, even in that case, the “scope” of the interactions does
not seem to be that of creating simple tags to indicate who is who on the monuments.
Rather, by leaving the task of decoding, case by case, the reasons behind the real-
ization of these “games” of image and signs somewhat open, I would propose to take
into account the apparently simplistic function of opportunity.
The reconstruction that we have seen of the phases of realization of the NWP’s
reliefs has clarified the fact that the decorated orthostats have been inscribed only
with the Type B SI, and that this operation happened only after they had been
sculpted in their entirety. The scribe or group of scribes entrusted with the realiza-
tion of the complex project of composition had the opportunity to work with ready-
sculpted reliefs and a rather brief fixed text. On one hand, the example of the GIŠ on
the AST—on the very relief that would have stood behind the king’s throne—appears
quite similar to Esarhaddon’s stele, in terms of how the general message of the relief
given by the image “rules” the creation of its interaction with the inscription. On the
other hand, in the reliefs of slabs H-4 and G-3, the depicted scenes seem to create a
graphic basis on which it was possible to elaborate interactions, e.g. the king’s throne
and its legs, and the king’s hand positioned at the right height to be where the SI
would have begun. In these last two examples, the realization of interactions between
images and inscriptions appears to have been the result of “simple” opportunity. As a
way of conceiving and perceiving writing in which there is an interplay between ele-
ments originally not conceived to interact with one another, this produces variations
on the main theme—the celebration of kingship—that are worth imagining, realizing
and communicating, in a permanent dialogue performed in two directions: from the
king to mankind, and from the king to the gods.
64 Nathan Morello

Table 1: Image-inscription interactions; visual interactions, image and inscription de-contextualiza-

tion and direct/indirect relationships between sign/s and (part of the) image.

Monument Image element Inscription element

Assyrian Sacred Tree GIŠ (A.0.101.23: 3, mu-kab-bi-is)

NWP B-23
Visual interaction: The sign is the only one on the whole tree.

King’s hand 1aš-šur-PAP-A (A.0.101.23: 1)

NWP H-4 Visual interaction: The hand’s line encircles the name.
No space left (note: part of signs from lower line are visible)

Throne’s side šùl-ma-nu-SAG MAN KUR aš-šur

[1]d

(RIMA 2, A.0.101.23: 15)

Visual interaction: the words are isolated on the throne’s side.

NWP G-3
Space left: R. of the words (ca. 8 signs’ space); under the words on the throne’s
side (1 line space); under the words, out of the “wooden” part of the throne’s
side (4 lines space).

Throne’s legs L. leg: GIŠ.mes-kan-ni

(A.0.101.23: 21 / G-3 l. 2nd from bottom)
R. leg: GIŠ.mes-kan-ni
(A.0.101.23: 18 / G-3 l. 4th from bottom)
NWP G-3
Visual interaction: inside the legs (exc. –ni on R leg)
Space left: L. leg.: no sign on L and R; R. leg: no sign on L, remaining inscription
on R.

Empty stele’s back- -ia suffix pronoun 1st p. sing. “mine”

ground 1+9 times at the end of the first 10 lines
(RINAP 4, 98: 1-10).

Visual interaction: The -ia is isolated on an empty background.

Space left: about 1 sign each line (exc. 1st).

Abdi-Milkutti’s beard aš-šur (RINAP 4, 98: 13, KUR.aš-šur.KI)

Esarh.’s Visual interaction: the ligature is on the beard.

Stele of Space left: L. of the ligature: ca. 2-3 signs space; R. of the ligature: ca. 3 sign
Sam’al space.

King’s feet kul-lat la ma-<gi>-re-r-šú mal-ki la man-šú GIM GI a-pi

// ú-ḫa-ṣi-ma ú-šak-bi-sa še-pu-uš-šú
“All the disobedient and unsubmissive rulers, like a
reed in the swamp // he broke down and trampled
(them) under his foot” (RINAP 4, 98: 32-33).

Visual interaction: The king’s feet “lie” on the sentence.

No space left.
A giš on a Tree 65

Image Inscription Direct/indirect relationship

de-context. de-context.

Word-split: yes Indirect → “philological relation” requires knowl-

Diff. reading edge to appreciate: 1. different reading; 2. semantic
No
Diff. meaning relation (GIŠ = tree); 3. symbolic relation (GIŠ [=
Diff. context: yes Gilgameš] = Kingship = AST)

Word-split: no
Same reading Identity? Yes → direct; No → indirect (room’s func-
No
Same meaning tion (?), kingship)
Diff. context: ?

Word-split: no
Identity? Yes → direct; No → indirect (room’s func-
Same reading
No tion (?), kingship), possibly kussī šuršudu “estab-
Same meaning
lishing firmly the throne (= kingship)”
Diff. context: ?

Direct → same semantic realm between meskannu

Word-split: no wood (used for furniture, e.g. thrones) and the
Same reading wooden legs of the throne.
No
Same meaning and
Diff. context: yes Indirect → everlasting character of the meskannu
tree → relation with kussī šuršudu?

Word-split: yes
Indirect → No interaction with an image’s element.
Same reading
No/Yes Relation with the medium, with the place, with the
Same meaning
characters etc.
Diff. context: yes

Word-split: yes
Same reading Indirect → “historical relation” requires knowledge
Yes
Same meaning of Abdi-Milkutti’s identity and destiny.
Diff. context: yes

Word-split: no
Same reading
Yes Indirect → different action “performed” by the feet
Same meaning
Diff. context: no
66 Nathan Morello

Abbreviations
CAD The Assyrian Dictionary of the University of Chicago.
RIMA 2 Grayson 1991.
RINAP 4 Leichty 2011.
SAA State Archives of Assyria, Helsinki.
SAA 10 Parpola 1993.
SAA 13 Cole/Machinist 1998.

Bibliography
Bahrani, Zainab (2003), The Graven Image. Representation in Babylonia and Assyria (Archaeology,
Culture and Society), Philadelphia.
Barnett, Richard D./Lorenzini, Amleto (1975), Assyrian Sculpture in the British Museum, Toronto.
Benetti, Marco/Lippolis, Carlo (2011), “Osservazioni sui codici di rappresentazione visiva nei rilievi
di Sennacherib”, in: Carlo Lippolis (ed.), The Sennacherib Wall Reliefs at Nineveh (Monografie
di Mesopotamia 15), Florence, 79–111.
Bottéro, Jean (1987), Mésopotamie. L’écriture, la raison et les dieux (Bibliothèque des Histoires),
Paris.
Brentjes, Burchard (1994), “Selbstverherrlichung oder Legitimitätsanspruch? Gedanken zu dem
Thronrelief von Nimrud-Kalah”, in: Altorientalische Forschungen 21, 50–64.
Brown, Brian (2010), “Kingship and Ancestral Cult in the Northwest Palace at Nimrud”, in: Journal of
Ancient Near Eastern Religions 10 (1), 1– 53.
Budge, E. A. Wallis (1914), Assyrian Sculptures in the British Museum, London.
Cole, Steven W./Machinist, Peter (1998), Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Priests to Kings
Esarhaddon and Assurbanipal (State Archives of Assyria 13), Helsinki.
Fales, Frederik M. (2009), “Art, Performativity, Mimesis, Narrative, Ideology, and Audience.
Reflections on Assyrian Palace Reliefs in the Light of Recent Studies”, in: KASKAL 9, 237–295.
Feldmann, Marian (2010), “Object Agency? Spatial Perspective, Social Relations, and the Stele of
Hammurabi”, in: Sharon R. Steadman and Jennifer C. Ross (eds.), Agency and Identity in the
Ancient Near East: New Paths Forwards, London, 148–165.
Filippi, W. De (1977), “The Royal Inscriptions of Assur-Nāṣir-Apli II (883–859 B.C.). A Study of the
Chronology of the Calah Inscriptions Together with an Edition of Two of These Texts”, in: Assur
1 (7), 123–169.
Finkel, Irving L./Reade, Julian E. (1996), “Assyrian Hieroglyphs”, in: Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und
Vorderasiatische Archäologie 86, 244–280.
Gershevitch, Ilya (1957), “Sisoo at Susa”, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 19
(2), 317–320.
Giovino, Mariana (2007), The Assyrian Sacred Tree. A History of Interpretations (Orbis Biblicus et
Orientalis 230), Göttingen.
Glassner, Jean-Jacques (1995), “The Use of Knowledge in Ancient Mesopotamia”, in: Jack M. Sasson
(ed.), Civilizations of the Ancient Near East, vol. 3, 1815–1823
Grayson, Albert K. (1991), Assyrian Rulers of the Early First Millennium BC, vol. 1 (Royal Inscriptions
of Mesopotamia, Assyrian Periods 2), Toronto.
Hilgert, Markus (2010), “‘Text-Anthropologie’. Die Erforschung von Materialität und Präsenz des
Geschriebenen als hermeneutische Strategie”, in: Markus Hilgert (ed.), Altorientalistik im 21.
A giš on a Tree 67

Jahrhundert. Selbstverständnis, Herausforderungen, Ziele (Mitteilungen der Deutschen Orient-

Gesellschaft 142), Berlin, 85–124.
Labat, René/Malbran-Labat, Florence (19886), Manuel d’épigraphie akkadienne. Signes, syllabaire,
idéogramme, Paris.
Le Gac, Yves (1907), Les Inscriptions d’Assur-naṣir-aplu III, Roi d’Assyrie (885–860 av. J.-C.), Paris.
Leichty, Erle (2011), The Royal Inscriptions of Esarhaddon, King of Assyria (680–669 BC) (The Royal
Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period 4), Winona Lake.
Maul, Stefan M. (1999), “Das Wort im Worte. Orthographie und Etymologie als hermeneutische
Verfahren babylonischer Gelehrter”, in: Glenn W. Most (ed.), Commentaries/Kommentare,
Aporemata. Kritische Studien zur Philologiegeschichte, vol. 4, Göttingen, 1–18.
Meuszyńsky, Janusz (1974), “The Throne-Room of Assur-nasir-apli II (Room B in the North-West
Palace at Nimrud)”, in: Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 64, 51–73.
Meuszyńsky, Janusz (1981), Die Rekonstruktion der Reliefdarstellungen und ihrer Anordnung im
Nordwestpalast von Kalḫu (Nimrūd). Räume: B.C.D.E.F.G.H.L.N.P (Baghdader Forschungen 2),
Mainz.
Morello, Nathan (2013), “Percezioni sensoriali del paesaggio montano nell’ottava campagna
di Sargon II, 714 a.C.”, in: Stefano Magnani (ed.), Le aree montane come frontiere. Spazi
d’interazione e connettività, Rome, 441–462.
Nadali, Davide (2001–2003), “Guerra e morte. L’annullamento del nemico nella condizione del
vinto”, in: Scienze dell’Antichità 11, 51–70.
Nadali, Davide (2013), “When Ritual Meets Art. Rituals in the Visual Arts Versus the Visual Arts in
Rituals: the Case of Ancient Mesopotamia”, in: Claus Ambos and Lorenzo Verderame (eds.),
Approaching Rituals in Ancient Cultures. Questioni di Rito: rituali come fonti di conoscenza delle
religioni e delle concezioni del mondo nelle culture antiche. Proceedings of the Conference Held
in Rome, November 28–30, Pisa/Rome, 209–226.
Oates, David/Oates, Joan (2001), Nimrud. An Assyrian Imperial City Revealed, London.
Paley, Samuel M. (1976), King of the World. Ashur-nasir-pal II of Assyria, 883–859 B.C., Brooklyn.
Paley, Samuel M./Sobolewski, Richard P. (1987), The Reconstruction of the Relief Representations
and their Positions in the Northwest-Palace at Kalḫu (Nimrūd), vol. 2: Rooms: I.S.T.Z, west-wing
(Baghdader Forschungen 10), Mainz.
Pappi, Cinzia (2013), “Thron A. I.”, in: Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen
Archäologie 13, 633–635.
Parpola, Simo (1993), Letters from Assyrian and Babylonian Scholars (State Archives of Assyria 10),
Helsinki.
Parpola, Simo (1998), “The Esoteric Meaning of the Name of Gilgamesh”, in: Jiri Prosecky (ed.),
Intellectual Life in the Ancient Near East. Papers Presented at the 43rd Rencontre assyriologique
internationale, Prague, July 1–5 1996, Prague, 315–329.
Pettinato, Giovanni (1975), “I rapporti politici di Tiro con la Siria alla luce del ‘Trattato tra Asarhaddon
e Baal’”, in: Rivista di Studi Fenici 3, 145–160.
Pongratz-Leisten, Beate (1999), Herrschaftswissen in Mesopotamien. Formen der Kommunikation
zwischen Gott und König im 2. und 1. Jahrtausend v. Chr. (State Archives of Assyria Studies 10),
Helsinki.
Porter, Barbara N. (2003), Trees, Kings, and Politics. Studies in Assyrian Iconography (Orbis Biblicus
et Orientalis 197), Göttingen.
Postgate, John N. (1992), “Trees and Timber in the Assyrian Texts”, in: Bulletin on Sumerian
Agriculture 6, 177–192.
Postgate, John N./Reade, Julian E. (1980), “Kalhu”, in: Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasi-
atische Archäologie 5, 303–323.
Reade, Julian (1985), “Text and Sculptures from the North-West Palace, Nimrud”, in: Iraq 47,
203–214.
68 Nathan Morello

Reade, Julian (1986), “Archaeology and the Kuyunjik Archives”, in: Klaas R. Veenhof (ed.), Cuneiform
Archives and Libraries. Papers presented at the 30th Rencontre Assyriologique Internationale
Leiden, 4–8 July 1983 (Uitgaven van het Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Instituut te
Istanbul 57), Leiden, 213–222.
Richardson, Seth (1999–2001), “An Assyrian Garden of Ancestors. Room I, Northwest Palace, Kalhu”,
in: State Archives of Assyria Bulletin 13, 145–214.
Roaf, Michael/Zgoll, Annette (2001), “Assyrian Astroglyphs. Lord Aberdeen’s Black Stone and the
Prism of Esarhaddon”, in: Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und Vorderasiatische Archäologie 91 (2),
264–295.
Russell, John M. (1998), “The Program of the Palace of Assurnasirpal II at Nimrud. Issues in the
Research and Presentation of Assyrian Art”, in: American Journal of Archaeology 102 (4),
655–715.
Russell, John M. (1999), The Writing on the Wall. Studies in the Architectural Context of Late Assyrian
Palace Inscriptions (Mesopotamian Civilizations 9), Winona Lake.
Salonen, Armas (1963), Die Möbel des Alten Mesopotamien nach sumerisch-akkadischen Quellen.
Eine lexikalische und kulturgeschichtliche Untersuchung (Suomalaisen Tiedeakatemian
toimituksia, Serie B 127), Helsinki.
Scurlock, JoAnn (1997), “Assyrian Hieroglyphs Enhanced”, in: Nouvelles Assyriologiques Brèves et
Utilitaires 92, 85–86.
Seidl, Ursula/Sallaberger, Walther (2005–2006), “Der ‘Heilige Baum’”, in: Archiv für Orient-
forschung 51, 54–74.
Selz, Gebhard J. (2013), “Text. Textual Bilingualism, and the Evolution of Mesopotamian
Hermeneutics”, in: Michaela Bauks, Wayne Horowitz and Armin Lange (eds.), Between Text and
Text. The Hermeneutics of Intertextuality in Ancient Cultures and Their Afterlife in Medieval and
Modern Times (Journal of Ancient Judaism, Supplements 6), Göttingen, 47–65.
Seminara, Stefano (2004), Le iscrizioni reali sumero-accadiche di età paleobabilonese. Un’analisi
tipologica e storico-letteraria (Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, Classe di Scienze Morali,
Storiche e Filologiche, Serie 9, vol. 18, fasc. 3), Rome.
Stearns, John B. (1961), Reliefs from the Palace of Aššurnaṣirpal II (Archiv für Orientforschung,
Beihefte 15), Graz.
Sobolewski, Richard P. (1982), “Beitrag zur theoretischen Rekonstrution der Architektur des
Nordwest-Palastes in Nimrud (Kalhu)”, in: D. Papenfuss and V. M. Strocka (eds.), In Palast
und Hütte. Beiträge zum Bauen und Wohnen im Altertum von Archäologen, Vor- und Frühge-
schichtlern. Tagungsbeiträge eines Symposiums der Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung
Bonn-Bad Godesberg, 25.–30. November 1979, Berlin, Mainz, 237–250.
Thureau-Dangin, François (1912), Une relation de la huitième campagne de Sargon (714 av. J.–C.),
(Textes Cunéiformes du Louvre 3), Paris.
Winter, Irene (1981), “Royal Rhetoric and the Development of Historical Narrative in Neo-Assyrian
Reliefs”, in: Studies in Visual Communication 7 (2), 2–38.
Winter, Irene (1997), “Art in Empire. The Royal Image and the Visual Dimensions of Assyrian
Ideology”, in: Simo Parpola and Robert Whiting (eds.), Assyria 1995. Proceedings of the 10th
Anniversary Symposium of the Neo-Assyrian Text Corpus Project Helsinki, 7–11 September 1995,
Helsinki, 359–381.
Winter, Irene (2000), “Le Palais imaginaire: Scale and Meaning in the Iconography of Neo-Assyrian
Cylinder Seals”, in: Christoph Uehlinger (ed.), Images and Media: Sources for the Cultural
History of the Near East and the Eastern Mediterranean (1st Millennium BCE) (Orbis Biblicus et
Orientalis 175), Fribourg, 51–88.
Winter, Irene (2007), “Agency Marked/Agency Ascribed. The Affective Object in Ancient
Mesopotamia”, in: Robin Osborne and Jeremy Tanner (eds.), Art’s Agency and Art History (New
Interventions in Art History), Malden/Oxford, 42–69.
Antonio J. Morales
From Voice to Papyrus to Wall:
Verschriftung and Verschriftlichung in the Old
Kingdom Pyramid Texts
In memoriam Harold M. Hays

1 Introduction
Since the initial discovery of the corpus of Pyramid Texts by Gaston Maspero in 1880,1
Egyptologists have been attracted by the large collection of texts that were inscribed
on the walls of the crypts in some Old Kingdom pyramids, first at the end of the Fifth
Dynasty in the pyramid of Wenis, and then later in the monuments of the kings of the
Sixth Dynasty buried in Saqqara. For some debatable reasons, the corpus of Pyramid
Texts was also used for some queens of the Sixth Dynasty, royal wives and mothers,
from the reign of Pepi I onwards, as well as later for (at least) two other kings of the
First Intermediate Period: Ibi and the Herakleopolitan Wahkhare Khety.
This phase of development of the corpus began around 2345 BCE and expanded
for over 160 years until 2184 BCE.2 For this period, scholars have mostly emphasized
the pivotal role of the monumentalization of the corpus and the configuration of mor-
tuary literature in ancient Egypt. However, this phase does not represent the initial

This article emerged from the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cultures.
Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies”. The CRC 933 is financed by the
German Research Foundation (DFG). I am indebted to this research project and to Professors Markus
Hilgert, Ludger Lieb, and Joachim Friedrich Quack for supporting my nomination and facilitating my
work as a research fellow at the University of Heidelberg in 2012–2013. This study also owes much to
my current research on the transmission of religious knowledge and practices under the auspices of
the SFB 980 “Episteme in Bewegung: Wissenstransfer von der Alten Welt bis in die Frühe Neuzeit” and
its research division Altägyptische Philologie at the Freie Universität Berlin. I am grateful to Jochem
Kahl, Bernard Mathieu, and Ludwig Morenz for comments on a draft of this paper, bibliographic ref-
erences, and discussion on the oral and literary mechanisms for the transmission of religious knowl-
edge, as well as to the audience at the University of Heidelberg for commenting on issues arising from
this material.

1 On the discovery of the Pyramid Texts, see Verner 2001, 39–41, and Ridley 1983, 74–80. For the dis-
pute over the real discoverer of the Pyramid Texts, cf. Gestermann 2005, 10, n. 29 and Sledzianowski
1976, 5. In this study, the rubric PT refers to the Spruch numerical designation, Pyr. §§ to the sectional
assignments of Sethe 1908–1910; and sPT to texts numbered by the MafS (Leclant/Berger-El Naggar/
Pierre-Croisiau 2001). ­Superscript sigla designate the pyramid sources for the texts: W= Wenis; T=
Teti; P= Pepi I; M= ­Merenre I; and N= Pepi II.
2 Following Lloyd 2010, xxxiv.

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-004, © 2016 Antonio J. Morales, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
70 Antonio J. Morales

stage of this long-lasting tradition.3 Before the reign of Wenis, recitations and per-
formances of the same nature certainly co-existed in the domains of orality and the
more restricted realm of writing.4 In fact, these materials constituted the backbone of
the Pyramid Text assemblages composed in the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties, and that
factor accounts for the variation and multiplicity in organization, typology, and func-
tion of the corpus components (e.g. various categories, themes, groups, sequences).
Consequently, one should identify a stage of the process before monumentalization
in which similar materials were used and transmitted orally or in constrained written
form.5 Such a phase entails the emergence of the corpus and its initial development
in writing until its commitment on the walls of the pyramids, and involved: i) recita-
tion and performance of rituals; ii) Verschriftung or entextualization, i.e. fixation in
writing of these materials; iii) editorial selection and recension; and iv) Verschriftli-
chung or textualization.6
One of the most interesting aspects for the study of this earlier development of the
corpus is that such a process of configuration left traces in the resulting compositions
used for kings and queens of the late Old Kingdom. In other words, one can identify
some formal features of the corpus—as observed in the pyramid assemblages—that do
not resonate with the contrived nature of each composition and the mortuary setting
in which they appear. Contrarily, these features reveal that each composition incorpo-
rated texts of different origin, nature and function, whose existence can be proved in
diverse settings before their use in the inner chambers of the pyramids. In addition,
there is ample evidence for ritual practices and knowledge among the elite in the
earlier part of this period that bridges the gap between the use of these recitations
(i.e. in the oral and performative arena) and their monumentalization in stone (i.e.
pyramid inscription).
In classical examinations of the corpus, the Pyramid Texts inscribed on the walls
of the royal monuments were taken as intentionally composed mortuary literature, a
body of texts with the purpose of protecting the king’s body, facilitating his transfig-

3 Altenmüller 1972, 278.

4 See Baines 2004, 17–18, who points out that oral performances accompanied rituals and, when
written down for the first time, around the late Second or Third Dynasty in his opinion, they were al-
luded to in the form of fictionalized statements such as speeches of gods. In the same vein, Strudwick
2005, 1; Mathieu 2004, 253; Allen 2001, 97; Mathieu 1996, 289; Altenmüller 1984, 20.
5 In a personal communication (24.02.2014), Bernard Mathieu suggested three strata in the redaction-
al history of these texts: I. strate archaïque (Dynastie 0–IIIe dynastie); II. strate héliopolitaine pré-osi-
rienne (IIIe–IVe dynasties); and III. strate hélipolitaine post-osirienne (Ve–VIe dynasties).
6 These initiatives prompted the configuration of the earliest stage of mortuary literature tradition, in
general, and the construction of a miscellaneous corpus for the kings in particular. Additionally, three
other traits of adaptation materialized during the process: decontextualization, recontextualization,
and monumentalization. These mechanisms will be discussed below.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 71

uration into an Akh, and ensuring his well-being in the netherworld.7 Later, further
research took the interpretation of the corpus to such divergent avenues as a faithful
reflection of the funerary rites for the king (Auferstehungsritual),8 or personal magical
equipment for the afterlife (Grabinventar).9 In recent years, scholars have advanced
categorically beyond these postulations in the knowledge and comprehension of the
Pyramid Texts corpus. As a matter of fact, it is now believed that these texts were not
initially composed for the underground chambers of the late Old Kingdom pyramids,
a setting that came to incorporate the corpus only secondarily.10
As the original setting of the Pyramid Texts was not the tomb, it is conceivable
that one might identify particular textual features of the grammar, syntax and even
the epigraphic aspect of the inscriptions that betrayed their original Sitze im Leben.
Because of the vagaries of redactional history, however, the feasibility of associat-
ing these diagnostic features with written records before the late Fifth Dynasty is
limited. Notwithstanding this flaw, the repertoire of peculiarities in the Pyramid Texts
relates some constituents of the corpus with recitations and performances found in
the context of sacerdotal mortuary rites and personal magical practices. Thus, it is
possible to have an extensive discussion on the original settings of the Pyramid Texts
as well as on the process that brought sacerdotal voices and ceremonies, personal
recitations, and magical incantations into writing, first in the form of operative scripts
in papyri, and later as monumental inscriptions in the pyramids of kings and queens
in the late Old Kingdom.
In this paper, I shall address the process of emergence and development of the
Pyramid Texts from their oral form to their inscription in the chambers of the late
Old Kingdom pyramids of kings and queens. In addition, I identify and comment on
some of the original settings of these recitations outside the pyramids. The confirma-
tion that some texts are found in non-royal contexts pre-dating the inscription of the
pyramid of Wenis does not support the idea of a gradual diffusion of this material
to non-royal people, and indicates that the rituals represented by the Pyramid Texts
were already in use by the community before theologians and editors in Heliopolis11
planned the monumentalization of a king’s pyramid with fixed recitations.

7 Hornung 1999, 5; Barta 1981, 71.

8 Altenmüller 1974; Altenmüller 1972; Spiegel 1971; Spiegel 1956; Spiegel 1953; Ricke 1950, 123–124;
and Schott 1950, 153–154. Cf. the comparative analysis of the textual function and motifs, and the
emphasis on the Sitze im Leben of the texts observed in Roeder 1993, 81–82, n. 8.
9 Barta 1981, 66–69 (cf. Hays’ interpretation on the ramifications of Barta’s misinterpretation of the
corpus as a kind of “treatise of beliefs”, in Hays 2012, 9–10).
10 See Hays 2012, 80, who points out that “prior to the innovation of inscriptional decoration in the
tombs, established sets of texts must have already existed within the body of literature from which
the Pyramid Texts were drawn […] Pyramid Texts were drawn from existing, external rituals and col-
lections of rites which had not been entirely canonized”.
11 As observed in Mathieu 1998, 71–78; Bickel, 1997, 113–122; Willems 1996, 254 (n. 1408); and Bickel
72 Antonio J. Morales

2 Verschriftung and Verschriftlichung

In modelling the interim forms that generated the Pyramid Texts, the general proce-
dures by which the texts were transmitted will be hypothesized in accordance with
theoretical universal observations in the fields of orality and performance studies.
In applying these theories, I have drawn on the studies of the linguist Wulf Oester­
reicher,12 anthropologists Richard Baumann and Charles Briggs,13 and the recent work
on the subject of the oral-compositional form of the Pyramid Texts by the Egyptologist
Chris Reintges.14 Having made this claim, I aimed at sketching out the contours of
an extensive program of textual adaptation in media and material that resulted in
the advent of the mortuary literature tradition in the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties with
visible roots in the early Old Kingdom.
The emergence of ancient Egyptian mortuary literature in the third millennium
BCE is the history of the adaptation of recitational materials to the eventualities of
media and materiality. Upon a gradual development “as a layering of processes”,15
the transformation of the oral discourse into writing began with the use of papyri for
transcribing the guidelines of ritual performances,16 and culminated with the con-
cealment of sacerdotal voices and deeds in the sealed-off crypt of Wenis. Thus, the
genuine innovation of the Memphite priests, the real landmark in the use of mortuary
literature, was the recontextualization of discursive and scriptural materials into the
architecture of the pyramid of Wenis at the end of the Fifth Dynasty, not the inven-
tion of a corpus. As a result, the (pyramid) texts inscribed on the walls of the king’s
underground chambers no longer belonged to the realm of verbal art, nor functioned
as operative instructions for the priests performing rituals.17 Now, these inscriptions
represented a new systematization of ritual practices—a novel ritual syntax—that per-
petuated in stone the ultimate goal of the mortuary ceremonies: the transfiguration of
the deceased into a successful spirit in the afterlife, an Akh.18

1994, 285–298, the influence of the Heliopolitan priesthood on the composition and control of mate-
rials is manifest.
12 Mainly Oesterreicher 2005, 1998, 1993.
13 Bauman/Briggs 1990.
14 Reintges 2011.
15 Baines 2004, 16.
16 For a general examination of the nature and interaction of orality and writing in ancient Egypt, see
Morenz 1996, 20–43; Eyre 1993, esp. 117–118; and Eyre/Baines 1989, 103–114.
17 Hays 2006, 298: “After being inscribed in the tomb, the role of a text was necessarily different.
Sealed off from the eyes of any living priest, it only represented the rite […] Whereas the original effi-
cacy of the text as ritual script included the vocalic dimension of its words being uttered by a priest,
after its inscription upon walls the efficacy of the text inhered to the hieroglyphs alone, independently
of any human voice or effort”.
18 Mathieu proposes a stimulating approach that examines the deictic referential frame of the lan-
guage in the Pyramid Texts (see Mathieu forthcoming). According to his analysis, the use of proximal
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 73

It is evident that the process of commitment of ritual and magical recitations into
scriptio continua or soluta19 in the Pyramid Texts was subjected to several stages of
adaptation, detachability, and recentering. In mapping the dimensions of transfor-
mation, one can identify a series of transformational procedures, mainly entextual-
ization and textualization, accompanied by decontextualization, recontextualization,
and monumentalization. While the first two mechanisms of discourse transformation
superseded each other, the latter three procedures were the result of transforming the
discourse and separating it from their original cultural and religious contexts of use
(i.e. decentering the text).
The initial adaptation of the recitations into the realm of writing, that is, the
transfer from phonique to graphique, is a process known as Verschriftung or entex-
tualization:20 “the process of rendering discourse extractable, of making a stretch
of linguistic production into a unit—a text—that can be lifted out of its interac-
tional setting”.21 By means of this process, the oral materials used above-ground in
cultic and ritual activities were cemented in writing, first in manuscripts (papyrus
scrolls), which could be stored in temple libraries and used as ritual guidelines by
the sacerdotal class. At this point, these materials were still considered to be sup-
ports for the ceremonies performed in the original settings,22 although in scriptural
form, decontextualized from the oral domain and recontextualized in the realm of

deixis in reference to the deceased (Wnjs pn), the absence of distal deictics (N pf), and the intercon-
nection of this type of deixis with the pyramid space (mHr pn Hwt-nTr tn), the deceased’s corpse (saH
pn), and the monumentalized inscriptions reflect the role of the Pyramid Texts as an “élément du
mobilier funéraire” or “objet”. My thanks are due to the author for allowing me to read his manuscript
before publication and for his observations on the invalid application of modern distinctions between
text and object to this particular phenomenon in antiquity.
19 Oesterreicher 2005, 203.
20 See Oesterreicher 2005, 202–203; and Oesterreicher 1993, 271–284. For the Pyramid Texts par-
ticularly, see Reintges 2011, 25–28. The process has been termed “mise par écrit” in French and
“­graficación” in Spanish (see Oesterreicher 1993, 272, ns. 9–10). Cf. Assmann 1988, 26–27, who encap-
sulates this notion under the phenomenon of Schrifterfindung.
21 Bauman/Briggs 1990, 73 (in the quotation, italics are the authors’ emphasis). For an example of
the application of the entextualization phenomenon to explicit Pyramid Texts materials, see Hays
2012, 90–92 (“The Entextualization of Group A”), and 198–203 for a comprehensive explanation of the
entextualization in the Pyramid Texts. As Greg Urban argues, a given instance of a discourse is unique
by virtue of its formal properties; the “transduction” or carrying over of parts of these formal attrib-
utes—“metadiscursive markers”—can help to discern the social and religious implications that, in the
case of the transmission of rituals and their texts such as the Pyramid Texts corpus, were ­prominently
preserved by a community (Urban 1996, 21).
22 See, for example, the diverse layers of meaning that the scene of a lector priest presenting a pa-
pyrus scroll or reciting from it to the deceased could imply, in Manuelian 1996, 561–588. Cf. the com-
ments about the reading of texts from papyri, not from walls, in Hays 2012, 91. For the general idea
that many texts of a ritual nature in Egypt contain elements that point to an oral setting, see O’Rourke
2001, 407–410; and Walle 1965, 122–124.
74 Antonio J. Morales

literacy.23 Otherwise, no traces of monumentalization had yet occurred. Therefore, at

that point the process of entextualization altered the media of recitational materials
that still reflected the activities for which they were first used.24 However, a second
stage of entextualization followed the fixation of recitational materials in papyrus
scrolls (transcripts) and came to transfer these texts onto the walls of the pyramid of
Wenis (inscripts),25 divorced from human practice or scriptural aide-mémoire. On that
account, the second stage of the process of Verschriftung certainly conveyed a new
juncture of decontextualization, recontextualization, and monumentalization.
The practice of collecting recitations, writing them down in papyri, and transfer-
ring these scriptural materials to the walls of a pyramid is considered an intellectual
undertaking26 that the Heliopolitan sacerdotal class of the Fifth Dynasty initiated for
the benefit of the king’s afterlife. Thus, religious authority in the environs of the royal
court, temples and repositories of Memphis27 must have approved the constitution
of the corpus.28 This decision implied recording oral recitations, collecting scrolls,
copying, editing and even transferring them to Memphis if they were selected and col-
lected from other parts of the country.29 In addition, to understand the initial history
of the Pyramid Texts it is relevant to highlight that this initiative shaped the corpus
with a particular structure (i.e. symmetric structure), which would experience gradual
modifications—first slightly, in the Sixth Dynasty, and later, more dramatically, in the

23 Both aspects are part of the same process: Bauman/Briggs 1990, 75.
24 I agree with Reintges that the fixation in writing occurs “to sustain the immediacy of the perfor-
mance and secure it for future recall” (Reintges 2011, 20). As observed in the related studies on early
Mesopotamian poetry, the emergence of poetic texts was the result of premeditated oral composition
(Teffeteller 2007, 69).
25 For the transference of the oral discourse into the written record as a process that involves the
conversion of oral compositions into transcripts that are later converted into (in)scripts (i.e. textual
monumentalizations), which is implied in the conversion of “I-transcriptions” to “he-inscriptions”,
see Svenbro 1998, 48–52. For a definition of the terms “transcript” and “(in)script” in the process of
entextualization and textualization, see Nagy 1998, 79. Note that one must not take the relationship of
the two contexts, oral and written, as a translation of verbal transmitted knowledge into texts. For the
latter idea and its development, see Assmann 1999, esp. 10.
26 See Mercer 1956, 5, who refers to this phenomenon as both “recension” and “redaction”.
27 For the suggestion that the significance of the solar cult and the priesthood of Heliopolis, features
strongly associated with the inception of the Pyramid Texts, might have materialized as early as the
early Dynastic Period, see Cervelló-Autuori 2011, 1125–1149; Kahl 2007, 2–3; and the brief history of the
raising of the solar cult in Quirke 2001, 115–128, although the author notes that in the formative phase
of Egyptian art and writing, ra did not refer to a deity but to the solar entity (p. 22).
28 See Bauman/Briggs 1990, 76–77: “To decontextualize and recontextualize a text is thus an act of
control […] legitimacy is one of being accorded the authority to appropriate a text such that your re-
centering of it counts as legitimate”.
29 Baines 2004, 21. For the notion of Transportabilität and its relationship with the transmission of
religious texts, mainly in scriptural form, see Kahl 1996, 11.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 75

First Intermediate Period—resulting in a varied collection of structures in the Middle

Kingdom (i.e. doctrinal structures).30
Furthermore, the recitational materials transferred from the scriptural domain to
the monument of the king experienced an ensuing modification known as Verschrift-
lichung or textualization.31 By means of this process, the entextualized oral discourse
acquired attributes of the literary format and detached itself from the discursive
style.32 This shift in the style of the Pyramid Texts can be observed in the modification
of the original performance structure from interlocutive to delocutive, that is, from
the active presence of the first-person pronoun for the ritualist or beneficiary—typical
in the speech acts—to the consideration of the addressee as a passive recipient in the
second or third person.33 Although the process of entextualization might be consid-
ered immediate, the phenomenon of textualization seems to have been characterized
by its gradualness,34 and involved the conscious editing of the discursive style by
scribes in libraries and repositories.35
The discussion just now culminated with the contribution of the scribal and reli-
gious class from Memphis to the execution of these two processes of transformation
of the corpus, its fixation in writing (Verschriftung) and style adjustment (Verschrift-
lichung). As categorical as this definition of the two adaptative procedures might be,
it by no means embodies the entire process of the royal Pyramid Texts’ inception. In
fact, the decisive factor that led up to the configuration of the corpus as witnessed in
the pyramid of Wenis was the monumentalization of the texts, a process that—par-
allel to the theological architectural vertex achieved at this time36—transformed the
repertoire of recitations kept in scriptural form into carved, monumentalized inscrip-
tions.37 Such texts no longer belonged to the domain of the scriptural media, but to

30 For a summary of the development of the corpus during the Sixth Dynasty and its gradual trans-
formation from a symmetric structure to doctrinal structures, see Morales 2013, 43–44 (n. 95), and
94–104.
31 See Oesterreicher 2005, 202–204; and Oesterreicher 1993, 271–284. For the Egyptian materials spe-
cifically, see Reintges 2011, 28–31; and Assmann 2000, 81–82. Cf. also Assmann 1988, 26–27, who uses
the term Schriftverwendung in alluding to the phenomenon of appropriation of the discourse in a new
setting and the transformation of the original discourse.
32 Oesterreicher 1998, 12; Oesterreicher 1993, 273–275.
33 Reintges 2011, 28.
34 See Bakker 1999, 29–47.
35 See the implications of the modifications from poetic-compositional style to literary character in
Foley 2004, 101–120; Honko 2000, 3–54; and Nagy 1998, 79.
36 More precisely, the architectural model imitated in the later royal complexes is achieved in the
reign of Wenis’s predecessor, Djedkare Izezi: see Hays 2012, 79; and Billing 2011, 58.
37 See Hays 2012, 11–13, 257–262; Billing 2011, 58; Hays 2009b, 218–219; and Assmann 2005, 238–241.
See also Zumthor 1983, 58, who, in relation to the transfer of settings (decentering) from the domain
of the vocale to the textuel, emphasizes the secondary nature of the new setting: “[l]e monument se
constitue à un autre niveau, mettons “poétique”, défini par une structure seconde, intentionelle et
76 Antonio J. Morales

the domain of epigraphy; therefore, they were recontextualized (or recentered)38 by

concealing them in a new setting, the mortuary chambers of the king.39 The whole
transfer from voice to papyrus to wall reached a pinnacle with the encapsulation of
the effective ritual performances in the crypt in which the king’s corpse and spirit
resided.
Now, the monumentalization of the recitations extant in scriptural media (papyrus
scrolls) might have demanded the composition of one or several master copies con-
veying the final assemblage of texts that would be used by the scribes working at the
monument. Presumably, this procedure would have allowed the production of master
documents in the temple repository, while minor modifications could have been exe-
cuted onsite. For instance, one can observe the modification caused by remodelling
the allusion to the beneficiary of recitations as written in operative papyri40—a roll
with nmemonic observations which the ritualist used to address anyone, this Osiris
so-and-so or this king—to the explicit reference to the particular king for whom the
texts had been selected, copied and, by this method, customized.41 Another feature
of the Pyramid Texts that ratifies what has been suggested on the basis of opera-
tive papyri is the actual epigraphic correction of non-explicit references in order to
carve the king’s name in the pyramid.42 As Bernard Mathieu has pointed out, some

résultant d’un travail, réorganisant des éléments déjà organisés en structures primaires”.
38 Bauman/Briggs 1990, 75.
39 Oesterreicher 2005, 210–211 also defines this process as autonomisation of the corpus.
40 Unfortunately, the only instances available date to the Middle Kingdom: see pap. MafS T2147, a
remarkable example of Middle Kingdom operative papyri found by the MafS in the complex of Pepi
I at Saqqara. Observe that the published verso and recto sides of T2147 are rather two fragments of
different sheets that adhered to each other. The verso of the papyrus shows the use of the non-explicit
reference Wsjr mn pn, and therefore betrays the operative nature—as an aide-mémoire—of the docu-
ment. See Berger-El Naggar 2004, 85–90, fig. 1 (recto with PT217, Pyr. §§155d–159: cols. 4, 6, 13, 14, 18),
fig. 2 (verso with PT690, Pyr. §§2096c–2101b: cols. 1, 3, 14). See also the use of mn “whoever” in Gar-
diner 1955, 11, cols. 18, 19 (pl. II), 91 (pl. V), and frg. a (pl. VI); with remarks in Eyre 2013, 46. A related
phenomenon is the nature of some Pyramid Texts in which the role of a non-royal deceased—rather
than a royal one—seems to fit better with the contents of the recitations: see Smith 2009, 6–7 (referring
to examples PT456, PT467, PT486, and PT571).
41 As only the owner of the corpus could benefit from the efficacy of the perpetuated rites, it was
essential to personalize the texts by including the name of the king. One of the features corroborating
the scriptural origin of the recitations is the attestation of terms such as “whoever” (mn) and “king”
(nsw) in the Pyramid Texts, which were for the most part substituted by the name of the king: see n.
40 above, and Mathieu 1996a, 290–291.
42 See, for instance, Mathieu 1996a, 290, figs. 2–3: PT23 (Pyr. §16a)W: Wsjr jT n=k msDDw nsw nbw
mdw m rn=f Dw has been modified to Wsjr jT n=k msDDw Wnjs nbw mdw m rn=f Dw “Osiris, take for
yourself all those who hate the king/Wenis and anyone who speaks bad of his name”. In such cases,
the scribe skipped the non-explicit reference, retaining the vague address to the beneficiary as extant
in the original recitation on papyrus, and leaving out any explicit reference to the king: n(j) kw mn
nTr pw “O whoever, you belong to that god” (PT215, Pyr. §147a)W.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 77

­corrections were executed by the scribe in the process of transferring the texts from
papyri to the walls, although one should also expect a final reading to rectify minor
mistakes.43
A great gap in our understanding of the construction of the Pyramid Texts could
be bridged through attention to the Old Kingdom (temple) repositories or libraries
in which the operative papyri and master copies for the pyramid assemblages were
produced.44 In principle, the operative papyri could be stored in these institutions;45
otherwise, they would have been carried by specialized ritualists such as the lector
priests.46 The nature of the transmission of ritual knowledge, texts and iconography
during the Old Kingdom defines the functional and cultural-binding role of these
repositories associated with the temples of Memphis and its cemeteries. In Jan Ass-
mann’s opinion, the normal means of circulation were oral, while writing became
significant only in those fields of communication that required the use of artificial
storage, such as religious ceremonies.47 Unfortunately, no traces of Old Kingdom
operative papyri with religious compositions have been retrieved.

43 See Mathieu 1996a, 292–293 (n. 18), and 311. Cf. the use of the term zX-odt for “sketch, draft” in the
tomb of Senedjemib Inti as an example of master copies being used for the carving of texts and the
practice of final reading in tombs. The topic is discussed in further detail below.
44 The role of manuscript collections, which certainly existed and were of primary importance in the
transmission and production of texts, was also critical in the transference of recitations from the do-
main of speech to the context of monumentalization in the pyramid of Wenis. See Baines 2004, 26–30;
and Müller 1984, 244–246. Concerning the early existence of the “house of life” (pr-anx), where texts
were composed, and the “repositories” (pr-mDAt), where they were stored, some kind of institutional
bureau must have existed in the Old Kingdom: see remarks in Eyre 2013, 311; Zinn 2011, 183–184 (n. 9);
Burkard 1980, 85; and Kessler 1984, 929.
45 It is unclear whether the system for dividing the textual units in some pyramid assemblages,
namely the usage of Hwt to indicate the conclusion of a text or “stanza”, could have been used as a
method for organizing papyrus sheets and storing them in any repository. For the use of Hwt in the
Pyramid Texts, see Eyre 2013, 49–50; Blackman 1938, 64–66; and Grapow 1936, 35–36.
46 Although the earliest attestation of private libraries has been noticed for the Middle Kingdom—i.e.
Ramesseum papyri—the activities of the lector priests during the Old Kingdom might have permitted
the use and possession of ritual papyri (see Morales 2013, 120, n. 315; Morenz 1996, 37). As Ong points
out in relation to the role of the reciter, it is relevant to observe the illiterateness of singers, poets and
bards in early literacy cultures (Ong 1982, 59–61; similarly, Eyre 1993, 115, 120). In the case of Old King-
dom Egypt, the interaction of recitational abilities and literary knowledge in the person of the ritualist
should be interpreted as a proof of the gradual development of the institution of writing in society. In
fact, the etymology of the title Xrj-Hbt (“bearer of the festal papyrus scroll” or lector priest) refers to
the relationship of the specialist with the (written) document: see Morales 2013, 50, n. 116, for further
bibliography on the emergence of the lector specialist. In a related note, Eyre points out that “[o]ral
poets, all performers, literate or not, dislike having their work copied down. They lose ownership:
copyright” (Eyre 1993, 115).
47 See Assmann, 1999, 5–6, endorsed by Ong 1982, 96, who highlights the idea that in the early cul-
tures exposed to literacy, “orality could linger in the presence of writing, even in the administrative
milieu”. Cf. also the views in Baines 2004, 19, who believes that the most sacred and prestigious texts
78 Antonio J. Morales

Trying to compensate for this shortcoming, scholars have discussed the absence
of paratextual notations in the corpus, a question that relates to the production, use
and management of the Pyramid Texts.48 It is known for later compositions such
as the Coffin Texts that paratextual notations helped to define the significance and
usage of a text, although they might have not been useful for the ritualist, who would
be truly informed of the text’s purpose, usefulness and benefits in the ritual. In an
attempt to explain the lack of paratexts, if the conventions established in the Old
Kingdom for the use of Pyramid Texts were recurrent and corresponded with con-
temporaneous ritual practices, then no paratextual instruction would be necessary
for the accomplished performer to navigate his way through the texts in the scrip-
tural media. Another possibility for the absence of paratexts in the initial phase of
the mortuary literature tradition could be that the principles of decorum and secrecy,
which ruled the access to and knowledge of these texts in scriptural form, hindered
any attempt to apply a system of notations for arranging the texts beyond the arcane
role of the specialist dealing with the collection. Finally, the expectation that Old
Kingdom manuscripts with Pyramid Texts bore paratextual notations is at this time a
vexing question, since archaeological work in Saqqara has not (yet) provided us with
any papyrological evidence of such antiquity. Two exceptional exemplars, however,
might help us to suggest the possibility that some manuscripts displayed paratextual
notations such as titles or directions:49 pap. Ramesseum E and pap. MafS T2147. The
first papyrus consists of several fragments in poor condition with a copy of a ritual
text—not included in the Pyramid Text repertoire—in cursive hieroglyphs, with par-
allel lines along the top for the writing of a horizontal heading. The second instance
was found in the temple of Pepi I and also presents a horizontal band for a heading,
though it is blank (see n. 40).
For the most part, the processes of Verschriftung and Verschriftlichung have pow-
erful implications for the structure and language of these recitations as observed in
the Pyramid Texts. Investigating how the corpus emerged through the combination of
recitations from different settings that were put in writing and how these varied cat-
egories of texts (Stilmischung) adapted to a new arrangement for Wenis can therefore
elucidate issues such as the modification of the deictic relationship between text and

might not have been written down as a restriction that the forms of decorum and the primacy of oral
tradition imposed on the priesthood and scribal classes; and Haring 2003, 256–259, who focuses on
the resistance of the oral discourse and the capacity of the institution of writing to overcome reaction-
ary positions and spread in society.
48 Most recently, Hays 2012, 3–4; Mathieu 2004; and Grimm 1986. For the concept of paratextuality,
see Assmann 2005, 248; and Hays 2004, 178, n. 20. Cf. the rigorous approach in Aufrère 2010, 160, n. 6,
who takes the hieroglyphic system as a proof that ancient Egyptians could select particular iconogra-
phy to express further information about a text without the need for paratextual notation.
49 See Eyre 2013, 46, and Altenmüller 1968, 59 (sections 1 and 2). Both authors state that in religious
papyri it is common to find a superior horizontal band, which in most cases is left blank.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 79

protagonist (i.e. from first-person pronoun in oral and scriptural domains to second-/
third-person in the monumental versions), the partial transformation of oral written
discourse into literary style, the remnant presence of poetic and speech elements, or
the flexibility shown by the corpus in adapting to new practices and beliefs in the
realm of the private mortuary rituals in the Middle Kingdom.50 Specifically, the config-
uration of the Pyramid Texts as a text-bricolage with a series of recitations from differ-
ent settings and contexts51 is what permitted the structuring of the corpus in the form
of segments or sequences—also known as Spruchfolge52 or “building blocks”53—and
its capacity to adopt and adapt to the ritual practices of the First Intermediate Period
and the Middle Kingdom.

3 The “Pyramid Texts” in the Early Old Kingdom

A fundamental question in the analysis of the transfer of Pyramid Texts from the
oral domain to pyramid walls is the identification of the primary settings in which
these recitations were originally used. In discerning cultural and religious milieux
associated with Pyramid Text rituals before the reign of Wenis, one must distinguish
between the oral—unrecorded—stage of the process, which unfortunately left only a
few vestiges in the inscriptions of the royal assemblages, and the stage of fixation in
the writing of recitations (Verschriftung), in which the extant evidence demonstrates
the deployment of these texts in particular settings. As regards the second stage and
the extant evidence, it was the German Egyptologist Kurt Sethe who first hypothesized
that one could identify clear associations between the assortment of items included
in offering lists of early Fifth Dynasty royal complexes and the later Pyramid Texts.54
Later, Hartwig Altenmüller highlighted the tabular nature of these precedents that he
regarded as “pictorial versions” (Bildfassung) of the Pyramid Texts.55
“Pictorial versions of Pyramid Texts” refers to non-narrative representations of a
particular group of this corpus in a particular setting outside the domain of the royal
tomb. One of these groups was the offering Pyramid Texts,56 which appeared in the

50 See Morales 2013.

51 In Bauman/Briggs’s words, the new systematization or recension of texts becomes an “emergent
structure” (Bauman/Briggs 1990, 76).
52 Altenmüller 1972; Allen 1994.
53 As used in Hussein 2013, 275, n. 8 (with the term “building block” borrowed from Boltz 2005).
54 Sethe 1913, 126, ns. 1–10 (pl. 63); and later in the same fashion, Junker 1934, 15, n. 1; and Firchow
1953, 9.
55 Altenmüller 1974, 278.
56 See Hays 2012, 81–92; Hays 2010a, 127–130; and Smith 2009, 8–9, in which the authors discuss the
group of offering texts as a clear instance of Pyramid Text material pre-dating the corpus of Wenis.
Unfortunately, this is the only group that has been identified in the inscriptional repertoire previous
80 Antonio J. Morales

form of lists of items with a specific order in Third and Fourth Dynasty offering lists,
an order that in some cases corresponded unmistakably with the series of (narrative)
Pyramid Texts of the royal pyramids that alluded to the same offerings, items, and
rites.57
In the royal context, the existence of Pyramid Texts in pictorial form was first
attested at the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty, in the pyramid of Sahure at Abusir
(fig. 1).58 In spite of its fragmentary condition, the remnants of the offering list in the
mortuary temple of Sahure provide us with a partial ordered list59 of items existing
in the later Pyramid Texts: PT82 PT84, PT92 PT94, PT128–129, PT139 and PT140–141
(table 1). The presence of these items in the offering list of the mortuary complex of
Sahure not only evidences the existence of a non-narrative version of the Pyramid
Texts for the king previous to the assemblage of Wenis,60 but also confirms that the
same repertoire of ritual texts informed the ritualists before their fixation in writing
at the end of the dynasty.61 The relationship between item and text based on a devel-
opment from the canonical tabular list to the ritual narrative demonstrates that there
was a common practice in which every sacred item was necessary for a particular rite.

to the reign of Wenis, and its associations have not yet been analyzed at length (cf. the study by Barta
1963, 5–90, who identified the associated materials but did not refer to the nature of the relationship
between the private domain of these offering lists and the later or comtemporaneous royal Pyramid
Texts).
57 The Pyramid Texts’ narrative version of the tabular lists of offerings and items certainly provides
further information on each rite. A phenomenon of similar characteristics has been examined in the
Homeric literature, in which extensive lists and catalogues that originally had a performative and oral
character were embedded into the narrative for the exhibition of the virtuoso-singer, whose memory
and performative skills would enable him to display a deep knowledge of technical matters such as
ship construction (Minchin 1996, 19–20).
58 Note that the earlier date of the sources from the private context with offering lists relating to the
offering Pyramid Texts might indicate the private origin of the offering rites alluded to in the texts. Cf.
the case of the king Pepi II providing written materials for the performance of rituals on the occasion
of the funeral of Sabni’s father, Mekhu: Jürgens 1995, 85, n. 95.
59 One can observe that the recitations of each fragment follow the canonical order as observed first
in the offering lists and then in the Pyramid Texts. For the canonical order (type A) in the offering lists,
see Barta 1963, 47–78; and cf. the development of the “genre” in Junker 1934, 71–96.
60 For the related order as observed in Wenis’s pyramid, cf. W/S/N i (PT82), W/S/N i 30 (PT84), W/S/N
ii 38 (PT92), W/S/N ii 44 (PT94), W/S/N iii 12–13 (PT128–129), and W/S/N iii 24–25 (PT140–141).
61 Pace Eyre 2002, 17–18: “The assumption that Pyramid Texts simply represent a stable and ancient
oral tradition, first written down in the later Old Kingdom, belongs to the romantic intellectual cli-
mate of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and is rooted in universalist preconceptions
of cultural evolution. In crude form such assumptions are neither substantiated nor sustantiable on
the basis of hard evidence.”
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 81

Fig. 1: Offering list fragments from the mortuary temple of Sahure (after Borchardt 1913, pl. 63).

Table 1: Offering list items of Sahure and associated Pyramid Text recitations.

Recitation Sahure’s offering list Pyramid Texts

PT82, Pyr. 58b xAwt 9Hwtj jn sw Xr=s

pr.n=f Xr jrt 1rw
xAwt dj prt-xrw
PT84, Pyr. 59a Htp-nsw 2 Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw Htp.
n=f Hr=s
Htp-nsw 2
PT92, Pyr. 61c fAt t fAt Hn(o)t Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw fA n=k
s jr Hr=k
fAt t 1 fAt Hn(o)t 1
PT94, Pyr. 64a [S]bw62 d-mdw zp 4 dj Sbw
Dj Sbw
Sbw
PT128, Pyr. 80d zxn Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw zxnt=k
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
zxn 1
PT129, Pyr. 81b zwt Wsjr NN m-n=k zwtt jrt 1rw
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
zwt 1
PT139, Pyr. 86b s[r] Wsjr NN m-n=k jw j.sr=f sn
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
sr 1

62 The Sbw might allude to PT94–95 as this section is related to the two spells in Wenis.
82 Antonio J. Morales

Recitation Sahure’s offering list Pyramid Texts

PT140, Pyr. 86d mnwt Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw xw

mn=f s
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
mnwt 1
PT141, Pyr. 86f t zjf Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw jtHt.n=f
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
t zjf 1

The same evidence can be attested in the pictorial version of offering Pyramid Texts
in the mortuary temples of Sahure’s successor, Neferirkare Kakai, and the later king
Niuserre. The fragments of the offering list located at the mortuary complex of Nefer-
irkare Kakai in Abusir (fig. 2) presents the list of items PT23, PT82, PT84–89, PT128–
133 (table 2), which represents a section with a similar order of part of the offering
group of Pyramid Texts in the pyramid of Wenis.63

Fig. 2: Offering list fragments from the mortuary temple of Neferirkare Kakai (after Borchardt 1909,
fig. 32).

63 See W/S/N i 1–4 (PT23), W/S/N ii 28 (PT82), W/S/N ii 30–35 (PT84–89), W/S/N iii 12–17 (PT128–133).
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 83

Table 2: Offering list items of Neferirkare Kakai and associated Pyramid Text recitations.

Recitation Neferirkare’s offering list Pyramid Texts

PT23, Pyr. 16d zAT Wsjr jT n=k msDDw NN nbw

mdw m rn=f Dw
9Hwtj jT sw n Wsjr jn mdw m
rn n NN Dw
dj n=k sw m Drt=k Dd-mdw zp 4
m sfxx=k jm=f
zA jm=k sfxxw jm=f
zAT
PT82, Pyr. 58b xAwt 9Hwtj jn sw Xr=s
pr.n=f Xr jrt 1rw
xAwt dj prt-xrw
PT84, Pyr. 59a Htp-nsw 2 Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw Htp.
n=f Hr=s
Htp-nsw 2
PT85, Pyr. 59c Htp wsxt 2 Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw Htp
Hr=s
Htp wsxt 2
PT86, Pyr. 59d Hms sHm n=k s xr=k
Dd-mdw Hms j.gr prt-xrw-nsw64
PT87, Pyr. 60a jaw-r t ds65 Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw jab n=k
s jr r=k
jaw-r t 1 ds 1
PT88, Pyr. 60b t-tw Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw xw n=k
jtj=f s
t-tw 1
PT89, Pyr. 60c t-jtH Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw jtHt.n=f
t-jtH 1
PT128, Pyr. 80d z[xn] Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw zxnt=k
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
zxn 1
PT129, Pyr. 81b zw[t] Wsjr NN m-n=k zwtt jrt 1rw
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
zwt 1

64 The direction “Sit down, be silent: the king’s invocation” is addressed to the audience participat-
ing in the ritual performance and denotes the integration of external practices into the corpus. See
analogous directions in PT460 (Pyr. §868c); PT618 (Pyr. §1746a); and sPT734 (Pyr. §§2263a-2264a),
CT312 (ECT IV, 70e–71a); Old Kingdom mastabas (Junker 1943, 20–21); and later in the foundation
ritual in Luxor and Medinet Habu (Barguet 1952, 5, pls. 1–2); stela Turin 1599 (Mekis 2011, 49–50, l. 3
“Ô tous les dieux, silence, silence”); and O. DeM 1696, verso II, 5 (Meeks 2000, 244–245).
65 For the rite of “mouth-washing”, see Meulenaere 1981, 87–89, where the author suggests the read-
ing ab (rA) on the restitution of the term in the Saite Period.
84 Antonio J. Morales

Recitation Neferirkare’s offering list Pyramid Texts

PT130, Pyr. 81d [s]p[r] Wsjr NN m-n=k sbjw jr.k

Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
spr 4
PT131, Pyr. 82b A[Srt] Wsjr NN m-n=k j.sSAw=k
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
ASrt 1
PT132, Pyr. 82d m[zt] Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw j.zA=k
jr=s
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
mzt 1
PT133, Pyr. 83b nnSm Wsjr NN m-n=k jrt 1rw
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
nnSm 1

Even the scant evidence attained from the single preserved fragment of the offering
list of Niuserre (fig. 3) supports the pre-existence of offering rites and performances in
the royal context. Although the fragment only allows for the identification of three rit-
ualists under a register for offering quantities, the objects represented in their hands66
provide further information and relate the three sections with the items involved in
PT129–131 (table 3): the ritual rations zwt (shank of meat), spr (four ribs), and ASrt
(roasted meat).

Fig. 3: Offering list fragment from the mortuary temple of Niuserre (after Borchardt 1907, fig. 59).

66 Cf. the objects of the three ritualists with the determinatives for zwt, spr and ASrt in Sethe 1960,
46 (PT129, Pyr. §81b: ; PT130, Pyr. §81d: and PT131, Pyr. §82b: ). Cf. the types of meat in Köhler/
Jones 2009, 39 and 104.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 85

Table 3: Offering list items of Niuserre and associated Pyramid Text recitations.

Recitation Niuserre’s offering list Pyramid Texts

PT129 [Pyr. 81b] [zwt] Wsjr NN m-n=k zwtt jrt 1rw

Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
zwt 1
PT130 [Pyr. 81d] [spr] Wsjr NN m-n=k sbjw jr=k
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
spr 4
PT131 [Pyr. 82b] [ASrt] Wsjr NN m-n=k j.sSAw=k
Dd-mdw zp 4 n NN pn fAt Hn(o)
t zp 4
ASrt 1

There are even extensive remains of the offering list of Pepi II from the north and
south walls of his mortuary temple, which evidences the use of pictorial versions of
the texts while the inner chamber of his pyramid was also inscribed with narrative
versions of the same rituals.67 In this regard, the monument of Pepi II Neferkare offers
evidence that royal mortuary complexes could incorporate both traditions—offering
lists and Pyramid Texts—simultaneously, in order to ensure the continual supply of
prescribed provisions and items in perpetuity.68
In the private context, however, the attestation of the use of tabular versions of
the Pyramid Texts goes beyond Sahure and can be dated to the earlier Old Kingdom.
No doubt, as the rituals constituting the Pyramid Texts corpus of Wenis resulted from
a long process of experiencing the rites, transferring performances and recitations
into script, and monumentalizing these texts on the walls of his pyramid, the rites
of the offering lists also underwent a process of “canonization” before the traditional
lists of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasty appeared.69
Thus, before the constitution of the type A list, which incorporates ninety items
that match the same number of offering rites in the Pyramid Texts, there were more
limited groups of items in slab-stelae and tomb inscriptions70 that provide the earliest

67 See offering list of Pepi II on the south wall of the main chapel in his mortuary temple, in Jéquier
1938, 56–64, pls. 61, 67–70.
68 As Assmann 2005, 346 notes: “[t]he mortuary offering and recitation are to transform this place of
destitution into a place of abundance”.
69 See Listentyp A with the example of Debeheni in Barta 1963, 47–50, and fig. 4. For differences
between the initial royal examples mentioned above and their counterparts from the private context,
see Smith 2009, 9 (with bibliography).
70 For the construction of the earliest examples of offering lists, see Martin 2011 (First Dynasty);
86 Antonio J. Morales

examples of some of the items necessary for the offering rites. For instance, the late
Second or early Third Dynasty stela of Sisi (Helwan)71 lists the items necessary for
the rites of censing (snTr: PT25, Pyr. §18d) and preparation of the offering table with
two kinds of bread (tA rtH: PT89, Pyr. §60c; and tA wr: PT177, Pyr. §103a).72 Another
list of items required for the mortuary service, later incorporated into the corpus of
the Pyramid Texts, was found on the Second Dynasty stela of Meri (also known as
the Bankfield stela), in which one finds epitomized the rites for censing (snTr: PT25,
Pyr. §18d), libating (obHw: PT32, Pyr. §23b), and the preparation of the offering table
with bread (HTA: PT113, Pyr. §73f).73 This evidence constitutes the earliest proof of the
existence of particular rites connected with mortuary services outside the tomb and
extraneous to the royal domain, predecessors of the succeeding recitations monu-
mentalized in the pyramid of Wenis.
The progressive development of mortuary services might have been the major
reason for expanding the stock of items in the offering lists. Evidence from the Third
and Fourth Dynasty indicates the performance of further rites and the incorporation
of new products. Nonetheless, the sequencing of the items so far does not follow the
canonical order of the type A list. I perceive this variability as an indication of the
variety of local traditions in Meidum, Giza, and Saqqara, on the one hand, and the
absence of formal religious sanctions at this time on the multiple services addressed
to the deceased, on the other. The stela of Khabausokar74 (fig. 4), for instance, shows
that by the Third Dynasty some new items had been integrated into the mortuary
service for the deceased, including the sacerdotal services for bread offering (HTA:
PT113, Pyr. §73f), libation (obHw: PT32, Pyr. §23b), censing (snTr: PT25, Pyr. §18d), pro-
vision of oils (HATT aS: PT77, Pyr. §53b; and sfT: PT74, Pyr. §51a), wine jars (jrp abS 2:
PT154, Pyr. §92d), three kinds of bread (tA wr: PT177, Pyr. §103a; tA rtH: PT89, Pyr. §60c;
and Sat: PT142, Pyr. §87b), and wine again (jrp abS: PT154, Pyr. §92d), and jSd-berries
(PT160, Pyr. §95d).75 In the early Fourth Dynasty, the offering lists of Rahotep and
Metjen also extended the number of items related to the mortuary services. The offer-

Köhler/Jones 2009 (Second-Third Dynasties); Kaplony 1963, 235–241; with further comments in Kapl-
ony 1966. I thank Jochem Kahl for bringing Kaplony’s references to my attention and discussing the
nature of the offering items that account for the representations of the Speisetischszene.
71 Grabplatten Sp. 23 in Kaplony, Die Inschriften I, 231, 619. For a comparative analysis of the dating
criteria used with the slab stelae from Helwan and the relative date of this stela in the late Second or
Third Dynasty, see Kahl 1997, 137–145, fig. 1; and Kahl/Kloth/Zimmermann 1995, 178–179, n. 11.
72 Saad 1957, 46–48, pl. 27.
73 Hays 2010a, 129–130, fig. 4; Barta 1963, 24–25; and Gardiner 1917, 259–260.
74 Murray 1905, 32–35, pl. 1.
75 In addition, the stela of Khabausokar includes four types of meat (swt, jwa, wSn and spr) that
might correspond to other known items used in the Pyramid Texts. See a similar case in the fragmen-
tary offering list of Niuserre in n. 66 above. For the types of meat offerings found in the early slab
stelae, see Köhler/Jones 2009, 36–56.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 87

ing list of Rahotep shows PT25 (Pyr. §18d)

PT79 (Pyr. §54d) PT154 (Pyr. §92d) PT152
(Pyr. §91d) PT23 (Pyr. §16d) PT20 (Pyr. §11c)
and PT177 (Pyr. §103a), an order similar to
the one present in the door tablet of Met-
jen’s false door.76
Most remarkable about this analogy
between the construction of a list of canon-
ical offerings required for the mortuary
services and the later royal Pyramid Texts
is the development of the traditional offer-
ing list by the mid-Fourth Dynasty (2550
BCE), two hundred years before the reign of
Wenis. Until now, the only evidence demon-
strating the existence of offering lists that
agreed with the order of the Pyramid Text
spells was the offering lists of Debeheni
and Khafkhufu I.77 However, by the reign
of Khufu and the succeeding kings of the
Fourth Dynasty, other instances of offer-
ing lists with abridged versions and similar
Fig. 4: Central panel from the tomb of Kha-
bausokar (after Murray 1905, pl. 1). order can be identified. The relationship
between the order of the items in the offer-
ing lists of the Fourth Dynasty and the later order of the Pyramid Texts reveals that a
canonization of mortuary services and rites had begun by the reign of Khufu and had
taken its definitive shape by the Fifth Dynasty.
The tomb of Nefer (G 2110), completed in the reign of Khufu,78 offers us two exam-
ples of offering lists from this time. Artists represented an offering scene in the south
entrance thickness of his tomb (now Louvre B 151), in which the order of the ritual
items was PT23 PT25 PT78–80 PT154 PT169 PT112 PT177 (fig. 5). Far from following the
exact order of the traditional offering list type A, this abridged version again offered
an example of the existence of rites (with a shortened ritual structure) in the private
context connected with those alluded to in the royal Pyramid Texts. In addition, Nefer
also included a more comprehensive offering list on the false door tablet in the west
wall. In this case, the number of items and their order did resemble the canonical
one (fig. 6). In this offering list the following sequence can be identified: PT32 PT25
PT78–80 unknown item PT84 PT117 PT87–90 PT95 PT117 PT164 PT117 PT94–96 PT32

76 LD II, 3 and 5.
77 Hays 2010a, 129–130; and Smith 2009, 9.
78 See Manuelian 2009, 154–155.
88 Antonio J. Morales

PT25 PT112 PT160 PT152 PT166–168

PT154 PT146 PT149–150 PT164
PT159 PT158 PT157 PT142 PT161–162
PT169–170 rn-jwA rn-mA-HD PT138
PT136–137 PT139.
A similar distribution occurs in
the tomb of Khafkhufu I (G 7140),79
in which two major instances of
lists of ritual items can be identi-
fied. In the south wall of the chapel
relief, Khafkhufu I appears seated
before an offering list with the
following order: PT141–157 PT159
PT158 PT160–162 PT164 PT163
Fig. 5: Tomb of Nefer, south entrance thickness
(= Louvre B 151) (after Manuelian 2009, 181).
PT165–171.80 In the false door tablet,
however, the offering list shows a
more comprehensive group with an
order comparable to the canonical
list A type: PT84–85 […] PT88–89
PT92 […] PT96 PT146 PT148 PT147
PT144 PT109 PT111–113 PT115 PT114
PT113var. PT116–126 PT129 PT127
PT130 PT128 PT131 PT134 PT136–
140 PT145 PT148 PT153 PT160 PT162
PT164 PT166–167 PT169–170.81
Other examples of the mid-late-
Fourth Dynasty, such as the tomb of
Seshatsekhentiu (G 2120)82 and the
anonymous owner of G 2135,83 also
denote the progressive develop-

Fig. 6: Tomb of Nefer, chapel west wall, door tablet

(after Manuelian 2009, 200).

79 For this tomb, see Simpson 1978.

80 See Simpson 1978, 14–15, fig. 31, pl. 19.
81 Simpson 1978, 15–16, fig. 32, pls. 20–21.
82 Manuelian 2009, 209–216, figs. 7.66–7.68: see offering list (now MFA 06.1894) with items relating to
PT25 PT79–80 PT78 PT161–162 PT177 PT112 PT114–115 PT142 PT114 PT116 PT149 PT145 unknown PT146
PT154 PT160 PT152 PT166–168 PT158 PT164 PT169.
83 Manuelian 2009, 281–283, and fig. 10.15: see offering list (now Vienna ÄS 7799) with items relating
to PT80 PT78 PT160 PT79 PT154 PT166.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 89

Fig. 7: Offering list of Debeheni (Giza, LG90) (after LD II, pl. 35).

ment of the rituals and the incorporation of further sacerdotal items (i.e. ritual activi-
ties) into the mortuary services.
The preservation of these lists testifies to the existence of particular conventions
in the performance of mortuary services that were promoted to a canonical repertoire
composed for the ritualists. The affiliation of a larger number of items and activities
indicates the increasing interest in fixing the structure of the mortuary ritual, an idea
that fostered the later composition of the Pyramid Texts corpus in the arena of royal
ceremonies and beliefs. In the late Fourth and early Fifth Dynasty we find other testi-
monies of the canonization of the offering list, with some instances, such as the offer-
ing lists of Debeheni and Kaninesu I. In the case of Debeheni,84 as Hays highlighted,
“the third through ninetieth entries [...] correspond to the items and actions specified
at the end of the eighty-eight Pyramid Texts in the same sequential order, beginning
with sT-HAb”.85 The offering list of Debeheni (fig. 7) goes on with the same particular
items related to the Pyramid Texts and concludes with two further items typical of the
canonized offering type A list: gsw and HAt-wdHw (Barta’s items 91 and 95).86

The tomb of Kaninesu I (G 2155; d. late Fourth or early Fifth Dynasty)87 provides two
instances of disparate offering lists: a shorter version on the north entrance thick-

84 For this tomb, see Hassan 1948, 159–184, n. 122; Junker 1938, 50; and Junker 1934, 85–96.
85 Hays 2012, 86.
86 The sequencing of items in the offering list of Debeheni includes PT23 PT25 PT72–81 PT25 PT32
PT82–92 PT94 PT96 PT108–171 and the items gsw and HAt-wdHw.
87 See Manuelian 2009, 367–383 (especially for the date of this tomb, 368).
90 Antonio J. Morales

Fig. 8: Tomb of Kaninesu I, north entrance thickness (= Vienna ÄS 8006) (after Manuelian 2009, fig.
13.37).

ness, and a more extended offering list on the south wall of the chapel. The abridged
version (fig. 8) on the north entrance thickness lists fifteen ritual items related to the
Pyramid Texts,88 while the offering list on the south wall89 (fig. 9) sets forth a more
canonical list of items: PT23 PT81 PT32 PT25 PT72–73 PT78–80 PT25 PT84–85 PT87–90
PT92 PT94 PT96 PT32 PT113 PT151 PT154 PT115 PT114 PT116–120 PT123 PT121 PT124–
128 PT130 PT132 PT133 PT135 PT134 PT136–137 smn PT138–141 PT109 jdAt (Barta’s item
41) PT142–145 PT149 PT151–152 PT154 PT153 PT150 PT160–161 PT163–165.
In addition to the cases of Debeheni and Kaninesu I, other offering lists of the
early Fifth Dynasty demonstrate the incorporation of new items and the process of
canonization of the sequence in which these items would be employed in the mortu-
ary services. Two other examples are the offering lists found in the tombs of Nensed-
jerkai (G 2101) and Kanefer (G 2150).90 The first instance is an offering list found
in the south false door tablet with the sequence of items PT25 PT72–79 PT81.91 The
case of Kanefer is also remarkable as the concise sequence of twenty-four items cor-
responds—in contents and order—with a section of the series found in the Pyramid
Texts of Wenis: PT23 PT25 PT72–81 PT32 PT82 PT84–92 PT94 PT96.92

88 Now Vienna ÄS 8006: see Manuelian 2009, figs. 13.36 and 13.37, with PT25 [PT32] PT79–80 PT160
PT153 PT134 PT167 PT152 PT115 PT166 PT112 PT163 PT161–162.
89 A section of the same mastaba in Vienna ÄS 8006: see Manuelian 2009, figs. 13.47 and 13.48.
90 Both tombs and their offering lists in Manuelian 2009, 117–124 (Nensedjerkai) and 307–318
(Kanefer).
91 See Manuelian 2009, 142, fig. 5.47.
92 Manuelian 2009, 351, fig. 12.80.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 91

Fig. 9: Tomb of Kaninesu I, chapel south wall (= Vienna ÄS 8006) (after Manuelian 2009, fig. 13.48).

The development of the offering lists into the standard type-A list and its effect on
the composition of the group of offering texts for the pyramid of Wenis becomes even
more visible in the instances of the mid-Fifth Dynasty and those contemporaneous
with the monumentalization of the Pyramid Texts in the inner chambers of Wenis.
Two noteworthy examples for the understanding of the offering lists as reflections of
ritual observances and objects, also attested to in the Pyramid Texts, can be seen in
the tombs of Iymery (G 6020) and Neferbauptah (G 6010). The tomb of Iymery, which
dates to the reign of Niuserre, provides us with an offering list conceptualized and
composed before the reign of Wenis, with the same items and order as in the narrative
version of the offering Pyramid Texts (fig. 10). Iymery’s offering list contains the items
for PT23 PT25 PT72–79 PT81 PT25 PT32 PT82 PT84–92 PT94 PT96 PT108–171, and com-
pletes the list with the items gsw, HAt-wdHw and stpt (Barta’s items 91, 95 and 94).93
The second case is the offering list of Neferbauptah, dating to the time of Djedkare
Izezi, which brings together the same sequencing of items for the ritualist (fig. 11):

93 Weeks 1994, 31–57 (especially the details about the offering list in 54–55), fig. 44.
92 Antonio J. Morales

Fig. 10: Tomb of Iymery, third chamber, west wall, southern section (after Weeks 1994, fig. 44).

PT23 PT25 PT72–79 PT81 PT25 PT32 PT82 PT84–92 PT94 PT96 PT108–171, and ends
with gsw (Barta’s item 91).94
Other remarkable examples from the late Fifth Dynasty can be retrieved from the
tomb of Khafkhufu II in Giza (G 7150),95 and the tombs of Usernetjer,96 Sekhemka,97
and Iteti98 from Saqqara. Interestingly, the instance of Iteti’s offering list draws to a
close our analysis of the relation between the series of items on the offering lists found
in the private context and the Pyramid Texts used in the royal one. Iteti’s offering list
was composed during the reign of Wenis, which means it was contemporaneous with
the theological endeavour to transfer into the king’s monument the same rites that
had previously existed in tabular form.
On a smaller scale, another setting from which Pyramid Text recitations might
have originated was the domain of magical and apotropaic practices (personal and
collective). The group of protective incantations has been considered some of the

94 Weeks 1994, 21–29, fig. 22.

95 Simpson 1978, 21–27, fig. 50: […] PT94 PT96 PT108–109 […] PT116–120 […] PT126–130 […] PT136–
137 […] PT147–149 […] PT154–155 […] PT159–161 […] PT169–170 PT96 PT146 PT148 PT147 PT144 PT109
PT111–113 PT115 PT114 PT113 var. PT116–126 PT129 PT127 PT130 PT128 PT131 PT134 PT136–140 PT145
PT148 PT153 PT160 PT162 PT164 PT166 PT167 PT169–170.
96 Murray 1905, 19–24, pl. 23. The offering list of Usernetjer includes PT23 PT25 PT72–81 [PT25 PT32]
PT82 PT84–92 PT94 PT96 PT108 PT108–171 gsw HAt-wdHw stpt (Barta’s items 91, 95 and 94).
97 Murray 1905, 7–10, pl. 7. The list of items in the offering list of Sekhemka includes PT23 PT25 PT72–
75 […] PT85–92 PT94 PT96 PT108–171 gsw pXr stpt HAt-wdHw stpt (Barta’s items 91, 92, 94 and 95)
PT126.
98 Murray 1905, 18–19, pl. 18: PT23 PT25 PT72–81 PT25 PT32 PT82 PT84–92 PT94 PT96 PT108–171 HAt-
wdHw (Barta’s item 95) PT32 PT25.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 93

Fig. 11: Tomb of Neferbauptah, third chamber, west wall, central section (after Weeks 1994, fig. 22).

earliest recitational material to be integrated into the royal Pyramid Texts.99 The two
groups of apotropaic texts (i.e. PT232–243 and PT277–293)100 have generally been
taken as independent sets of materials embedded into the Pyramid Texts of Wenis
for the protection of the king’s corpse and his rebirth.101 Originally, these incanta-
tions functioned as an agency through which to control snakes and ward off any
other noxious creature that might harm the living or the dead.102 It is clear that these
recitations continued their development in other royal assemblages of the Old King-
dom,103 and remained in use from this time to the Greco-Roman period.104 Regret-

99 See Osing 1986, 132–136 (Gruppe A1: PT226–243; Gruppe A2: PT276–299); and Altenmüller 1984, 20.
100 Following Hays 2012, 107–108, and group K chart in 685. As indicated by Bernard Mathieu, the
second group in Wenis, PT277–293, belongs to a larger set of apotropaic texts attested in other pyra-
mids: PT276–299.
101 Ritner 2011, ix. Although Ritner supports the original independence of particular series of the
group (i.e. the anti-snake spells or Schlangensprüche PT232–238 and PT281–287) as proof of the em-
bedment of earlier non-Egyptian material, it is possible that the distinction observed in these spells
stemmed from the variegated Egyptian settings previous to the late Fifth Dynasty in which these mate-
rials were originally located. For the ‘Byblite’ origin of these spells, which made it into Egypt “perhaps
accompanying known timber shipments”, see Rittner 2011, xi; and Steiner 2011, 8–14. Cf. the critical
positions against this hypothesis in Bojowald 2012, 236–242; and Breyer 2012, 141–146. See further
comments on the critical Egyptological positioning against this hypothesis, in particular by Thomas
Schneider, in Morales 2013, 85, n. 224.
102 For the significance of these spells, see Sperveslage 2011, 30–37; Kousoulis 2011, 14–26; ­Borghouts
2007, 21–25, ns. 118–119; Leitz 2002–2003, 701–702 (“Rerek”); Meurer 2002, 269–315; Leitz 1996, 381–
427; and Borghouts 1984, 707. For the metatextual heading of PT226 that appears in the Middle King-
dom and identifies the primary use of this recitation and the group to which it belongs for ­protective
purposes, see Allen 2006a, 153; and Sledzianowski 1976, I, 24 (1): L1NY L, col. 1: rA n(j) sxsf r(k)rk
m Xrt-nTr.
103 With some modifications; see Hussein 2013, 277–278, n. 11; and Hays 2012, 685.
104 See, for instance, the recent studies on the subject by Hussein 2013, passim; Hussein 2011, 220–
94 Antonio J. Morales

tably, the performative and oral nature of these incantations in their original state
did not contribute to their fixation in writing beyond a few examples from the late
Sixth Dynasty and First Intermediate Period.105 Among the recitations identified by
Jürgen Osing in his study of the magical texts of Niankh-Pepy, one can observe the
presence of excerpts from the Middle Kingdom recitations CT473 (Spruch III),106 CT885
(Sprüche I and IV),107 and CT930 (Spruch II).108 Interestingly, CT885 is associated with
some of the Old Kingdom series of apotropaic (anti-snake) texts inscribed on the west
wall of Wenis’s sarcophagus chamber.109 A remarkable aspect of the spells found in
Niankh-Pepy, however, is the personal category of the ritualist, mentioned in the first
person.110 In contrast, in Wenis’s sarcophagus chamber, texts of the personal category
are not common and, in fact, the second or third-person structure is typical here, as
it is believed that a ritualist performed the services for the king.111 If less perfect in
reliability, this disagreement between the apotropaic texts of Niankh-Pepy, with the
beneficiary in the first person, and the texts of Wenis, in the second or third person,
is a vestige of certain editorial work applied to the materials during the monumentali-
zation and recontextualization of earlier personal texts into a sacerdotal setting, such
as the king’s sarcophagus chamber.112 In other words, in the process of transmission
from the personal setting to the royal context, the magical texts initially indicating
the performer in the first person were transferred into the pyramid and changed to the
second and third persons, so as to ensure that the sacerdotal class served the king in
his voyage into the afterlife. In spite of the lack of evidence from the private domain
in the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties, the magical texts of Niankh-Pepy seem to indicate
that the apotropaic Pyramid Texts of Wenis might have had precursors of the same
type as the late Old Kingdom ones. In addition, textual features of these recitations

222; and Hussein 2009, 89–93. The transmission of this group of Pyramid Texts evidences a sustained
system of beliefs on the magical potentiality of these recitations against noxious creatures: cf. the
attestation of Pyramid Texts (snake-recitations) in stela BM 190 (probably from Memphis or Saqqara),
with PT226–243 (Pyr. §§225a–248a-b). Thanks are due to the research project SFB 980 for providing me
with funds for a research visit to the British Museum (d. 30.09.13–10.10.13) where I could examine this
stela and other objects of the Late Period that bear late versions of Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts.
105 See the four magical spells inscribed on the wooden coffin bedframe deposited inside the coffin
of Niankh-Pepy in Osing 1987, 205–210; and Hassan 1975, 21–22, pls. 15 (B) and 19–20.
106 ECT VI, 3ff.
107 ECT VII, 97p–s.
108 ECT VII, 131b–e, and n.
109 Hussein 2013, 278, n. 14; and Topmann 2010, 341–371.
110 For the deictic distinction of the sacerdotal/collective and personal categories in Pyramid Texts
and associated materials, see mainly Hays 2012, 28–33, 52–60; Reintges 2011, 28–31; and Hays 2006,
33–40. See further bibliography in Morales 2013, 46, n. 103.
111 Hays 2009a, 48, fig. 1.
112 Hays 2006, 47–54.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 95

remind us of particular compositions known as “water-songs” (Hsy-mw or Hst-mw)113

which appeared in private tombs before the reign of Wenis for the protection of cattle
against crocodiles, hippopotami and other dangers.114
In interim summary, the evidence on the existence of rites and objects common to
both the private offering lists and the royal Pyramid Texts of the Old Kingdom reveal
a clear association between the two realms. Likewise, the incorporation of magical
spells that belonged to the realm of personal practices also manifest the existence
of primary settings in which these recitations were first declaimed and performed,
before they achieved the status of monumental inscriptions. As for the offering reci-
tations, the earliest examples of ritual activities, such as censing, libating, provision
of foodstuff and the listing of related items from the Second Dynasty onwards, show
a convergence toward a collective system of rituals and services—private and royal—
from which the Pyramid Texts emerged.115 Certainly, the construction of a canoni-
cal list of rites and items used for the composition of offering lists in tabular form
demanded the fixation in writing of these elements to be used as guidelines, that is,
the execution of the process of Verschriftung or entextualization, so that they became
more accessible and portable as papyri (i.e. operative copies). No doubt, the process
of entextualization of the rites and the fixation of their details (e.g. items, quantities,
number of services) not only gave shape to the offering lists for the tomb of particu-
lars, but also provided the fundamental materials for the composition of the offering
category of Pyramid Texts in the royal domain. In addition, it might be the case that
the development of the offering lists during the Fourth Dynasty in the cemeteries of
Giza reached a canonical form before being extended to other necropolises such as
Saqqara, and that the traditional model resulting in the early Fifth Dynasty had an
effect on the syntax of offering rites of the late Fifth Dynasty and the rest of the Old
Kingdom mortuary culture.116 Regarding the apotropaic texts, the absence of personal

113 Strudwick 2005, 402 (text no. 302.A), 405 (text no. 306.F); Leitz 1999, 39–40, pls. 17–18 (pap. BM
EA 10042, recto 6, 10); Mathieu 1996b, 106 (n. 349: with bibliography) and 231; Morenz 1996, 60–61,
128–129; Koenig 1994, 74–75 (n. 42); Borghouts 1978, 87 (text no. 126); and Simpson 1976b, 13.
114 Ogdon 1989, esp. 59–62, n. 15.
115 For the statement that other materials, such as the references to sakhu in private tombs, con-
stitute another bond between the mortuary traditions of both contexts (private and royal), see En-
march 2013, 87–88, n. 25, although the author still considers this link “tantalising and indirect”. Cf.
the strong relationship of both contexts through reference to the same types of rites, discussed in Hays
2010a; and Smith 2009.
116 For a consideration of the social and religious regulations that might have affected the estab-
lishment of mortuary services with particular offering lists and activities in the region of Aswan
(­Qubbet el-Hawa), see Seyfried 2003. In addition, one must also consider the later development of
the related offering formulae in the First Intermediate Period, when political and economic decentral-
ization produced changes in the expressions of authority among the elite: see Barta 1968, 30, for the
emergence of new Bitte in the offering formulae such as “to cross the sky like the king” (Bitte 30) or
“to be accepted by the great god” (Bitte 34).
96 Antonio J. Morales

magical recitations before the end of the Old Kingdom does not preclude a consid-
eration of the original setting from which the apotropaic Pyramid Texts derived, a
group of texts that demanded editorial modification for their inception as sacerdotal
services into the royal corpus.

4 Traces of the Original Forms and Style of the

“Pyramid Texts” before Wenis
Theological forethought and scribal management of textual materials were essen-
tial in the composition of the royal Pyramid Texts. As an intellectual undertaking,
this plan (sxr) was generated by the Heliopolitan sacerdotal class for the benefit of
the king’s existence—initially Wenis’s. It demanded selection, editing, copying, and
inscription of a great many religious texts from discrete traditions, and the reconsid-
eration of the doctrine of the afterlife affecting the king’s persona.117 As a result, each
assemblage became a reflection of prevalent religious ideas and practices, a monu-
mentalization that therefore allowed for later transformation as the theological ideas
and ritual praxis of each cultural phase (Zeitgeist) affected the corpus and the priestly
vision thereof.118
The process of transforming oral recitations into collections of texts probably
emerged even before this plan for the monumentalization of religious texts existed.119
As seen in the previous section, the initial process of fixation into writing (i.e. Ver-
schriftung or entextualization) came about when the discourse embedded in oral and
performative practices—mortuary services, magical recitations, and stage d ­ irections—
had to be retained for operative and storage purposes. That stage of development of
the mortuary recitations, from voice to papyrus, was not primarily associated with the
more substantial undertaking for the royal pyramids, a process that came about only
when the priests of Memphis decided to outmatch the previous mortuary complexes
by introducing priestly and personal recitations into the inner chambers of a king.
For the construction of Wenis’s assemblage, therefore, the Heliopolitan priests
anchored their plan to the extant repertoire of written recitations in operative papyri,
probably created, copied, and stored in temple repositories. In addition, they might
even have composed or searched for further exemplars.120 In other words, theological

117 Mathieu 2010, 78.

118 Morales 2013, 12.
119 As Hays defined it, “[t]he Pyramid Texts were not composed to decorate the walls of the tombs
in which they are first attested. They were adapted to that use from texts prepared to be recited in
religious performances” (Hays 2012, 251).
120 The increasing number of Pyramid Texts attested in the assemblages after Wenis seems to cor-
roborate this possibility. For instance, the Pyramid of Wenis contains around two hundred and thirty
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 97

and scribal work with the existing collections supplied the primary stock of texts for
the composition of Wenis’s assemblage; textual composition might have enlarged it
with new spells. This process, however, necessitated further assignments, mainly the
enhancement of the recitational discourse by transforming the language and struc-
ture of the recitations from oral-compositional style to literary form (Verschriftlichung
or textualization), and the preparation of master copies of the materials—also known
as “blueprints”—to be carved onto the walls of Wenis’s crypt. This major transforma-
tion of the recitations, from papyrus to wall, constitutes the second development of
the corpus. Fortunately, vestiges from the earlier stage of the history of the corpus, in
which its recitations were written in the oral style and fastened in operative papyri,
become visible in the assemblage made for Wenis. Certainly, the gradual transfer-
ence of oral materials, first to manuscripts and later to monument walls, reflects the
ability of the religious discourse to adapt to new media and materiality. Therefore,
I consider it essential to visualize both processes (entextualization and textualiza-
tion) as a result of scribal manipulation and transmission of portentous texts in the
high-cultural domain of temples.121 Copies with the respective sections of the assem-
blage would be edited and personalized in the library, and only later handed over to
the personnel assigned to King Wenis’s pyramid, who would supervise the carving,
emendation, and final approval of the corpus.122 The modification of the texts in situ
would have been impractical, as the nature and number of modifications would have
required a prolonged stay in an adequate locale with scribal and sacerdotal experts
(i.e. library, repository), to carry out editing exercises including loud reading or reci-
tation,123 identification of target-forms, modification, and composition.124
One also encounters references to the inscription of texts on tomb walls, for
instance, in the private tomb of Senedjemib Inti (G 2370). Here there is evidence of
necropolis personnel (scribes, draughtmen) who employed similar materials to the
master copies previously mentioned as drafts (i.e. zX-odt) for the carving of particular
texts in private tombs:

jw rdj.n(=j) d(j).t(j) m zX m zX-od(t) Hr jz=f pn sHr=sn jn osty Dd m Hrj=(j) tpt-rd jm mr psS

m stp-zA

texts, whereas the last assemblage for a king of the Old Kingdom, in the pyramid of Pepi II, has about
six hundred and seventy-five.
121 Following Baines 2004, 26–30.
122 For the two-step process of textual transfer from papyri to the pyramid walls with emendations
along the carving and a concluding revision, see Mathieu 1996a, esp. 290–293 (s.v. première and
­seconde vérification).
123 The practice of silent reading would also be feasible at this stage, although the use of this proce-
dure is not clear (see note below).
124 For the multiple forms of reading (including silent and loud reading), see Contardi 2010; and
Morenz 1996, 43–52, fig. 5.
98 Antonio J. Morales

“His Majesty has had the decrees concerning it endorsed with the documentary seal. Funerary
priests were appointed for him. I have had them (i.e. the decrees) put in writing in a preliminary
sketch on this his tomb, and they were carved by the sculptor. The stipulations in them were
recited in my face125 according to the apportioning in the court council”.126

The zX-odt sketches could then designate scribal copies written in papyri and
employed in the carving of texts—in this case, a royal decree by Djedkare Izezi—on
the walls of a private tomb. The form of the sketched texts used for the inscription
of the collectanea of the Pyramid Texts of Wenis was no doubt unconventional and
more extensive and intricate than the copies prepared for Senedjemib’s tomb.127 Yet
evidence for the use of sketches in the construction and decoration of private tombs
before the reign of Wenis highlights the primary role of master copies in the transfer of
textual (and iconographic) materials from the locale of the libraries to the site under
construction, as well as the editing procedures applied along the way.
One may widen the discussion on the transference of texts in the form of cus-
tomized master copies from library settings to a particular pyramid by alluding to
the traces of the oral style present in the Pyramid Texts. These traits, found in the
language and syntax of the Pyramid Texts, corroborate the antiquity of the recitations
and their genesis outside the domain of the pyramid. What sorts of vestiges are these,
then? Some of the most common features are transformation of the original deic-
tic-structure, coalescence of dialectic variants, presence of archaisms, use of repeti-
tive language and structures, formulaic language, wordplay, and even Semitic loans.
Below I present an analysis of instances of these traces, vestiges of the oral-compo-
sitional style that resulted from the application of the processes of Verschriftung and
Verschriftlichung.
An element of outstanding significance in the transformation of the oral discourse
into a literary style was the modification of the deictic-structure of texts from personal
structure (first person: “I”) to sacerdotal structure (second and third persons: “you,

125 Can this statement be taken as a proof of concluding revision or recitation by priests and rela-
tives? For the latter, see Baines 1999, 25, who believes that priests and relatives could commemorate
the memory of the deceased by reading and reciting the biographical texts of the tomb in a formal
ceremony. In this respect, Baines follows Helck’s opinion that private inscriptions would be recited
(Helck 1972, 11). The excavators of the Late Period tomb of Padihor (tomb R1) have also attested the
proofreading of the hieroglyphic inscriptions upon their completion (see Coppens/Smoláriková 2009,
69–71).
126 See inscription C, lines 23–26 (biographical data on Senedjemib Inti as provided by his son
Senedjemib Mehit) in Brovarski 2001, 43 (n. 94) and 102.
127 For the decoration and inscription of pyramids, see Pfirsch 1994, 293–298; and Pfirsch 1992,
35–36.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 99

he”) to adhere to the ritual conditions in which the ritualist performed for the king.128
For this matter, one can identify modifications129 of the texts in the form of:
1. physical recarving of personal pronouns, originally chiselled in the first person
and later modified to observe the sacerdotal structure;130
2. vacillation, with different pronouns used in the same section;131
3. doubling of pronouns, the original and the adjunct following one another;132
4. residual -j and -jj with third weak verbs, as a vestige of the presence of first-per-
son pronoun before editing;133
5. exemplar disagreement, when two or more attestations of the same text show the
use of different pronouns;134 and

128 For the modification of the performative structure in the Pyramid Texts, see n. 110 above.
129 The evidence regarding the particular modifications of the beneficiary in the Pyramid Texts of
Wenis and the assemblages of the Sixth Dynasty kings has been collected from Hays 2006, 40–56, and
Appendix A.
130 PT283 (Pyr. §424a) [W]; PT296 (Pyr. §439a) [W]; PT301 (Pyr. §448b) [W]; PT311 (Pyr. §495c) [W];
PT322 (Pyr. §518c) [P]; PT333 (Pyr. §542c) [P]; PT407 (Pyr. §710a) [P]; PT408 (Pyr. §714a) [P]; PT494
(Pyr. §1063c) [P]; PT495 (Pyr. §1064c) [P]; PT504 (Pyr. §1079a) [P]; PT504 (Pyr. §1083a) [P]; PT505
(Pyr. §§1090e–f) [P]; PT506 (Pyr. §1094a) [P]; PT507 (Pyr. §1104a) [P]; PT508 (Pyr. §1107a) [P]; PT509
(Pyr. §1120c) [P]; PT510 (Pyr. §§1133a-b) [P]; PT511 (Pyr. §1149b) [P]; PT513 (Pyr. §1174b) [P]; PT515 (Pyr.
§1176b) [M]. The siglum in square brackets [ ] indicates the Old Kingdom royal assemblage in which
the modification is observed.
131 In this case, the ancient editor did not identify the presence of original first-person pronouns
and therefore the section retained a sacerdotal structure (i.e. second and third-person pronouns) with
intact first-person pronouns. See PT263 (Pyr. §329c) [T]; PT299 (Pyr. §444c) [W]; PT304 (Pyr. §471d)
[W]; PT311 (Pyr. §499a) [W]; PT327 (Pyr. §536b) [T]; PT335 (Pyr. §546a) [T]; PT346 (Pyr. §561d) [N];
PT406 (Pyr. §708a) [T]; PT469 (Pyr. §909c) [P]; PT470 (Pyr. §911b) [P]; PT477 (Pyr. §966d) [N]; PT484
(Pyr. §1023b) [P]; PT502H (Pyr. §1076) [P]; PT503 (Pyr. §1079b) [P]; PT504 (Pyr. §1086a) [P]; PT508 (Pyr.
§1113c) [P]; PT510 (Pyr. §1140c) [P]; PT511 (Pyr. §1152b) [P]; PT525 (Pyr. §1246b) [M]; PT528 (Pyr. §1251a)
[P]; PT555 (Pyr. §1376a) [N]; PT562 (Pyr. §1406a–b) [P]; PT565 (Pyr. §1423a) [P]; PT567 (Pyr. §1430e) [N];
PT569 (Pyr. §1440c) [P]; sPT570A (Pyr. §1443b) [P]; PT573 (Pyr. §1482) [P]; PT573 (Pyr. §1484) [M]; PT609
(Pyr. §1708a–b) [M]; PT626 (Pyr. §1770c) [P].
132 See PT269 (Pyr. §378a) [P]; PT270 (Pyr. §386a) [M]; PT336 (Pyr. §548a) [M]; PT439 (Pyr. §812c) [P];
PT467 (Pyr. §890b) [N]; PT469 (Pyr. §909a) [P]; PT505 (Pyr. §1093d) [P]; PT508 (Pyr. §1116d) [P]; PT510
(Pyr. §1135b) [P]; PT511 (Pyr. §1150c) [P]; PT513 (Pyr. §1168a) [P]; PT515 (Pyr. §1181a) [P]; sPT570A (Pyr.
§1451b) [P]; PT611 (Pyr. §1726a) [N].
133 See PT266 (Pyr. §358h) [P]; PT271 (Pyr. §390a) [N]; PT302 (Pyr. §461a) [W]; PT362 (Pyr. §§606a-
b) [T]; PT456 (Pyr. §856b) [N]; PT467 (Pyr. §889c) [N]; PT469 (Pyr. §906d) [P]; PT471 (Pyr. §922b) [N];
PT473 (Pyr. §927d) [N]; PT477 (Pyr. §967d) [M]; PT481 (Pyr. §1000b) [N]; PT485 (Pyr. §1036b) [P]; PT504
(Pyr. §1087a) [M]; PT509 (Pyr. §1123a) [P]; PT510 (Pyr. §1143b) [M]; PT511 (Pyr. §1159c) [N]; PT519 (Pyr.
§1204a) [M]; PT527 (Pyr. §1249c) [M]; PT555 (Pyr. §1374a) [N]; PT563 (Pyr. §1416b) [N]; PT569 (Pyr.
§1442c) [M]; PT571 (Pyr. §1467a) [P]; PT576 (Pyr. §1517b) [P]; PT681 (Pyr. §2037a) [N]; PT684 (Pyr. §2054)
[N]. See further comments on this phenomenon in Allen 2013, 114. For the same process in the Coffin
Texts, see Schenkel 2000.
134 See PT262 (Pyr. §329c) [P]; PT304 (Pyr. §471d) [T]; PT306 (Pyr. §478b) [M]; PT327 (Pyr. §536b) [N];
PT335 (Pyr. §546a) [N]; PT406 (Pyr. §708a) [N]; PT419 (Pyr. §748c) [M]; PT466 (Pyr. §883c) [M]; PT468
100 Antonio J. Morales

6. advanced noun, a noun in an advanced position only suitable for a pronoun.135

In addition, other features of the language of the Pyramid Texts reveal that textual
editing was carried out with particular segments of the corpus. For instance, a proce-
dure that might indicate the adaptation of the primary compositional style (speech)
to the literate character of the monumentalized corpus (text) is the transformation of
the genitive from direct to indirect (paradigm A (nj) B: mwt Wnjs—mwt n(j)t Wnjs).136
Occasionally, however, the oral-compositional structure of the Pyramid Texts
surfaces through instances in which the spoken and performative nature of the text
has not been altered. For instance, one observes the concatenation of interjections,
imperatives, vocatives, questioning, and even directions for the ritualists, which
reflect the dramatic and performative nature of the recitations:

PT214 (Pyr. §136a)W

136a hA Wnjs zA kw Sj Dd-mdw zp 4
“Ho, Wenis! Beware of the lake! Recitation 4 times”.137

PT221 (Pyr. §§196a–b)W

196a hj Nt hj In hj Wrt
196b hj Wrt-HkAw hj Nzrt
“Ho, Red Crown! Ho, Curl! Ho, Great One!
Ho, Great of Magic! Ho, Fiery One!”

PT296 (Pyr. §§439a–c)W

439a TTw Tnj Sm=k aHa n Wnjs
439b Wnjs pj Gbb hmT sn nj hmTt
439c mt jt=k Daamjw

(Pyr. §900e) [P]; PT470 (Pyr. §911b) [N]; PT474 (Pyr. §941b) [N]; PT475 (Pyr. §947b) [M]; PT477 (Pyr.
§966d) [P]; PT517 (Pyr. §§1189e-f) [P]; PT521 (Pyr. §§1225c–d) [M]; PT525 (Pyr. §1245a) [M]; PT528 (Pyr.
§1251a) [M]; PT555 (Pyr. §1376a) [M]; PT565 (Pyr. §1423a) [N]; PT567 (Pyr. §1430e) [P]; PT569 (Pyr. §1440c)
[M]; sPT570A (Pyr. §§1443b–1444a) [M]; PT573 (Pyr. §1482a) [M]; PT594 (Pyr. §1638a) [N]; s­ PT625A (Pyr.
§1762b) [N]; PT626 (Pyr. §1770c) [N].
135 See PT265 (Pyr. §§355b-c) [P]; PT266 (Pyr. §§360b-d) [P]; PT321 (Pyr. §517a) [W]; PT332 (Pyr. §541c)
[T]; PT344 (Pyr. §599c) [N]; PT345 (Pyr. §560c) [N]; PT349 (Pyr. §566c) [N]; PT361 (Pyr. §604c) [N];
PT406 (Pyr. §707a) [N]; PT407 (Pyr. §710b) [T]; PT471 (Pyr. §921c) [P]; PT473 (Pyr. §927a) [P]; PT477 (Pyr.
§968c) [N]; PT478 (Pyr. §975a) [N]; PT480 (Pyr. §993a) [N]; PT504 (Pyr. §1087a) [N]; PT511 (Pyr. §1151a)
[N]; PT515 (Pyr. §1181a) [N]; PT518 (Pyr. §1193b) [M]; PT519 (Pyr. §§1208a–b) [M]; PT520 (Pyr. §1222a)
[M]; PT531 (Pyr. §1254c) [M]; PT572 (Pyr. §1473b) [P]; PT573 (Pyr. §1480a) [P]; PT587 (Pyr. §1597d) [P];
PT602 (Pyr. §1673b) [M]; PT681 (Pyr. §2036c) [N].
136 In Wenis’s assemblage, see PT204 (Pyr. §118a); PT252 (Pyr. §273b); PT269 (Pyr. §380a); PT271 (Pyr.
§389a and Pyr. §390b); and PT307 (Pyr. §484b). Observe the less extensive transformation of indirect
genitives into direct forms: PT50 (Pyr. §37c) and PT204 (Pyr. §118c). Data retrieved from Allen 2013,
72, n. 35.
137 The ending section of Pyr. §136a might be defined as a metatextual note (guideline) addressed to
the sacerdotal agent for the declaiming of this section of the recitation four times.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 101

“7tw-snake, where are you going? You will not go! Wait for Wenis
because it is Wenis, Geb. HmT-snake, brother of HmTt-snake,
you whose father has died, Djaamiu-snake!”

PT299 (Pyr. §§444a–c)W

444a Dt r pt zpA-1rw r tA
444b Tbt 1rw SAs=f nb Hwt kA tpHt
444c SnT nj SnT=j
“Cobra to the sky! Horus’s centipede to the earth!
Horus’s sandal is treading on the enclosure’s lord, the cavern’s bull!
Shunned snake, I cannot be shunned!”138

In a stimulating study observing the oral-compositional style of the Pyramid Texts,

Chris Reintges explains that the multiple forms of language found in the Pyramid
Texts should be perceived as reflections of dialect variations, ongoing language
change, and different regional backgrounds.139 These aspects of the corpus evi-
dence the compilation of materials of assorted antiquity from different areas and
contexts.140 Therefore, if contexts beyond the mortuary service, such as the temple
cult, domestic magical practices, and popular settings with soldiers or guildmen sing-
ing,141 supplied recitational material for the royal corpus, then it should be possible
to identify some of its attributes and anchor particular sections of the Pyramid Texts
to early Old Kingdom materials. Accordingly, the sundry materials revealing dialectic
and contemporaneous variation (diglossia), technical language (e.g. legal, mythical,
nautical), and archaisms142 would betray this bridge between oral discourse, varied

138 Cf. Teti’s version of PT299 (Pyr. §444c) with the deictic reference to the first person modified to
the noun of the king to fit the sacerdotal structure: SnT nj SnT 6tj—“Shunned snake, Teti cannot be
shunned!”
139 Reintges 2011, 36.
140 The idea that the corpus of Pyramid Texts included recitations from different periods of the Old
Kingdom has been recently studied by Gundacker 2009 (non vidi).
141 See Reintges 2011, 15–16 (n. 12); Vachala 2010, 777; and Helck 1972, 13. These authors comment
on the performative and oral nature of the Siegeslied embedded in the biographical text of Wenis
at Abydos, whose origin is to be found in the context of “einem Chor (mit dem Refrain) und einem
Vorsänger” (Vachala), some “secular traditional art, which originated at the royal court” (Reintges),
or a workers’ song (Helck).
142 One of the questions that has intensified the debate about the archaistic forms in the Pyramid
Texts is the so-called “split-stative hypothesis”, mainly adopted by Kammerzell 1990 and followed by
Schenkel 1994, according to which variant spellings of statives indicate two discrete conjugation pat-
terns, a perfect for the first person (with independent syntactic usage) and the pseudoparticiple (syn-
tactically dependent) for the other persons. Against this hint, both Reintges 2006 and Borghouts 2001
do not take the diverse endings k(j), kj, t(j) and tj as morphologically different, but as pronunciations
of the same verb with prosodic and emphatic distinction. In addition, the attestation of an obsolete
form sDmm=f, a prospective passive counterpart of sDm.w=f only attested in Pyramid Texts and Coffin
Texts (Allen 2013, 112), and the use of the negation w (Reintges 2011, 33–34) seem to indicate a form of
archaic language not used in private texts during the Fifth Dynasty.
102 Antonio J. Morales

settings, and the formal plan carried out by Memphite priests for collecting and com-
posing a corpus for Wenis.143
Additionally, a recent study on the group of Pyramid Text recitations against
snakes (PT232–238, PT281–287) has provided a new interpretation for some of the
“untranslatable”144 texts in the group. According to Richard Steiner, some of these
recitations might have been transferred into the collection prepared for Wenis from
early Northwest Semitic (Canaanite) spells,145 a hypothesis that Robert Ritner already
proposed in 1995.146 The evidence suggests that the recitations of Semitic origin were
incomprehensible to most Egyptians at the time of their inscription into the pyramid
of Wenis.147 These recitations, probably disseminated into Egypt from Byblos, might
have been copied by some ritualist who knew Canaanite and added them to the eso-
teric materials projected by the Heliopolitan sacerdotal class. In this case, both the
oral style of the recitations and their foreign origin expose a Sitz im Leben absolutely
separate from the mortuary context of the royal pyramid. However, this hypothesis
has found detractors, mainly on the basis that some of the lexemes identified for
Semitic would have not existed around 2500 BCE.148

PT281 (Pyr. §§422a–d)W

422a j z z h k w k b b h AAA b j
422b rw n p h tj j rw n p T tj j p h tj j p T tj j
422c m mj n j(w)nw AAA T w b s j(w)f w j(w)nw hnw
422d nay nay nay nay
“His whispering, the uttering of his spell: Aaa is in me.
See my mouths, see my pudenda, my mouths, my pudenda,
Who am I? Aaa, fragant perfume of the nose, I am they.

143 One may consider the possibility that the priests of the Memphite region initially collected these
materials for previous kings in the Fourth or Fifth Dynasty, for whom they could have been used in
oral form. See, for instance, the date assigned to some of the Pyramid Texts by Allen, 2001, 97, who
thinks that part of the corpus might have been written by the reign of Menkaure; Baines 2004, 28, who
dates the composition of the Pyramid Texts to the reign of Sahure (early Fifth Dynasty), although he
takes the potential existence of the corpus to the late Second or early Third Dynasty; and Kahl 1999,
97–99, in which the author dates the origin of the group PT220–222 in the late Second Dynasty (reign
of Khasekhemuy).
144 Sethe 1935, 212, comments that some of these recitations, such as PT236 (Pyr. §240), included
“zunächst unverständliche Zauberworte, die in ihrem hj.tj bj.tj schon äusserlich an unser Hokus-­
pokus erinnern”.
145 Steiner 2011, 23, 77, and passim.
146 Ritner 1995, 3351–3352, n. 85.
147 Steiner 2011, 24–25: the Semitic segment would be embedded in the Egyptian recitation in the
form of three bilingual units, PT232–238, PT281–282, and PT286–287.
148 See the possibility offered by Mathieu 2002, 191, fig. 4, who considers that we might have some
palindromes here: e.g. he suggests that “Kebebehititibitiches” might be read as “sS-6j-bjtj-jtj-bjk”
(lit. “that is, the scribe, Thoth, the king, the sovereign, the Ibis, and the falcon”). For the positions
against Steiner’s reading of North West Semitic in these spells, see n. 101 above.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 103

Go! Go! Nay-snake! Nay-snake!”149

PT232 (Pyr. §§236a–c)W

236a m mtj m mj mtj mj mtj
236b AAA mwt=f zp-2 mj mtj m mtj
236c ja.tj xAst n(=j) m xm w(j)
“Come, poison! Come, poison! Look, poison! Look, poison!
You whose mother is Aaa! You whose mother is Aaa!
Look, poison! Look, poison!
Be washed away from me, foreign land! Don’t ignore me!”150

Another set of attributes attested in the Pyramid Texts that reveal the oral nature
of the corpus is related to the presence of repetitive patterns, parallel phrasing and
cadence, including verbatim repetition, alliteration, dislocation, chiasmus151 and the
use of formulae such as epithets. The use of alliteration in the Pyramid Texts152 rep-
resents a noticeable marker of oral discoursive form, providing the ritualist or reciter
with routine phonetic inflection. In the repetition of particular words or stoicheia,
one must see a mechanism to elicit alliterations that could guide and embellish the
discourse:153

PT274 (Pyr. §§407a–b)T

407a 6tj pw sxm wr sxm m sxmw
407b 6tj pw aSm aSm aSmw
“Teti is the most controlling power, who controls the controlling powers;
Teti is the sacred image154 who is most sacred of sacred images.”

PT385 (Pyr. §§674b–675b)T

674b Hfnw Hfnnt
675a sDm n=f sDm n tA sDm n jt=k Gbb
675b j.tm=k sDm n=f sDm=k Abt=f jmt tpj=k
“Male snake, female snake,
listen to him, listen to the ground, listen to your father Geb!
Should you not listen to him, you will hear his brand on your head.”

149 Following Steiner’s translation and interpretation of the spell written in Semitic language: Stein-
er 2011, 39.
150 Steiner 2011, 26, ns. 4–6.
151 For other instances of chiasmus, see PT215 (Pyr. §143b); PT230 (Pyr. §§230c, 233a); PT289 (Pyr.
§430a); sPT727 (Pyr. §2254a); PT355 (Pyr. §572a); PT485 (Pyr. §1037a); PT570 (Pyr. §§1462a–b); PT613
(Pyr. §§1738c–1739b); PT667B (Pyr. §§1944d–1945a); PT675 (Pyr. §2004b).
152 See Reintges 2011, 16–18 (ex. 9: analysis of PT263); Kammerzell 2000, 193; and Firchow 1953,
217–220.
153 See the analysis of the same phenomenon in Mesopotamian literature in Teffeteller 2007, 67–70.
154 One can also point out the use of polyptota here: see also i.a. Pyr. §§181a, 235a, 417a, 481c, 803a–
b, 1797c, 1913a. My thanks to Bernard Mathieu for pointing out this particular aspect in Pyr. §407b.
104 Antonio J. Morales

PT479 (Pyr. §§981a–989b)P

981a wnjj aAwj pt jznn aAwj obHw n 1rw nTrw
981b pr=f m tp hrw wab=f m sxt jArw
982a wnjj aAwj pt jznjj aAwj obHw n 1rw jAbtj
982b pr=f m tp hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
983a wnjj aAwj pt jznjj aAwj obHw n 1rw Szmt
983b pr=f m tp 1rw wab=f m sxt jArw
984a wnjj aAwj pt jznjj aAwj obHw n Wsjr
984b pr=f m tp 1rw wab=f m sxt jArw
985a wnjj aAwj pt jznjj aAwj obHw n Ppj pn
985b pr=f m tp 1rw wab=f m sxt jArw
986a jj
986b pr jr=f pr m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
986c pr 1rw nTrw m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
987a pr jr=f pr m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
987b pr 1rw Szmt m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
988a pr jr=f pr m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
988b pr Wsjr m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
989a pr jr=f pr m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
989b pr Ppj pn m tpj hrw wab.n=f m sxt jArw
“The sky’s door has been opened, the Cool Waters’ door has been pulled open
for Horus of the gods,
that he might go forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
The sky’s door has been opened, the Cool Waters’ door has been pulled open
for eastern Horus,
that he might go forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
The sky’s door has been opened, the Cool Waters’ door has been pulled open
for Horus Shezmet,
that he might go forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
The sky’s door has been opened, the Cool Waters’ door has been pulled open
for Osiris,
that he might go forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
The sky’s door has been opened, the Cool Waters’ door has been pulled open
for this Pepi,
that he might go forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
So, someone has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds:
Horus of the gods
has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
So, someone has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds:
Horus Shezmet
has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
So, someone has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds:
Osiris
has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.
So, someone has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds:
Pepi
has come forth at daybreak, having become clean in the Marsh of Reeds.”
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 105

PT670 (Pyr. §§1977a–c)N

1977a Hw.n=f n=k Hw Tw m jH
1977b smA.n=f n=k smA Tw m smA
1977b oAs.n=f n=k oAs Tw
“He has hit for you the one who hit you as a bull;
he has killed for you the one who killed you as a wild bull,
and has tied up for you the one who tied you up.”

The associated use of parallel phrasing or Doppelung155 consists in the repetition

of names or clauses to draw the attention of the listener to a particular segment of
the discourse, and is usually connected to the phenomenon of alliteration observed
above:

PT280 (Pyr. §§421a–b)W

421a j.jr.tj j.jr.tj sA.tj sA.tj
421b Hr=k HA=k zA Tw rjj wr
“You of the (evil) deed, you of the (evil) deed! You of the wall, you of the wall!
Your face behind you! Beware, O great mouth!”

PT287 (Pyr. §§428a–b)T

428a nn nj mwt=f nn nj mwt=f
428b j(w).k rr m nn j(w).k rr m nn mA Tjf Tjf mA Tjf
“You whose mother turned him away, you whose mother turned him away,
aren’t you such, aren’t you such? Lion, spit out! Spit out! Lion, spit out!”

PT400 (Pyr. §§695a–696g)T

695a ndfdf jrt 1rw Hr bAt nt Dnw
695b bjkwj xntwj prw nb DfAw wr m Iwnw
695c Dj=k t n 6tj Dj=k Hnot n 6tj sAD 6tj
696a sDA=k wdHw n 6tj
696b sDA=k nmt nt 6tj
696c Hor 6tj Hor rwtj
696d jbb 6tj jbb Nxbt
696e hdnwt hdnwt
696f m jn sT hdn=T r 6tj
696g tm xr=T hdn=T r 6tj
“Horus’s eye has dripped on Horus’s Dnw-bush.
Falcon (Horus), foremost of the houses, lord of sustenance, great one in Heliopolis,
may you give bread to Teti, may you give beer to Teti; may you fresh Teti,
may you fresh the offering table of Teti, may you freshen the slaughterhouse of Teti.
Should Teti hunger, the dual lion will hunger,
should Teti thirst, Nekhbet will thirst.
Broom-plant goddess, broom-plant goddess,
don’t fetch the scent of your broom-plant against Teti,
for you don’t have to fetch the scent of your broom-plant against Teti.”

155 See the phenomenon discussed in Firchow 1953, 12–20.

106 Antonio J. Morales

PT564 (Pyr. §§1421a–1422c)P

1421a wab wab m Sj jArw
1421b wab Ra m Sj jArw
1421c wab Ppj pn Ds=f m Sj jArw
1421d wab 5w m Sj jArw
1421e wab Ppj Ds=f m Sj jArw
1422a 5w 5w fA Ppj pn jr pt
1422b Nwt Dj awj=T jr=f
1422c hpA=f hpA=f hnn hnn hnn hpA=f hpA=f156
“Someone has become clean in the Lake of Reeds,
the Sun has become clean in the Lake of Reeds,
this Pepi himself has become clean in the Lake of Reeds.
Shu has become clean in the Lake of Reeds,
Pepi himself has become clean in the Lake of Reeds.
Shu, Shu, lift this Pepi to the sky!
Nut, give your arms toward him!
He will fly up, he will fly up.
Howl, howl, howl! He will fly up, he will fly up!”

The reorganization of the grammatical structure with the purpose of emphasizing a

particular element of the discourse by topicalization or postposition is another phe-
nomenon attested in the Pyramid Texts. The conscious modification of the discourse
produces the dislocation of the structure (with anteposition or afterthoughts),157 and
allows the reciter to lay emphasis on the most important element of the recitation:

PT473 (Pyr. §§930d–e)M

930d jm t kw jn=sn jr Mr-n-Ra
930e jn Axjw m r=sn apr
“Who are you? they say about Merenre,
the Akhs with their mouth equipped.”

A similar mechanism for elevating the intensity of a particular element in the spell is
the chiasmus, also known as “inverted parallelism”, a figure of speech in which two
or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to
emphasize an idea.

PT374 (Pyr. §658c)T

658c aA rd=k rd=k wr.j SAs=f mnmwt wrt
“Your foot is big, large is your foot, and it shall traverse the Great Bed.”

156 The principle of alliteration, the repetition of the same or similar sound for the construction of a
phonetic routine for the ritualist, can be observed here as well.
157 For further information on both mechanisms (left-dislocation and right-dislocation) see Reintges
2011, 37–38.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 107

PT662 (Pyr. §§1874a–c)N

1874a wbnnj wbnnj xprr xprr
1874b j=k r Ppj jw Ppj jr=k
1874c jw anx=k jr Ppj jw anx Ppj jr=k
“Riser, riser! Beetle, beetle!
You are related to Pepi, Pepi is related to you;
your life is related to Pepi, Pepi’s life is related to yours.”

PT662 (Pyr. §§1880a–b)N

1880a bA.n(=j) n=k bdt skA.n(=j) n=k jt
1880b jt n wAg=k bdt n rnpwt=k
“I have hoed emmer for you and have plowed barley for you:
(that is) barley for your supply, emmer for your yearly supply.”

The use of formulaic expressions constitutes another marker of orality in the Pyramid
Texts.158 No doubt, the repetition of particular words such as epithets can benefit the
reciter by providing him with time to remember his next lines, or pause.159 This aspect
of the spoken language offers a possible explanation for the use of a rich repertoire of
epithets for the gods and the king in the Pyramid Texts.

PT487 (Pyr. §1047b)P

1047b[…] 1rw pw mrjj Ppj pn 1rw zA nD jt=f
“[…] it is Horus the one whom Pepi loves, Horus the son who tends his father.”

PT569 (Pyr. §§1442a–b)P

1442a jw.n Ppj xr=k Ra
1442b nj-Dr=f
“This Pepi has come to you, Re,
limitless sun […]”

PT576 (Pyr. §§1505a–b)P

1505a Ppj pw mtwt=k Wsjr spdt
1505b m rn=T pw n 1rw jmj wAD-wr 1rw xnt Axjw
“Pepi is your seed, Osiris, which is sharp
in this identity of yours of Horus in the Great Green, Horus at the fore of the Akhs.”

Another hint in the identification of oral-compositional forms in the Pyramid Texts

is the attestation of wordplays, many of which are achieved by devising meaning-
ful puns with alliteration or parallel phrasing. In the first example below, parallel

158 For a similar phenomenon in Homeric poetic literature, see further comments in Ong 1982, 58–
60.
159 In this note, see Rendsburg 2000, 16, n. 15, in which the author discusses the parallel issue of
using red ink in manuscripts in order to mark a section for a pause, in the same tone as scribes did
with the system of setuma and petuḥa in Biblical manuscripts. In this case, the use of epithets in
oral-compositional styled texts might correspond to the same demand by the reciter, who might need
a short juncture before continuing with the recitation
108 Antonio J. Morales

phrasing can be observed with m kw, while paronomasia is achieved by playing with
couplets of words constructed with km (“to be black”), wAD (“to be green”) and Sn
(“round”), on the one hand, and wr, on the other, so that the recitation focuses on
the resulting identities of the deceased, here presented as Km-wr (“great black”),
WAD-wr (“great green”), and 5n-wr (“great round”).

PT366 (Pyr. §§628a–629c)T

628a j n=k sntj=k Ist Nbt-Hwt sDA=sn kw
628b km=t wrt m rn=k n Km-wr
628c wAD=t wrt m rn=k pw n WAD-wr
629a m kw wr.t Snj.t m 5n-wr
629b m kw dbn.tj Sn.t m dbn pSr HA nbwt
629c m kw Sn.tj aA.tj m Sn aA sk
“Your sisters Isis and Nephthys have come to you, making you sound;
you are very black in your identity of the Great Black Wall,
you are very green in your identity of the Great Green.
Look, you have become great and round, as the Great Round.
Look, you have become encircled and round, as the circuit surrounding the sk-islands.
Look, you have become round and big, as he who surrounds the Big Waters.”

PT366 (Pyr. §632d)T

632d 1r spd pr jm=k m 2rw jmj 4pdt
“[...] sharp Horus has emerged from you as Horus who is in Sothis.”

PT600 (Pyr. §1652c)N

1652c jSS.n=k m 5w tf.n=k m 6nft
“(What) you have sneezed is Shu and (what) you have spat is Tefnut.”

Upon observing these instances that reveal characteristics of the oral discourse in
the Pyramid Texts, one may wonder to what rites do these verbal accompaniments
written on the walls of each pyramid refer. In other words, what rituals do they repre-
sent? As observed in the previous section, the original setting of two particular groups
attested in the Pyramid Texts was certainly not the pyramid. On the one hand, the
association between the offering Pyramid Texts and the offering lists, mainly from the
Fourth and Fifth Dynasty, contributes to the idea that such recitations were already
part of the private mortuary domain before the Memphite priests of Wenis prepared
the corpus for the king’s pyramid. Furthermore, the link observed between apotropaic
recitations in the Pyramid Texts and magical spells employed in private contexts in
the Sixth Dynasty also alludes to an original setting outside the king’s monument, in
which these practices were commonly used, perhaps even as far away as Byblos, from
which some of these recitations could have come. Now, the question is whether there
were any other settings, contexts, or circles in which similar materials could have
been used before their transfer into the royal assemblages.
Offering lists and snake-repelling recitations occurred in private contexts before
they were attested in royal monuments, which indicates the prominent role of the
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 109

former on the configuration of the royal mortuary tradition. The examination of texts,
scenes and material culture in the private tombs in the Old Kingdom reveals a similar
metaphysical function.160 In fact, most of scholars understand that the words, actions
and space represented in the private tombs were intended to elevate the mortal to
the superhuman status of a god, a “true of voice” and, ultimately, an Akh,161 in the
same manner as the Pyramid Texts intended for the king. Therefore, it is plausible to
consider that certain interactions between the repertoire of images and “voices” in
the private tombs, the later outcoming Pyramid Texts for the royal individual, and the
ideological principles that ruled and distinguish both views of the afterlife must have
existed,162 all part of the same religious culture of the period.
Beyond the statement, “I know every ritual by which one becomes an Akh in
the necropolis”, commonly attested in the biographical texts of the Fifth and Sixth
Dynasty,163 it is clear that the non-royal deceased was the beneficiary of a series of
performances, ceremonies, and recitations whose effects were perpetuated in his
tomb and sarcophagus. Consequently, the deceased’s transition to the afterlife could
be achieved by knowledge and practice164 without the use of extensive written reci-
tations, a medium restricted to the king.165 Certainly, the tombs of private individuals
lacked a profuse corpus of religious texts like the Pyramid Texts, but short rubrics and
accompanying scenes provided symbolic and referential information associated with
the concepts of death and afterlife.166 Regarding the performance of sakhu-rites,167

160 Hays 2010a, 118–120; Wilson 1944, 210.

161 Hays 2010a, 123; Hays 2010b, 1; Altenmüller 1972, 52 (mainly for the later transmission and usage
of the Pyramid Texts in the Middle Kingdom private domain); and Wilson 1944, 209–210.
162 Allen 2006b, 9.
163 See Hays 2010a, 124; Kloth 2002, 118–119; and Edel 1944, 22–30.
164 Hays 2010a, 123–126; and Assmann 2005, 352–355, 393–404.
165 Baines 1990, 11–12, n. 63. The implications of decorum are also discussed in Bauman/Briggs 1990,
77. Both anthropologists believe that the institutional structures possess mechanisms that confer le-
gitimate authority to control texts, although the idea that “the appropriation of particular forms of
discourse may be the basis of institutional power” must also be taken into consideration as it might
reflect the situation with the elite of the First Intermediate Period and its access to the corpus of Pyr-
amid Texts.
166 For the symbolic/metaphoric aspect of the scenes and texts in the private mastabas of the Old
Kingdom, see Roth 2006, esp. 244–245; Bochi 2003, 161–167; and Frandsen 1997, esp. 82–93. Cf. con-
tra: Walsem 2006, 298–299; and Walsem, 2005, 71–83, in which the author discusses the ­dichotomy
­Sehbild – Sinnbild, and suggests that the allegorical or metaphorical meaning of a representation
might depend on the context and the intention of the observer.
167 These rites were probably performed upon the monumental superstructure of the tomb: aHa m-dp
jz. See Alexanian 2003, 29, n. 4; and Bolshakov 1997, 101, n. 42.
110 Antonio J. Morales

concise texts such as an inscription in the tomb of Tjetu168 or a caption in the tomb of
Qar169 confirm that ritualists carried out the necessary rituals for the deceased.
Complementary to John Baines’s interpretation on the origin of the oral and per-
formative discourse of the Pyramid Texts found in the first-person speeches of gods
from the late Second and early Third Dynasties,170 here I bring forward the implica-
tion of the private mortuary context in the construction of a royal narrative for the
pyramids. Although Reintges provides some import to the gods’ speeches,171 he also
alludes to the interlocutive performance structure of dialogues in the private tombs
of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasty as a major stimulus. He understands the role of the
commoner’s talk, the question-answer situations between artisans, and the reference
to songs recited by retainers as models for the configuration of the oral-compositional
style in the Pyramid Texts.172 Because of the importance of the original setting for the
oral discourse in the development of written forms and the Pyramid Texts, I believe
that early gods’ speeches (probably connected to the temple cultic environs), bio-
graphical and legal stipulations,173 and religious allegoric references in scenes from
daily life in the private tombs all contributed to the configuration of the royal corpus
of religious texts. As Firchow already articulated in 1953,

[d]ie Inschriften in den gennanten Pyramiden sind Sammlungen von Sprüchen verschiedenen
Alters und Inhalts. Viele sind eigens zur Verwendung als Totentexte und erst in der Zeit ihrer
Niederschrift in den Königsgräbern verfaßt oder aus älteren Teilen zusammengestellt worden.

168 See Simpson 1980, 12, pls. 28–29, and fig. 24: sAxt jn Xrj-HAbt “making glorifications by the lector
priest”; dj obHw “making a libation”; and jnt rd jn Xrj-HAbt “bringing the broom by the lector priest”.
169 Simpson 1976a, 5, pls. 7a, 8, and figs. 22–24: wdn j.xt Xrj-HAbt “dedicating offerings by the lector
priest”; sAxt jn Xrj-Hbt “making glorifications by the lector priest”; rdjt mw “dispensing water”;
and rdjt snTr “bringing the broom”. Interestingly, the mastaba of Qar (G 7101) also provides us with
a prominent example of the coalescence of meanings, with priests performing sakhu-rites for the de-
ceased including, i.a., snTr (PT25, Pyr. §18d), obHw TA (PT32, Pyr. §23b), and wnxw (PT81, Pyr. §57e),
together with the general statement that sAxt ra nb jn wt.w ra nb “daily glorification (is provided) by
the embalmers every day” and pr(t)-xrw m dbHt-Htp “invocation offering consisting of food require-
ments”. For G 7101, see Simpson 1976a, 7, pl. 9, fig. 25.
170 Baines 2004, 28.
171 Reintges 2011, 10.
172 Reintges 2011, 11–16. See also the combination of different models of poetical and legal-admin-
istrative discourses that determined the composition of the Pyramid Texts in Reintges 2011, 19, fig. 1.
For the development of the legal-administrative discourse as a major reason for the fixation in writing
of legal aspects for the tomb owner, see Schenkel 1983, 60.
173 See Reintges 2011, 29–30, for an analysis of the intervention of the two types of biographical
texts (Idealbiographie and Ereignisbiographie) in the configuration of particular aspects of the oral
compositional form in the Pyramid Texts; cf. Kloth 2002, 230–235, who focuses on the association of
the first-person biographical texts with the oath statements to highlight the role of legal context in the
fixation of oral discourse into writing. In my opinion, a significant impact on the development of the
oral discourse lies in the use of the first-person pronoun recitations of justification and good behavior
of the deceased (see, for instance, the mastaba of Idu: Simpson 1976a, 20, pl. 17, fig. 33).
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 111

Andere wiederum lassen sich als weit früher erschaffene Ritualsprüche des Königs- und Göt-
terkultes wie als Hymnen an den Sonnengott erkennen, die mit größeren oder kleineren Ver-
änderungen oder auch unverändert in die Sammlungen von königlichen Totensprüchen über-
nommen wurden. Dazu gesellen sich Zaubersprüche zur Abwehr giftiger Schlangen und anderer
schädlicher Tiere, Schlachtopfersprüche, Begleitworte für das Darbringen von Opfergaben und
manches sonst.174

Therefore, some of the rites incorporated into the inscriptional and iconographic rep-
ertoire of the private tombs before Wenis might offer us some clues to understand
the Sitze im Leben in which the Pyramid Texts might have originated. This affiliation
between the religious corpus created for the kings of the Fifth and Sixth Dynasties
and the private mortuary traditions of the early and mid-Old Kingdom is evidently
not forthright and categorical.175 Some of the tabular materials seen in the form of
elite offering lists and the oral and most popular recitations such as magical spells
and guild songs demonstrate the bond between private mortuary cult and personal
practices, on the one hand, and royal engagement on the other. Similarly, by allegoric
principles, other themes from the private tombs might disguise religious and mor-
tuary conceptions176 that experienced a high-cultural transmission from elite mon-
uments to the royal realm,177 standing for aspects of resurrection and afterlife later
embedded in narrative form within the Pyramid Texts.178
Following this hypothesis, there is a series of iconographic and textual themes
in the private mastabas of the Old Kingdom that call for further examination. Among

174 Firchow 1953, 9.

175 These features might lead scholars to some forms of hyper interpretation: Bochi argues that as a
topos, the references to clothing and linen in Old Kingdom tomb scenes, statues, and tomb equipment
could imply generosity, moral obligation, prominent status in this world, regeneration, and a blessed
afterlife (see Bochi 1996, 245–246, n. 63); consequently, she discusses the conflation of the motif in
diverse contexts. I believe that our understanding of the Egyptian cultural attitude toward clothing in
general should restrain us from singling out particular significances of this motif as evidence for the
interaction of the private and royal realms.
176 Observe that, as Eyre points out, some of the texts and themes of the private tomb repertoire
might also have a different Sitze im Leben: Eyre 1993, 116.
177 Two interesting examples of this approach—with some misconceptions—are Burn 2011 and Vis-
chak 2003, both following Allen 1994. Burn highlights that tomb decoration and Pyramid Texts “ap-
pear to have been inspired by the same ideological force” (Burn 2011, 245), although his research
points to modifications in the distribution of tomb scenes before the emergence of the Pyramid Texts
of Wenis. In her contribution, Vischak aims at identifying similar patterns in the placement of par-
ticular themes from mastaba decoration and Pyramid Texts position in the pyramids. Although the
hypothesis presented here, that there is a correlation between themes in both realms, seems to me
reasonable and well grounded, Vischak carries this association further, to defend a symbolic interpre-
tation of the cosmos present in the architectural space of both monuments, an idea that has recently
been proved to be misleading. Cf. the critical position against this idea in Hays 2009b, 201, n. 37.
178 See Bochi 2003, 161, for the inverted phenomenon of royal influence (e.g. scenes from the “world
chamber” at the sun temple of Niuserre) over private tomb decoration (e.g. Mereruka and Khentika’s
scenes of painting the year’s seasons at an easel).
112 Antonio J. Morales

daily life, ceremonial, and cultic scenes, some particular texts and representations
stand out for their exceedengly referential portrayal of religious, ritual and nether-
worldly matters: offering rituals, carrying chair episodes, pulling papyrus scenes,
painting the year seasons, agricultural activities, boat scenes, net fishing, harper
songs, and other themes constitute instances of orientational metaphors, whose cul-
tural and religious properties embodied common ideas in both the royal and private
realms.179
The theme of the offerings provided to the deceased has been extensively treated
in the previous section. The emergence of a corresponding structure in the order and
nature of the provisions of the offering lists and the offering Pyramid Texts unmasks
such a cultural bond. However, other elements of the private mortuary context offer
us further input in the interaction of both realms. In regard to the architecture of the
mastabas, Nicole Alexanian comments on the coincidence in the use of the Pyramid
Texts by Wenis and the construction of private tombs with stairs.180 Following the
author, this structure would be the locale of a particular rite, “the Ba in the sky, the
corpse in the netherworld”, also mentioned in the Pyramid Texts in similar terms
(PT395),181 and later in the Coffin Texts through the entire ritual sequence CT94–96
CT488–500.182 In this ritual, the Ba was supposed to ascend to the sky, carried out
by the sun’s rays. In addition, this author also refers to the ascension by joining
the sun-god (Xnm-Itn) in another rite, which reminds us of the ritual performances
achieved on top of the mastaba of Debeheni (see fig. 7) and the ascensional discourse
in PT222:183

PT222 (Pyr. §§207c–e + 213b)W

207c xpr=k Hna jt=k 6m oA=k Hna jt=k 6m
207d wbn=k Hna jt=k 6m j.fx n=k mArw
207e tpj=k n rpwt jwnt […]
213a 6m sja n=k Wnjs pn Sn n=k Xnw awj=k
213b zA=k pw n Dt=k n Dt
“You shall evolve with your father Atum, you shall go high with your father Atum,
you shall rise with your father Atum, and release needs for you.
Head to (Nut), the Heliopolitan in the sedan chair […]184

179 Vachala 2010, 777; Bochi 2003, 164–165; and Frandsen 1997, 82.
180 See Alexanian 2003, 35. For details on the representation of Hmw-kA priests performing offering
rites, see Seyfried 2003, 42–44, figs. 1–2.
181 PT305, Pyr. §474a: Ax jr pt Sat jr tA. See also further remarks on the performance of rites at the
roof of the tomb in Theis 2011, 160–165, as well as additional comments on the interaction of both
private and royal realms.
182 See Assmann 2005, 90–94. The title of CT94, initial text in this liturgy, reads sHr bA r XAt “Caus-
ing the Ba to depart from the corpse” [coffin B1C: ECT II, 67a].
183 Alexanian 2003, 37. For the particular interpretation of this rite as a segment of a larger Middle
Kingdom liturgy of offerings to the deceased in the tomb, see Assmann 2002, esp. 485–489.
184 Following Allen 2005, 40 (W155). Cf. Assmann 2002, 487, n. 70.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 113

Atum, elevate him to you, encircle him inside your arms:

he is your son of your body, forever.”

Another instance of interaction between both realms can be observed in the song
of the sedan carrying chair porters (mHnk).185 The carrying chair motif is an inter-
esting one even if the term “sedan chair” (Xwdt)186 is not present in the repertoire of
the Pyramid Texts. Here, as a marker of social and religious status, the divine sedan
chairs are called wr-Ha and rp(w)t.187 However, as Roth has pointed out,188 there is a
link between the use of the sedan carrying chair as a marker of social status with its
metaphoric reference to the journey of the tomb owner from one world to ­another,189
on the one hand, and the funerary overtone of the references to the king being trans-
ported in a carrying chair during the royal jubilee and related statements, on the other.
Similarly, the motif of the deceased at an easel painting the seasons of the year in
his tomb has also been understood as a reflection of royal or even divine privileges.190
The gesture of painting “seasons” within cartouches—a motif attested in the tombs of
the Sixth Dynasty officials Mereruka and Khentika191—alludes to the demiurgic act of
creating time and cosmic Maat, performed by the king and the gods. In a sense, the
seemingly modest appearance of the creative authority of the deceased in this type
of scene also illustrates the restriction of decorum with the artistic representations
of the period. This instance of dialogue between royal ideology and elite imitation
could also manifest itself in the Pyramid Texts, bridging the gap between both realms
and revealing common aspects of their creativity and innovation. Patricia Bochi has
suggested that by creating seasons, the deceased was securing his own provision of
time as the king himself does in the Pyramid Texts by cultivating and storing barley
and emmer in the netherworld.192

PT422 (Pyr. §§760a–761)P

760a aHa zA=k Hr nst=k apr m jrw=k
760b jr=f wnt=k jr=k m bAH xntj anxw

185 See Roth 2006, 244–245 (n. 3), 248 (n. 16); and Altenmüller 1984–1985, esp. 28–29.
186 See Altenmüller 1984–1985, 21 (col. E: 9aw—5mAj from Deir el-Gebrawi)
187 Observe the use of wr-Ha in PT81 (Pyr. §56c); PT438 (Pyr. §811a); and PT467 (Pyr. §892c), while
rp(w)t is attested in PT222 (Pyr. §207e); PT356 (Pyr. §580a); PT423 (Pyr. §767b); PT443 (Pyr. §823d);
PT549 (Pyr. §1349b); and PT691C (Pyr. §2130a).
188 Roth 2006, 253.
189 Or, as Strudwick 2005, 418 puts it, “the scene with the carrying chair is without doubt an allusion
to the desire to be brought back to earth after death.”
190 Bochi 2003, esp. 163–164.
191 Although there are only two attestations of this motif, it is important to consider the possibility of
individual selection for the tomb decoration from particular artistic patterns in the royal artistic rep-
ertoire or the search for innovative motifs, which could largely reflect private aspirations. See Bochi
2003, 168, n. 35.
192 Bochi 2003, 164 cites as examples PT422 and PT461.
114 Antonio J. Morales

760c m wDt Ra nTr aA

761 skA=f jt skA=f bdt Hnk=f Tw jm
“Your son shall take up his position on your throne, equipped with your form,
and do what you used to do before at the fore of the living,
by command of Re, the great god.
He shall farm barley, farm emmer, and endow you with them.”

This idea of securing regeneration, resurrection and time by storing barley and emmer
is attested in agricultural scenes and texts from the mastabas of the Old Kingdom, a
parallel that promotes a cogent bond—as a religious metaphor—between the royal
and private realms:193

Tomb of Sekhemankhptah, Saqqara

1 mAA kAt sxt skA Asx Hwj mHaw Sdt jaAw Hwj jaAw spwt xAxA […]
2 skA m hb js hA js
3 j.Dd(=j) n=Tn rHw jw jt hrww jn Asx r nfr jr=f sw
4 jSst pw r=f Tay srf jb
5 HAt jt jn DADAt
6 xAxA jn djwt Ax jt jn djwt
7 jr m(j) hA=k jm=sn
8 mAA=k jrt=k
9 wbs bdt
10 wAH r nfr Hn=k m anx
“Viewing the work of the fields—cultivation, reaping, pulling flax, loading donkeys, donkeys
treading the threshing floors, and winnowing […]
Cultivation with the plow. Go forward! O go forward!
I say to you: men, barley is there—he who reaps the best will get it.
What is this then, a careful man?
Measuring barley by the assessors.
Winnowing by the team of five; gleaning barley with a brush by the team of five.
You must drive them around.
Can you see what you have done?
Stacking emmer wheat.
Pile it up well, and you shall prosper in life!”194

Furthermore, references to seasons of the year are observed in the Pyramid Texts
in the context of resurrection recitations for the king. In the first instance, it is Osi-
ris—a counterpart of the tomb owner painting the seasons—who masters time in both
realms, sky and earth. In the second, the king is fervidly solicited to continue living
season after season, precisely the same raison d’être of the representation of seasons
in the tomb of Mereruka and Khentika:

193 This category of text has also been associated with the Middle Kingdom version CT368.
194 Now MFA 04.1760: see Simpson 1976b, 10–16, pl. D.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 115

PT219 (Pyr. §§186a–187a)W

186a m rn=k jmj sAH tr=k r pt tr=k r tA
186b Wsjr pSr Hr=k mA=k n Wnjs pn
186c mtwt=k prt jm=k spdt
187a anx=f anx Wnjs pn nj mt=f nj mt Wnjs pn
“In your identity of one of Orion, your season is at the sky, your season is at the earth.
Osiris, turn your face and look at this Wenis,
your seed that came forth from you, efective.
He will live and this Wenis will live; he will not die and this Wenis will not die.”

PT535 (Pyr. §§1289c–1290b)P

1289c anx=f m anxw anx Zkr m anxw
1289d anx=f m anxw anx Ppj m anxw
1290a hA Ppj pw mj anx anx=k nn m tr=k m tr=k
1290b m rnpwt jptn Htp.tj srf mrwt=k
“He shall live with the living as Sokar lives with the living;
as he lives with the living, this Pepi shall live with the living.
O Pepi, Come! Keep alive and live here from one of your seasons to the other
in these years, being content, with the love of your warmness.”

Moreover, the repertoire of texts and iconography in the mastabas provides further
examples of the interactions between the royal and private circles, such as the rep-
resentation of “tearing papyrus” (zSS wAD).195 Altenmüller explains that the papyrus
obtained through the activities of the deceased was thought to be used in the con-
struction of a ladder to reach the (celestial) netherworld and join the goddess Hathor.
This ascension occurs precisely in the region of the northern Deltic marshes (sxt-­
jArw),196 therefore, “das zSS wAD den Himmelsaufstieg des Grabherrn am Ende des
Tages und am Beginn der Nacht symbolisiert”.197 The deceased appears wearing
a tiara that associates him with the sakhu-rites performed in the liminal region of
papyrus thickets and swamps,198 in connection with the ideas of rebirth, regeneration
and transfiguration.199 Concerning the idea of the deceased as a participant in the

195 See mainly Lapp 2013, 51–64; Woods 2009, 314–319; Altenmüller 2002a; Wettengel 1992, esp. 323–
326, with commentary on previous positions regarding this type of scene; Troy 1986, 58; Harpur 1980,
53–60; and Montet 1957, 102–108. I thank Bernard Mathieu for pointing me to the existence of a block
with the representation of this ritual in the mortuary complex of Ankhesenpepi II: see Callender 2011,
261, fig. 100; and Leclant/Minault-Gout 2000, fig. 8, pl. 17.
196 See Altenmüller 2002a, 26–28, and n. 74. See also the comments on the meaning of the presence
of papyrus in Old Kingdom tomb equipments in Wilde 2013, 179–180. For the attestation of the “field
of rushes” or “marsh of rushes” in the Pyramid Texts, see Hays 2004, 176, ns. 5–6.
197 Altenmüller 2002a, 29. The idea of connecting the “tearing papyrus” with the goddess Hathor
and certain aspects of the afterlife treated in the Pyramid Texts appeared first in Junker 1940, 77–81.
198 See Altenmüller 2002a, 28, n. 74 (with reference to Altenmüller 1989, 9–21), in which the author
emphasizes the role of this territory as a liminal space between both worlds and the location where
the sun-god Re ascended to the sky.
199 Alexanian 2003, 35, n. 61.
116 Antonio J. Morales

ritual of “tearing papyrus”, the corpus of Pyramid Texts also emphasizes the ability
of the king to traverse the marshes (pHww)200 and benefit from the purification and
regeneration achieved in this territory:

Tomb of Meresankh III, Giza

1 zSS wAD
2 n 1wt-1r m pHw
3 Hna mwt=s
4 mAA=sn xt nbt nfrt
5 ntt m mHt
“Pulling papyrus
for Hathor in the marshland
together with her mother (i.e. Hetepheres);
they view every perfect thing,
which is in the marsh.”201

PT267 (Pyr. §§367a–b)W

367a aHa j.dr tw j.xm-jwt
367b Hms Wnjs pn m st=k Xnjj=f m pt m wja=k Ra
“Stand up and remove yourself, you who do not know the reeds,
so that Wenis may sit in your seat. He will row to the sky in your boat, Re.”

PT512 (Pyr. §§1164a–1165b)P

1164a jhj Tz Tw Ppj
1164b Szp n=k fdt=k jptw nmswt aAbwt
1164c wab=k m Sj zAbj snTr=k m Sj dAtj
1164d sabw=k Hr tpj SAbt=k m sxt jArw
1165a xnz=k pt
1165b jr=k mnw=k m sxt Htp mm nTrw zjw n kAw=sn
“Ho, raise yourself, Pepi!
Receive these four washing jars of yours,
become clean in the jackal lake, and wash in natron in the dual lake.
You will be cleansed on top of your water-lily in the marsh of Reeds,
you will course the sky,
and make your abode in the marsh of Offerings among the gods who have gone to their kas.”202

Finally, I will briefly refer to another textual category that indicates a close relation-
ship between private and royal practices and beliefs: the ferryman texts.203 Some

200 In this case, an ability that the ferryman of the sun-god’s boat itself does not possess; for this
interpretation, see Allen 2005, 48, n. 61.
201 See Dunham/Simpson 1974, 10, fig. 4. For the text, see Strudwick 2005, 420, with further exam-
ples from the tombs of Iazen at Giza and Fetekta at South Abusir.
202 See also the same general theme in PT479 (Pyr. §§981a–989b) and PT564 (Pyr. §§1421a–1422c)
discussed above.
203 See Hays 2006–2007, 46, n. 22; Krauss 1997, 67–85; Willems 1996, 192, 196 (n. 1071), 415; Depuydt
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 117

inscriptions in the private tombs deal with the control of the boat in a journey by rec-
ognizing its parts as well as the benefits of traversing the hereafter on a boat. Scholars
have pointed out that these succint inscriptions reflect magical and religious aspects
that found certain parallels in the royal corpus of Pyramid Texts.204

PT256 (Pyr. §§303c–d)W

303c Xnj sw mwt=f jtH sw dmj=f
303d hjj nwH=k
“Row him, his mother! Pull him in his boat, his harbor: haul your rope!”205

PT613 (Pyr. §§1738a–f)P

1738a jA 0DhD mXnt nj mr-n-xA
1738b jn mXnt tw n Ppj pn pds Tbwt nTr DA zmT jr sxt Htp
1738c j r=f r=f 0DhD mXnt n mr-n-xAj
1738d jnt=k mXnt tw n Ppj pn
1738e dAjj=f jm=s jr sxt Htp
1738f d=f sw Hr gs Imntj n sxt Htp HA nTrwj aAwj
“O Hedjhedj, ferryman of the Winding Canal,
fetch this ferryboat for this Pepi, that the crossing god’s sandal might trample over the ladder to
the Marsh of Offerings,
So, Hedjhedj, ferryman of the Winding Canal,
fetch this ferryboat for this Pepi,
that he may cross in it to the Marsh of Offerings,
put himself on the west side of the Marsh of Offerings behind the two great gods.”

Tomb of Kaiemankh, Giza

1 rs r Hr mr Imnt mj-nw A tp nfr pw
2 rs r Hr sbAtj-mw A tp nfr pw
3 mAa r=k j(w)=k m nj-Xnw
4 TAw mrj pw jw=f HA wHmw mr Imnt wrt jrj Hr jmj-wrt wAt nfrt
5 rs.t(j) r Hr jrj=j Hna jmj Hmww Xt=k sw mwt=f jtH sw dmj=f
6 Xt=k Hr mw TA(j) pw
7 jmj-wrt wAt nfrt sbAtj-mw mAa r=k
8 rs.t(j) r Hr
“Keep an eye on the sail-rope, for this is the canal of the West—it is truly good!
Keep an eye on the sail-rope, pilot. Hold a good course, one-of-the-stream.
The wind of the canal is behind the messenger, for this is the canal of the West. Keep your course
to the port, the perfect way!

1992, 33–38; and Bidoli 1976, esp. 26–29.

204 In fact, the most remarkable examples of this type of texts date to the Middle Kingdom but have
some antecedents in the Pyramid Texts; see, for instance, Ibi/S/S 587–596. See Hays 2012, 281, n. 1007;
and Bickel 2004, 94–96, fig. 2.
205 On the expression hjj nwH=k, see Jones 1988, 170–171 (3); and Faulkner 1971, 202. See other at-
testations in PT1033, PT1073, CT274 (ECT IV, 15e), and CT659 (ECT VI, 280l). Cf. the expressions Sspw
nwH “the holder of the cord”, and dwnw nwH “the stretcher of the cord” in Quirke 1990, 174–176; and
Smither 1941, 74–76, pl. 9A (pap. Harageh 3, ll. 21–22).
118 Antonio J. Morales

Keep an eye on the sail-rope, for I shall work with the man with the steering oar.
Keep low to the water, o boy!
The port is the perfect way. O master of the water, hold a good course.
Keep an eye on the sail rope!”206

In addition, Bolshakov pointed out that the scenes of “boat jousting” offer a new per-
spective on the symbolic significance of tomb decoration. In his opinion, the meaning
behind the boatmen’s contests alludes to provisions and offerings to be secured for
the deceased and to complement the households for the mortuary cult.207 Further-
more, Altenmüller observed that the scenes of boats in the non-royal tombs of the
Old Kingdom referred to the need to ensure access to the day and night boats for the
deceased, in a similar fashion to that which particular recitations of the Pyramid Texts
stipulate for the king.208 A similar tradition associated with the use of the f­erryman
texts is the use of net-texts, whose themes and function not only reflect points of
contact between the private and royal realms, but also seem to reveal the continuities
of the mortuary literature in the Old and Middle Kingdoms.209
Finally, it is also noticeable that there are similarities between certain aspects of
the legal royal and private compositions and the idea of the deceased’s justification
(mAa-xrw) in the Pyramid Texts.210 The conception of death as a transference to the
netherworld through the presentation of the deceased before a tribunal,211 the sig-
nificance of vindication for the integration of the deceased within the realm of the
gods,212 and the role of the divine tribunal of Osiris213 are only a few examples derived
from the corpus.

206 See Strudwick 2005, 417; Kanawati 2001, 42–43, pl. 37; and Junker 1940, 57–61, pls. 3–7.
207 Bolshakov 1993, 36–39.
208 See Altenmüller 2002b, esp. 275, 281, 284, in which the author discusses the relationship of the
two types of non-royal boats, Henet and Shabet, with the solar bark used by the king, Mesketet.
209 See Bidoli 1976, 11, n. 3, in which the author associated early representations of Fangnetz-activ-
ities in the area of marshes, depicted in Old Kingdom tombs, with the religious themes as found in
the later (Middle Kingdom) recitations CT473–480. In addition, Bidoli points out the presence of a list
of the parts of a ferryboat in the Sixth Dynasty tomb of KA.j-m-anx (id., 28), which connects it with
the Middle Kingdom net and ferryman’s texts. For a recent study on the continuities of Old Kingdom
­ferryman texts and Middle Kingdom ferryman and net texts, see Hays 2006–2007, esp. 45–47 (with
further bibliography on ferryman texts in ns. 15 and 29).
210 See n. 172 above. See also Mathieu 1997a, 289–304; and Mathieu 1997b, 11–28, for the hypothesis
that the eastern section of the pyramid antechamber and the serdab façade [W/A/E] constituted the
place for judgement.
211 See i.a. PT263 (Pyr. §§340a–b), PT265 (Pyr. §§365a–b), PT266 (Pyr. §361a), PT374 (Pyr. §658b),
PT440 (Pyr. §816d), PT517 (Pyr. §1190a), PT609 (§1708c), and PT1046.
212 See, for instance, PT71JN (Pyr. §§49+9), PT260 (Pyr. §316d), PT265 (Pyr. §§354a–b, 356c–d, 357c–
d), PT266 (Pyr. §§361b–c), PT473 (Pyr. §§929a, 935a–b); and PT689 (Pyr. §2089a).
213 For the mythical allusion, see Mathieu 2011, esp. 150–151; and Mathieu 1998, 71–78.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 119

5 Conclusion
In summary, this study argues for a re-interpretation of long-standing assumptions on
the origin and development of the Pyramid Texts. It is widely acknowledged that the
Old Kingdom Pyramid Texts represent the birth of the ancient Egyptian mortuary lit-
erature tradition. This intellectual shift, with apparent traces of Memphite-Heliopoli-
tan formulation, culminated at the demise of king Wenis with the monumentalization
of ritual voices and deeds on the walls of his pyramid. Underneath the magnitude of
Wenis’s novelty, however, ancient Egyptians perceived not only the sudden reshaping
of the mortuary tradition for the royalty but also a progressive transformation of the
process of tradition or Überlieferungsgeschehen, the act of tradition itself.214
The genesis of this gradual process of religious transformation therefore occurred
long before the reign of Wenis, when the sacerdotal class envisaged the incipient use
of operative papyri as aides-mémoire for the performance of rituals and the control of
restricted knowledge. By entextualizing oral recitations, the priests of the early Old
Kingdom transferred the ritual discourse to the scriptural media. As the relationship
between the original setting of a recitation and its textual counterpart was not severed,
the ritual discourse was not decontextualized. Also, the materiality of the new media
(papyrus scroll) opened up the possibility to distinguish, arrange and store texts by
categories. By the reign of Wenis, the decision to transfer scriptural materials to the
walls of the king’s pyramid entailed the decontextualization and monumentalization
of the recitations and their subsequent detachment from their primary settings. In
this study, I have attempted to suggest ways to bridge the gap between the form of
the Pyramid Texts in the royal monuments and their original settings. For example,
examination of the offering lists from the earliest instances in the first dynasties evi-
dences a clear association with the offering Pyramid Texts. Such a nexus indicates
that the setting of the mortuary cult and the provision of offerings was involved in
supplying recitational material for the later royal corpus.215
In suggesting that this setting of mortuary cultic service provided these materi-
als for the Pyramid Texts, one could argue that the commitment of the basic ritual
instructions in stelae and tomb walls of the early Old Kingdom corresponded to a
private process of monumentalization of the oral and scriptural discourse. However,
this implementation—which would predate the monumentalization of Wenis’s
pyramid by several centuries—would be restricted by the tenets of decorum inherent
to the domain of high-cultural production. Consequently, in the following dynasties
the confines of the private offering lists and other categories of non-royal inscriptions
would never attain the dimension of the Memphite creation for Wenis and its ritual
corpus as scriptio continua.

214 Morales 2013, 50–52.

215 Smith 2009, 6–7.
120 Antonio J. Morales

Above all, the analysis of the oral-compositional style of the Pyramid Texts cor-
roborates the antiquity of the corpus and its interaction with earlier forms of inscrip-
tional evidence. Alongside this, some scholars have opted to stress the association of
mid-Old Kingdom temple inscriptions with the Pyramid Texts.216 Based on the cor-
relation of other textual traditions that do not belong to the context of the temple,
I suggest that the royal corpus incorporated not only mortuary service and temple
materials, but also other types of recitations associated with magical practices, guilds’
ceremonies, local festivities, and even arcana. Additionally, there is also ample evi-
dence in mastaba decoration and its scanty inscriptional testimonies to demonstrate
the correspondence of afterlife beliefs between both domains.
In sum, within their own world view, the high officials, priests and courtiers of
the late Fifth Dynasty witnessed the culmination of a theological plan for perpetuat-
ing mortuary rituals that ensured the beneficial afterlife of the king. In all probability,
however, these individuals were not intrigued by the nature of the texts used in the
royal corpus, as most of them were familiar with the old recitations “by which anyone
becomes an Akh”.

Abbreviations
ECT de Buck, Adrian/Gardiner, Alan H. (1936–1961), The Egyptian Coffin Texts 1–4, Chicago.
LD Lepsius, Carl Richard (1897–1913), Denkmäler aus Ägypten und Äthiopien, Leipzig.
MafS Mission archéologique française de Saqqarah

Bibliography
Alexanian, Nicole (2003), “Himmelstreppen und Himmelsaufstieg. Zur Interpretation von Ritualen
auf Grabdächern im Alten Reich”, in: Heike Guksch, Eva Hofmann and Martin Bommas (eds.),
Grab und Totenkult im Alten Ägypten, Munich, 27–40.
Allen, James P. (1994), “Reading a Pyramid”, in: Catherine Berger, Gisèle Clerc and Nicolas Grimal
(eds.), Hommages à Jean Leclant, vol. 1: Études pharaoniques (Bibliothèque d’Étude 106.1),
Cairo, 5–28.
Allen, James P. (2001), “Pyramid Texts”, in: Donald B. Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of
Ancient Egypt, vol. 3, Oxford, 95–97.
Allen, James P. (2005), The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts (Writings from the Ancient World 23),
Atlanta.
Allen, James P. (2006a), The Egyptian Coffin Texts VIII: Middle Kingdom Copies of Pyramid Texts
(Oriental Institute Publications 132), Chicago.

216 Hays 2012, 22, n. 119 (with further positions in this respect).
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 121

Allen, James P. (2006b), “Some Aspects of the Non-Royal Afterlife in the Old Kingdom”, in: Miroslav
Bárta (ed.), The Old Kingdom Art and Archaeology. Proceedings of the Conference Held in
Prague, May 31–June 4, 2004, Prague, 9–17.
Allen, James P. (2013), The Ancient Egyptian Language. An Historical Study, Cambridge.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (1968), “Zum Beschriftungssystem bei religiösen Texten”, in: Wolfgang Voigt
(ed.), XVIII Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 1. bis 5. Oktober 1972 in Lübeck. Vorträge (Zeitschrift
der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft Supplement 2), Wiesbaden, 58–67.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (1972), Die Texte zum Begräbnisritual in den Pyramiden des Alten Reiches
(Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 24), Wiesbaden.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (1974), “Zur Ritualstruktur der Pyramidentexte”, in: Wolfgang Voigt (ed.),
XVIII Deutscher Orientalistentag vom 1. bis 5. Oktober 1972 in Lübeck. Vorträge (Zeitschrift der
Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft Supplement 2), Wiesbaden, 8–17.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (1984), “Pyramidentexte”, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, vol. 5, 14–24.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (1984–1985), “Das ‘Sänftenlied’ des Alten Reiches”, in: Bulletin de la Société
d’Égyptologie Genève 9/10, 15–30.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (1989), “Nilpferd und Papyrusdickicht in den Gräbern des Alten Reiches”, in:
Bulletin de la Société d’Égyptologie Genève 13, 9–21.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (2002a), “Der Himmelsaufstieg des Grabherrn. Zu den Szenen des zSS wAD in
den Gräbern des Alten Reiches”, in: Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 30, 1–42.
Altenmüller, Hartwig (2002b), “Funerary Boats and Boat Pits of the Old Kingdom”, in: Archiv
Orientální 70, 269–290.
Assmann, Jan (1988), “Schrift, Tradition, Kultur”, in: Wolfgang Raible (ed.), Zwischen Festtag und
Alltag (ScriptOralia 6), Tübingen, 25–49.
Assmann, Jan (1999), “Cultural and Literary Texts”, in: Gerald Moers (eds.), Definitely: Egyptian
Literature. Proceedings of the Symposion “Ancient Egyptian Literature: History and Forms”, Los
Angeles, March 24–26 1995 (Lingua Aegyptia Studia Monographica 2), Göttingen, 1–15.
Assmann, Jan (2000), Religion und kulturelles Gedächtnis, Munich.
Assmann, Jan (2002), Altägyptische Totenliturgien. Totenliturgien in den Sargtexten des Mittleren
Reiches (Supplemente zu den Schriften der Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften,
Philosophisch-historische Klasse 1), Heidelberg.
Assmann, Jan (2005), Death and Salvation in Ancient Egypt, Ithaca/London.
Aufrère, Sydney H. (2010), “Priestly Texts, Recensions, Rewritings and Paratexts in the Late Egyptian
Period”, in: Philip S. Alexander, Armin Lange and Renate J. Pillinger (eds.), In the Second
Degree: Paratextual Literature in Ancient Near Eastern and Ancient Mediterranean Cultures and
Its Reflections in Medieval Literature, Leiden/Boston, 159–180.
Baines, John (1990), “Restricted Knowledge, Hierarchy and Decorum: Modern Perceptions and
Ancient Institutions”, in: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 27, 1–23.
Baines, John (1999), “Forerunners of Narrative Biographies”, in: Anthony Leahy and William J. Tait
(eds.), Studies on Ancient Egypt in Honour of H. S. Smith (Occasional Publications 13), London,
23–37.
Baines, John (2004), “Modelling Sources, Processes, and Locations of Early Mortuary Texts”, in:
Susanne Bickel and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), D’un monde à l’autre. Textes des Pyramides &
Textes des Sarcophages (Bibliothèque d’Étude 139), Cairo, 15–41.
Bakker, Egbert J. (1999), “How Oral is Oral Composition?”, in: E. Anne Mackay (ed.), Signs of Orality.
The Oral Tradition and Its Influence in the Greek and Roman World (Mnemosyne Supplementum
188), Boston/Cologne, 29–47.
Barguet, Paul (1952), “Le rituel archaïque de fondation des temples de Medinet-Habou et de
Louxor”, in: Revue d’Égyptologie 9, 1–22.
Barta, Winfried (1963), Die altägyptische Opferliste von der Frühzeit bis zur griechisch-römischen
Epoche (Münchner Ägyptologische Studien 3), Berlin.
122 Antonio J. Morales

Barta, Winfried (1968), Aufbau und Bedeutung der altägyptischen Opferformel (Ägyptologische
Forschungen 24), Glückstadt.
Barta, Winfried (1981), Die Bedeutung der Pyramidentexte für den verstorbenen König (Münchner
Ägyptologische Studien 39), Berlin.
Bauman, Richard/Briggs, Charles L. (1990), “Poetics of Performance as Critical Perspectives of
Language and Social Life”, in: Annual Review of Anthropology 19, 58–88.
Berger-El Naggar, Catherine (2004), “Des Textes des Pyramides sur papyrus dans les archives du
temple funéraire de Pépy Ier”, in: Susanne Bickel and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), D’un monde
à l’autre. Textes des Pyramides & Textes des Sarcophages (Bibliothèque d’Étude 139), Cairo,
85–90.
Bickel, Susanne (1994), La cosmogonie égyptien avant le Nouvel Empire (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis
134), Fribourg/Göttingen.
Bickel, Susanne (1997), “Héliopoli.e. le tribunal des dieux”, in: Catherine Berger and Bernard
Mathieu (eds.), Études sur l’Ancien Empire et la nécropole de Saqqâra dédiées à J.-Ph. Lauer,
vol. 1 (Orientalia Monspeliensia 9), 113–122.
Bickel, Susanne (2004), “D’un monde à l’autre: le thème du passeur et de sa barque dans le pensée
funéraire”, in: Susanne Bickel and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), D’un monde à l’autre. Textes des
Pyramides & Textes des Sarcophages (Bibliothèque d’Étude 139), Cairo, 91–117.
Bidoli, Dino (1976), Die Sprüche der Fangnetze in den altägyptischen Sargtexten (Abhandlungen des
Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts Kairo 9), Glückstadt.
Billing, Nils (2011), “Monumentalizing the Beyond: Reading the Pyramid Before and After the
Pyramid Texts”, in: Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur 40, 53–66.
Blackman, Aylward M. (1938), “The Use of the Egyptian Word Ht ‘House’ in the Sense of ‘stanza’”, in:
Orientalia 7, 64–66.
Bochi, Patricia A. (1996), “Of Lines, Linen, and Language: A Study of a Patterned Textile and Its
Interweaving with Egyptian Beliefs”, in: Chronique d’Égypte 71, 221–253.
Bochi, Patricia A. (2003), “The Enigmatic Activity of Painting the Seasons at an Easel: Contemplative
Leisure or Preemptive Measure?”, in: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 40,
159–169.
Bojowald, Stefan (2012), “Review: Steiner, R.C., Early Northwest Semitic Serpent Spells in the
Pyramid Texts (Harvard Semitic Studies 61)”, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 69 (3/4), 236–242.
Bolshakov, Andrey O. (1993), “The Scene of the Boatmen Jousting in Old Kingdom Tomb Represen-
tations?”, in: Bulletin de la Société d’Égyptologie Genève 17, 29–39.
Bolshakov, Andrey O. (1997), Man and His Double in Egyptian Ideology of the Old Kingdom (Ägypten
und Altes Testament 37), Wiesbaden.
Boltz, William G. (2005), “The Composite Nature of Early Chinese Texts”, in: Martin Ern (ed.), Text
and Ritual in Early China, Seattle, 50–78.
Borchardt, Ludwig (1907), Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Ne-User-Rea (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen
Orient-Gesellschaft in Abusir 1), Leipzig.
Borchardt, Ludwig (1909), Das Grabdenkmal des Königs Nefer-Ir-Ke’-Rea (Ausgrabungen der
Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft in Abusir 5), Leipzig.
Borchardt, Ludwig (1913), Das Grabdenkmal des Königs SA-Hu-rea II. Die Wandbilder (Ausgrabungen
der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft in Abusir 7), Leipzig.
Borghouts, Joris F. (1978), Ancient Egyptian Magical Texts (Nisaba Series 9), Leiden.
Borghouts, Joris F. (1984), “The Victorious Eyes: A Structural Analysis of Two Egyptian Mythologizing
Texts of the Middle Kingdom”, in: Studien zu Sprache und Religion Ägyptens. Zu Ehren von
Wolfhart Westendorf, vol. 2, Göttingen, 703–716.
Borghouts, Joris F. (2001), “On certain Uses of the Stative”, in: Lingua Aegyptia 9, 11–35.
Borghouts, Joris F. (2007), Book of the Dead [39]: From Shouting to Structure (Studien zum Altägyp-
tischen Totenbuch 10), Wiesbaden.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 123

Breyer, Francis (2012), “Zu den angeblich semitischen Schlangensprüchen der Pyramidentexte”, in:
Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 107 (3), 141–146.
Brovarski, Edward (2001), The Senedjemib Complex. Part 1. The Mastabas of Senedjemib Inti
(G2370), Khnumenti (G2374), and Senedjemib Mehi (G2378) (Giza Mastabas Series), Boston.
Burkard, Günter (1980), “Bibliotheken im alten Ägypten”, in: Bibliothek. Forschung und Praxis 4,
79–115.
Burn, John (2011), “An Ecological Approach to Determine the Potential Influence that the Pyramid
Texts has upon the Sixth Dynasty Tomb Decorations”, in: Miroslav Bárta, Filip Coppens and
Jaromír Krejčí (eds.), Abusir and Saqqara in the Year 2010, vol. 1, Prague, 233–245.
Callender, Vivienne G. (2011), In Hathor’s Image I. The Wives and Mothers of Egyptian Kings from
Dynasties I–VI, Prague.
Cervelló-Autuori, Josep (2011), “The Sun-Religion in the Thinite Age: Evidence and Political
Significance”, in: Renée F. Friedman and Peter N. Fiske (eds.), Egypt at Its Origins. Proceedings
of the Third International Conference “Origin of the State: Predynastic and Early Dynastic
Egypt”, London, 27 July–1 August 2008 (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 205), Leuven,
1125–1149.
Contardi, Federico (2010), “Egyptian Terms used to Indicate the Act of Reading: An Investigation
about the Act of Reading in the Egyptian Society”, in: Frederick M. Fales and Giulia F. Grassi
(eds.), Camsemud 2007. Proceedings of the 13th Italian Meeting of Afro-asiatic Linguistics Held
in Udine, May 21–24, 2007 (History of the Ancient Near East Monographs 10), Padua, 261–269.
Coppens, Filip/Smoláriková, Kvĕta (2009), Lesser Late Period Tombs at Abusir. The Tomb of Padihor
and the Anonymous Tomb R3 (Abusir 20), Prague.
Depuydt, Leo (1992), “Der Fall des Hintersichschauers”, in: Göttinger Miszellen 126, 33–38.
Dunham, Dows/Simpson, William K. (1974), The Mastaba of Queen Mersyankh III. G 7530–7540, vol.
1 (Giza Mastabas Series), Boston.
Edel, Elmar (1944), “Untersuchungen zur Phraseologie der Ägyptischen Inschriften des Alten
Reiches”, in: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 13, 1–90.
Enmarch, Roland (2013), “Mortuary and Literary Laments: A Comparison”, in: Roland Enmarch and
Verena Lepper (eds.), Ancient Egyptian Literature. Theory and Practice (Proceedings of the
British Academy 188), Oxford, 83–99.
Eyre, Christopher J. (1993), “Why was Egyptian Literature?”, in: Atti. Sesto Congresso Internazionale
di Egittologia, vol. 2, Turin, 115–120.
Eyre, Christopher J. (2002), The Cannibal Hymn: A Cultural and Literary Study, Liverpool.
Eyre, Christopher J. (2013), The Use of Documents in Pharaonic Egypt (Oxford Studies in Ancient
Documents), 2013.
Eyre, Christopher J./Baines, John (1989), “Interactions between Orality and Literacy in Ancient
Egypt”, in: Karen Schousboe and Mogens T. Larsen (eds.), Literacy and Society, Copenhagen,
91–119.
Faulkner, Raymond O. (1971), “0y (m) nwH ‘make a rope fast’”, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology
57, 202.
Firchow, Otto (1953), Untersuchungen zur ägyptischen Stilistik II: Grundzüge der Stilistik in den
altägyptischen Pyramidentexten (Deutsche Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin 21), Berlin.
Foley, John M. (2004), “Textualization as Mediation: The Case of Traditional Oral Epic”, in: Raimonda
Modiano, Leroy Searle and Peter L. Shillingsburg (eds.), Voice, Text, Hypertext: Emerging
Practices in Textual Studies, Seattle/London, 101–120.
Frandsen, Paul J. (1997), “On Categorization and Metaphorical Structuring: Some Remarks on
Egyptian Art and Language”, in: Cambridge Archaeological Journal 7 (1), 71–104.
Gardiner, Alan H. (1917), “An Archaic Funerary Stele”, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 4,
256–260.
Gardiner, Alan H. (1955), “A Unique Funerary Liturgy”, in: Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 41, 9–17.
124 Antonio J. Morales

Gestermann, Louise (2005), Die Überlieferung ausgewählter Texte altägyptischer Totenliteratur

(“Sargtexte”) in spätzeitlichen Grabanlagen (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 68), Wiesbaden.
Grapow, Hermann (1936), Sprachliche und schriftliche Formung ägyptischer Texte (Leipziger Ägypto-
logische Studien 7), Glückstadt.
Grimm, Alfred (1986), “Titel und Vermerke in den Pyramidentexten”, in: Studien zur Altägyptischen
Kultur 13, 99–106.
Gundacker, Roman (2009), Studien zu Genese und innerer chronologischer Schichtung der Pyrami-
dentexte, PhD Thesis, University of Vienna.
Haring, Ben (2003), “From Oral Practice to Written Record in Ramesside Deir el-Medina”, in: Journal
of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 46 (3), 249–272.
Harpur, Yvonne M. (1980), “zSS wAD Scenes of the Old Kingdom”, in: Göttinger Miszellen 38, 53–60.
Hassan, Selim (1948), Excavations at Giza, vol. 4: 1932–1933, Cairo.
Hassan, Selim (1975), Excavations at Giza, vol. 2: 1937–1938, Cairo.
Hays, Harold M. (2004), “Transformation of Context: The Field of Rushes in Old and Middle Kingdom
Mortuary Literature”, in: Susanne Bickel and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), D’un monde à l’autre.
Textes des Pyramides & Textes des Sarcophages (Bibliothèque d’Étude 139), Cairo, 175–200.
Hays, Harold M. (2006), The Typological Structure of the Pyramid Texts and Its Continuities with
Middle Kingdom Mortuary Literature, PhD Thesis, University of Chicago.
Hays, Harold M. (2006–2007), “The Mutability of Tradition: The Old Kingdom Heritage and Middle
Kingdom Significance of Coffin Texts Spell 343”, in: Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux 40, 45–59.
Hays, Harold M. (2009a), “Old Kingdom Sacerdotal Texts”, in: Jaarbericht Ex Oriente Lux 41, 47–94.
Hays, Harold M. (2009b), “Unreading the Pyramids”, in: Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie
Orientale 109, 195–220.
Hays, Harold M. (2010a), “The Death of the Democratization of the Afterlife”, in: Nigel Strudwick
and Helen Strudwick (eds.), Old Kingdom, New Perspectives: Egyptian Art and Archaeology
2750–2150 BCE, Oxford, 115–130.
Hays, Harold M. (2010b), “Funerary Rituals (Pharaonic Period)”, in: Jacco Dieleman and Willeke
Wendrich (eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles, 1–14 http://escholarship.org/
uc/item/1r32g9zn#page-3 (last accessed 10.07.2013).
Hays, Harold M. (2012), The Organization of the Pyramid Texts: Typology and Disposition (Probleme
der Ägyptologie 31), vol. 1–2, Leiden/Boston.
Helck, Wolfgang (1972), “Zur Frage der Entstehung der ägyptischen Literatur”, in: Wiener Zeitschrift
für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 63/64, 6–26.
Honko, Lauri (2000), “Text as Process and Practice: The Textualization of Oral Epics”, in: Lauri Honko
(ed.), Textualization of Oral Epics (Trends in Linguistics. Studies and Monographs 128), Berlin/
New York, 3–54.
Hornung, Erik (1999), The Ancient Egyptian Books of the Afterlife, Ithaca/London.
Hussein, Ramadan B. (2009), The Saite Pyramid Texts Copies in the Memphite and Heliopolitan
Shaft--Tombs: A Study of Their Selection and Layout, PhD Thesis, Brown University.
Hussein, Ramadan B. (2011), “Notes on the Saite Copies of Pyramid Texts Spells in the Memphite
and Heliopolitan Shaft-Tombs”, in: Zahi Hawass, Khaled A. Daoud and Ramadan B. Hussein
(eds.), Scribe of Justice: Egyptological Studies in Honour of Shafik Allam (Supplément aux
Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Egypte 42), Cairo, 217–233.
Hussein, Ramadan B. (2013), “Recontextualized – The Pyramid Texts ‘Serpent Spells’ in the Saite
Contexts”, in: Études et Travaux 26, 273–290.
Jéquier, Gustave (1938), Fouilles à Saqqarah: Le monument funéraire de Pepi II, vol. 2: Le temple,
Cairo.
Jones, Dilwyn (1988), A Glossary of Ancient Egyptian Nautical Titles and Terms, London/New York.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 125

Junker, Hermann (1934), Giza II: Bericht über die von der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien auf
gemeinsame Kosten mit Dr. Wilhelm Pelizaeus unternommenen Grabungen auf dem Friedhof
des Alten Reichs bei den Pyramiden von Giza, Vienna.
Junker, Hermann (1938), Giza III: Bericht über die von der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien auf
gemeinsame Kosten mit Dr. Wilhelm Pelizaeus unternommenen Grabungen auf dem Friedhof
des Alten Reichs bei den Pyramiden von Giza, Vienna.
Junker, Hermann (1940), Giza IV: Bericht über die von der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien auf
gemeinsame Kosten mit Dr. Wilhelm Pelizaeus unternommenen Grabungen auf dem Friedhof
des Alten Reichs bei den Pyramiden von Giza, Vienna.
Junker, Hermann (1943), Zu einigen Reden und Rufen auf Grabbildern des Alten Reiches (Akademie
der Wissenschaften in Wien 221.5), Vienna/Leipzig.
Jürgens, Peter (1995), Grundlinien einer Überlieferungsgeschichte der altägyptischen Sargtexte
(Göttinger Orientsforschungen, Reihe Ägypten IV/31), Wiesbaden.
Kahl, Jochem (1996), Steh auf, gib Horus deine Hand: die Überlieferungsgeschichte von Altenmüllers
Pyramidentexte – Spruchfolge D (Göttinger Orientsforschungen, Reihe Ägypten IV/32),
Wiesbaden.
Kahl, Jochem (1997), “Zur Datierung der frühen Grabplatten mit Opfertischszene”, in: Studien zur
Altägyptischen Kultur 24, 137–145.
Kahl, Jochem (1999), Siut-Theben. Zur Wertschätzung von Traditionen im alten Ägypten (Probleme
der Ägyptologie 13), Leiden/Boston/Cologne.
Kahl, Jochem (2007), “Ra is My Lord”. Searching for the Rise of the Sun God and the Dawn of
Egyptian History (Menes 1), Wiesbaden.
Kahl, Jochem/Kloth, Nicole/Zimmermann, Ursula (1995), Die Inschriften der 3. Dynastie. Eine
Bestandaufnahme (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 56), Wiesbaden.
Kammerzell, Frank (1990), “Funktion und Form. Zur Opposition von Perfekt und Pseudopartizip im
Alt- und Mittelägyptischen”, in: Göttinger Miszellen 117–118, 181–202.
Kammerzell, Frank (2000), “Das Verspeisen der Götter: Religiöse Vorstellung oder poetische
Fiktion?”, in: Lingua Aegyptia 7, 183–218.
Kanawati, Naguib (2001), Tombs at Giza, vol. 1: Kaiemankh (G4561) and Seshemnefer (G4940)
(Australian Centre for Egyptology, Reports 16), Warminster.
Kaplony, Peter (1963), Die Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit, vol. I (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen
8), Wiesbaden.
Kaplony, Peter (1966), Kleine Beiträge zu den Inschriften der ägyptischen Frühzeit (Ägyptologische
Abhandlungen 15), Wiesbaden.
Kessler, Dieter (1984) “Per-anch”, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, vol. 4, 929.
Kloth, Nicole (2002), Die (auto-)biographischen Inschriften des ägyptischen Alten Reiches: Untersu-
chungen zu Phraseologie und Entwicklung (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur, Beihefte 8),
Hamburg.
Koenig, Yvan (1994), Magi.e. magiciens dans l’Égypte ancienne, Paris.
Köhler, Christiana/Jones, Jana (2009), Helwan II. The Early Dynastic and Old Kingdom Funerary Relief
Slabs (Studien zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altägyptens 25), Rahden.
Kousoulis, Panagiotis (2011), “Stop, O Poison, that I may find Your Name According to Your Aspect: A
Preliminary Study on the Ambivalent Notion of Poison and the Demonization of the Scorpion’s
Sting in Ancient Egypt and Abroad”, in: Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections 3 (3),
14–26.
Krauss, Rolf (1997), Astronomische Konzepte und Jenseitsvorstellungen in den Pyramidentexten
(Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 59), Wiesbaden.
Lapp, Günther (2013), “zSn dwjt und zSS wAD”, in: Göttinger Miszellen 239, 51–64.
Leclant, Jean/Minaul-Gout, Anne (2000), “Fouilles et travaux en Égypte et au Soudan”, in: Orientalia
69, 141–170.
126 Antonio J. Morales

Leclant, Jean/Berger-El Naggar, Cathérine/Pierre-Croisiau, Isabelle (2001), Les textes de la pyramide

de Pépy 1er (Mémoires publiés par les membres de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale
118), Cairo.
Leitz, Christian (1996), “Die Schlangensprüche in den Pyramidentexten”, in: Orientalia 65, 381–427.
Leitz, Christian (1999), Magical and Medical Papyri of the New Kingdom. Hieratic Papyri in the British
Museum VII, London.
Leitz, Christian (2002–2003), “Rerek”, in: Lexikon der ägyptischen Götter und Götterbezeichnungen,
vol. 4, 701–702.
Lloyd, Alan B. (ed.) (2010), A Companion to Ancient Egypt, vol. 1, Oxford.
Manuelian, Peter Der (1996), “Presenting the Scroll: Papyrus Documents in the Tomb Scenes of the
Old Kingdom”, in: Peter Der Manuelian (ed.), Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, vol. 2,
Boston, 561–588.
Manuelian, Peter Der (2009), Mastabas of Nucleus Cemetery G 2100, vol. 1: Major Mastabas G
2100–2220 (Giza Mastabas Series 8), Boston.
Martin, Geoffrey Th. (2011), Umm el-Qaab VII: Private Stelae of the Early Dynastic Period from the
Royal Cemetery at Abydos (Archäologische Veröffentlichungen 123), Wiesbaden.
Mathieu, Bernard (1996a), “Modifications de texte dans la pyramide d’Ounas”, in: Bulletin de
l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale 96, 289–311.
Mathieu, Bernard (1996b), La poésie amoureuse de l’Égypte ancienne. Recherches sur un genre
littéraire au Nouvel Empire (Bibliothèque d’Étude 115), Cairo.
Mathieu, Bernard (1997a), “La signification du serdab dans la pyramide d’Ounas. L’architecture des
appartements funéraires royaux à la lumière des Textes des Pyramides”, in: Catherine Berger
and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), Études sur l’Ancien Empire et la nécropole de Saqqâra dédiées à
J.-Ph. Lauer, vol. 2 (Orientalia Monspeliensia 9), 289–304.
Mathieu, Bernard (1997b), “L’huissier, le juge et le greffier. Une hypothèse sur la fonction du serdab
dans les pyramides à textes”, in: Méditerranées. Revue de l’Association Méditerranées 13,
11–28.
Mathieu, Bernard (1998), “Un épisode du procès de Seth au tribunal d’Héliopolis (Pyr. §957a–959e)”,
in: Göttinger Miszellen 164, 71–78.
Mathieu, Bernard (2002), “Les formules conjuratoires dans les pyramides à textes: quelques
réflexions”, in: Yvan Koenig (ed.), La magi.e. Égypte: à la recherche d’une définition. Actes du
colloque organisé par le musée du Louvre les 29 et 30 septembre 2000, Paris, 185–206.
Mathieu, Bernard (2004), “La distinction entre Textes des Pyramides et Textes des Sarcophages
est-elle légitime?”, in: Susanne Bickel and Bernard Mathieu (eds.), D’un monde à l’autre. Textes
des Pyramides & Textes des Sarcophages (Bibliothèque d’Étude 139), Cairo, 247–262.
Mathieu, Bernard (2010), “Mais qui est donc Osiris? Ou la politique sous le linceul de la religion”, in:
Égypte Nilotique et Méditerranéenne 3, 77–107.
Mathieu, Bernard (2011), “Seth polymorphe: le rival, le vaincu, l’auxiliaire”, in: Égypte Nilotique et
Méditerranéenne 4, 137–158.
Mathieu, Bernard (in press), “Linguistique et archéologie: l’usage du déictique de proximité (pn/tn/
nn) dans les Textes des Pyramides”, in: forthcoming.
Meeks, Dimitri (2000), “Mots sans suite ou notations rituelles? (O. DeM 1696 et O. Petrie 36)”, in:
Robert J. Demarée and Arno Egberts (eds.), Deir el-Medina in the Third Millennium AD. A Tribute
to Jac. J. Janssen (Egyptologische Uitgaven 14), 235–249.
Mekis, Tamás (2011), “L’équipement funéraire de la prêtresse thébaine Nestaneteretten”, in:
Chronique d’Égypte 86, 41–81.
Mercer, Samuel A. B. (1956), Literary Criticism of the Pyramid Texts, London.
Meurer, Georg (2002), Die Feinde des Königs in den Pyramidentexten (Orbis Biblicus et Orientalis
189), Freiburg.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 127

Minchin, Elizabeth (1996), “The Performance of Lists and Catalogues in the Homeric Epics”, in:
Ian Worthington (ed.), Voice into Text. Orality and Literacy in Ancient Greece (Mnemosyne
Supplementum 157), Leiden, 3–20.
Montet, Pierre (1957), “Hathor et les papyrus”, in: Kêmi 14, 102–108.
Morales, Antonio J. (2013), The Transmission of the Pyramid Texts into the Middle Kingdom:
Philological Aspects of a Continuous Tradition in Egyptian Mortuary Literature, PhD Thesis,
University of Pennsylvania.
Morenz, Ludwig D. (1996), Beiträge zur Schriftlichkeitskultur im Mittleren Reich und in der 2.
Zwischenzeit (Ägypten und Altes Testament 29), Wiesbaden.
Müller, Maya, (1984), “Musterbuch”, in: Lexikon der Ägyptologie, vol. 4, 244–246.
Murray, Margaret A. (1905), Saqqara Mastabas I (Egyptian Research Account 10th year), London.
Nagy, Gregory (1998), “Homer as ‘Text’ and the Poetics of Cross-Reference”, in: Christine Ehler and
Ursula Schaefer (eds.), Verschriftung und Verschriftlichung. Aspekte des Medienwechsels in
verschiedenen Kulturen und Epochen (ScriptOralia 94), Tübingen, 78–87.
Oesterreicher, Wulf (1993), “Verschriftung und Verschriftlichung im Kontext medialer und konzep-
tioneller Schriftlichkeit”, in: Ursula Schaefer (ed.), Schriftlichkeit im frühen Mittelalter
(ScriptOralia 53), Tübingen, 267–292.
Oesterreicher, Wulf (1998), “Textzentrierung und Rekontextualisierung. Zwei Grundprobleme der
diachronischen Sprach- und Textforschung”, in: Christine Ehler and Ursula Schaefer (eds.),
Verschriftung und Verschriftlichung. Aspekte des Medienwechsels in verschiedenen Kulturen
und Epochen (ScriptOralia 94), Tübingen, 10–39.
Oesterreicher, Wulf (2005), “Autonomisation du texte et recontextualisation. Deux problèmes des
sciences du texte”, in: Adolfo Murguía (ed.), Sens et Références. Sinn und Referenz. Mélanges
Georges Kleiber, Tübingen, 199–222.
Ogdon, Jorge R. (1989), “Studies in Ancient Egyptian Magical Thought IV: An Analysis of the
‘Technical’ Language in the Anti-Snake Magical Spells of the Pyramid Texts”, in: Discussions in
Egyptology 13, 59–71.
Ong, Walter J. (1982), Orality and Literacy. The Technologizing of the Word, London/New York.
O’Rourke, Paul F. (2001), “Drama”, in: Donald Redford (ed.), The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient
Egypt, vol. 1, Oxford, 407–410.
Osing, Jürgen (1986), “Zur Disposition der Pyramidentexte des Unas”, in: Mitteilungen des
Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 42, 131–144.
Osing, Jürgen (1987), “Sprüche gegen die jbhAtj-Schlange”, in: Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archäo-
logischen Instituts, Abteilung Kairo 43, 205–210.
Pfirsch, Luc (1992), “Les bâttisseurs des pyramides de Saqqara”, in: Saqqara. Aux origines de
l’Égypte pharaonique, Dijon, 34–37.
Pfirsch, Luc (1994), “À propos des constructeurs de Teti, Pépi Ier et Mérenrê”, in: Catherine Berger,
Gisèle Clerc and Nicolas Grimal (eds.), Hommages à Jean Leclant, vol. 1: Études pharaoniques
(Bibliothèque d’Étude 106.1), Cairo, 293–298.
Quirke, Stephen (1990), The Administration of Egypt in the Late Middle Kingdom, New Malden.
Quirke, Stephen (2001), The Cult of Ra. Sun-worship in Ancient Egypt, London.
Reintges, Chris H. (2006), “The Older Egyptian Stative Revisited”, in: Lingua Aegyptia 14, 115–134.
Reintges, Chris H. (2011), “The Oral-compositional Form of Pyramid Text Discourse”, in: Fredrik
Hagen, John Johnston, Wendy Monkhouse, Kathryn Piquette, John Tait and Martin Worthington
(eds.), Narratives of Egypt and the Ancient Near East. Literary and Linguistic Approaches
(Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 189), Leuven, 3–54.
Rendsburg, Gary A. (2000), “Literary Devices in the Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor”, in: Journal of
the American Oriental Society 120 (1), 13–23.
Ricke, Herbert (ed.) (1950), Bemerkungen zur altägyptischen Baukunst des Alten Reichs (Beiträge zur
ägyptischen Bauforschung und Altertumskunde 5), Cairo, 1–128.
128 Antonio J. Morales

Ridley, Ronald T. (1983), “The Discovery of the Pyramid Texts”, in: Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache
und Altertumskunde 110, 74–80.
Ritner, Robert K. (1995), “Egyptian Magical Practice under the Roman Empire: The Demotic Spells
and their Religious Context”, in: Wolfgang Haase and Hildegard Temporini (eds.), Aufstieg und
Niedergang der römischen Welt, vol. 2: Principat, Berlin, 3333–3379.
Ritner, Robert K. (2011), “Foreword: An Egyptological Perspective”, in: Richard C. Steiner, Early
Northwest Semitic Serpent Spells in the Pyramid Texts (Harvard Semitic Studies 61), Winona
Lake, ix-xi.
Roeder, Hubert (1993), “Themen und Motive in den Pyramidentexten”, in: Lingua Aegyptia 3, 81–119.
Roth, Ann Macy (2006), “Multiple Meanings in Carrying Chair Scenes”, in: Martin Fitzenreiter and
Michael Herb (eds.), Dekorierte Grabanlagen im Alten Reich. Methodik und Interpretation
(Internet-Beiträge zur Ägyptologie und Sudanarchäologie 6), London, 243–253. http://www2.
hu-berlin.de/nilus/net-publications/ibaes6/publikation/ibaes6_pub_text.pdf (last accessed:
26.04.2016).
Saad, Zaki Youssef (1957), Ceiling Stelae in Second Dynasty Tombs from the Excavations at Helwan
(Annales du Service des Antiquités de l’Égypte, Supplément 21), Cairo.
Schenkel, Wolfgang (1983), “Wozu die Ägypter die Schrift gebrauchten”, in: Aleida Assmann, Jan
Assmann and Christof Hardmeier (eds.), Schrift und Gedächtnis: Beiträge zur Archäologie der
literarischen Kommunikation (Archäologie der literarischen Kommunikation Serie 1), Munich,
45–63.
Schenkel, Wolfgang (1994), “sDm.t-Perfekt und sDm.tj-Stativ: Die beiden Pseudopartizipien des
Ägyptischen nach dem Zeugnis der Sargtexte”, in: Heike Behlmer (ed.), Quaerentes Scientiam:
Festgabe für Wolfhart Westendorf zu seinem 70. Geburtstag überreicht von seinen Schülern,
Göttingen, 157–182.
Schenkel, Wolfgang (2000), “Die Endungen des Prospektivs und des Subjunktivs (sDm=f, sDm.w=f,
sDm.y=f) nach Befunden der Sargtexte”, in: Lingua Aegyptia 7, 27–112.
Schott, Siegfried (1950), “Bemerkungen zum altägyptischen Pyramidenkult”, in: Herbert Ricke
(ed.), Bemerkungen zur altägyptischen Baukunst des Alten Reichs (Beiträge zur ägyptischen
Bauforschung und Altertumskunde 5), Cairo, 131–252.
Sethe, Kurt (1908–1910), Die altaegyptischen Pyramidentexte, vols. 1–3, Leipzig.
Sethe, Kurt (1913), “Die Inschriften”, in: Ludwig Borchardt, Das Grabdenkmal des Königs SA-Hu-rea II.
Die Wandbilder (Ausgrabungen der Deutschen Orient-Gesellschaft in Abusir), Leipzig.
Sethe, Kurt (1933), Urkunden des Alten Reichs (Urkunden des ägyptischen Altertums 1), Leipzig.
Sethe, Kurt (1935), Übersetzung und Kommentar zu den altägyptischen Pyramidentexten, vol. 1:
Spruch 213–260 (§§ 134 a–322 a/b), Hamburg.
Sethe, Kurt (ed.) (1960), Die altägyptischen Pyramidentexte. Nach den Papierabdrücken und
Photographien des Berliner Museums, vol. 1–3, Leipzig.
Seyfried, Karl-Joachim (2003), “Dienstpflicht mit Selbstversorgung. Die Diener des Verstorbenen im
Alten Reich”, in: Heike Guksch, Eva Hofmann and Martin Bommas (eds.), Grab und Totenkult im
Alten Ägypten, Munich, 41–59.
Simpson, William K. (1976a), The Mastabas of Qar and Idu. G 7101 and 7102 (Giza Mastabas Series
2), Boston.
Simpson, William K. (1976b), The Offering Chapel of Sekhem-Ankh-Ptah in the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston.
Simpson, William K. (1978), The Mastabas of Kawab, Khafkhufu I and II (Giza Mastabas Series 3),
Boston.
Simpson, William K. (1980), Mastabas of the Western Cemetery: Part I (Giza Mastabas Series 4),
Boston.
Sledzianowski, Bernd (1976), Textkritische und überlieferungsgeschichtliche Untersuchung zu den
Pyramidentexten der Unas-pyramide (Sprüche 226–243), PhD Thesis, University of Göttingen.
 From Voice to Papyrus to Wall 129

Smith, Mark (2009), “Democratization of the Afterlife”, in: Jacco Dieleman and Willeke Wendrich
(eds.), UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology, Los Angeles, 1–16. http://repositories.cdlib.org/nelc/
uee/1147 (last accessed: 25.12.2013).
Smither, Paul C. (1941), “A Tax-Assesor’s Journal of the Middle Kingdom”, in: Journal of Egyptian
Archaeology 27, 74–76.
Sperveslage, Gunnar (2011), “Zu den Schlangensprüche in den Pyramidentexten”, in: Sokar 23,
30–37.
Spiegel, Joachim (1953), “Die religionsgeschichtliche Stellung der Pyramidentexte”, in: Orientalia
22 (2), 129–157.
Spiegel, Joachim (1956), “Das Auferstehugsritual der Unaspyramide”, in: Annales du Service des
Antiquités de l’Égypte 53, 339–439.
Spiegel, Joachim (1971), Das Auferstehungsritual der Unas-Pyramide. Beschreibung und erläuterte
Übersetzung (Ägyptologische Abhandlungen 23), Wiesbaden.
Steiner, Richard C. (2011), Early Northwest Semitic Serpent Spells in the Pyramid Texts (Harvard
Semitic Studies 61), Winona Lake.
Strudwick, Nigel (2005), Texts from the Pyramid Age (Writings from the Ancient World 16), Leiden/
Boston.
Svenbro, Jesper (1988), Phrasikleia. Anthropologie de la lecture en Grèce ancienne (Textes à l’Appui:
Histoire Classique), Paris.
Teffeteller, Annette (2007), “Orality and the Politics of Scholarship”, in: Craig Cooper (ed.), Politics
of Orality. Orality and Literacy in Ancient Greece (Mnemosyne Supplementum 280), Leiden,
67–86.
Theis, Christoffer (2011), Deine Seele zum Himmel, dein Leichnam zur Erde. Zur idealtypischen
Rekonstruktion eines altägyptischen Bestattungsrituals (Studien zur Altägyptischen Kultur,
Beihefte 12), Hamburg.
Topmann, Doris (2010), “PT-Sequenzen in Spruch 885 der Sargtexte”, in: Studien zur Altägyptischen
Kultur 39, 341–371.
Troy, Lana (1986), Patterns of Queenship in Ancient Egyptian Myth and History (Acta Universitatis
Upsaliensis, Boreas 14), Uppsala.
Urban, Greg (1996), “Entextualization, Replication, and Power”, in: Michael Silverstein and Greg
Urban (eds.), Natural Histories of Discourse, Chicago, 21–44.
Vachala, Břetislav (2010), “Das Vorfeld der Literatur in den Privatgräbern des AR: Ein Fall aus
Abusir”, in: Miroslav Bárta, Filip Coppens and Jaromír Krejčí (eds.), Abusir and Saqqara in the
Year 2010, vol. 2, Prague, 767–777.
Verner, Miroslav (2001), The Pyramids. The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt’s Great
Monuments, New York.
Vischak, Deborah (2003), “Common Ground between Pyramid Texts and Old Kingdom Tomb Design:
The Case of Ankhmahor”, in: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 40, 133–157.
Walle, Baudouin van de (1965), “Spectacle et religion dans l’Égypte ancienne”, in: Guy Dumur (ed.),
Histoire des spectacles. Encyclopedia de la Pléiade, vol. 19, Paris, 102–134.
Walsem, René van (2005), Iconography of Old Kingdom Elite Tombs (Mededelingen en Verhan-
delingen Ex Orient Lux 35), Leiden/Leuven.
Walsem, René van (2006), “Sense and Sensibility. On the Analysis and Interpretation of the
Iconography Programmes of Four Old Kingdom Elite Tombs”, in: Martin Fitzenreiter and Michael
Herb (eds.), Dekorierte Grabanlagen im Alten Reich (Methodik und Interpretation, Internet-
Beiträge zur Ägyptologie und Sudanarchäologie 6), London, 277–332.
Weeks, Kent R. (1994), Mastabas of Cemetery G 6000: Including G 6010 (Neferbauptah), G 6020
(Iymery), G 6030 (Ity), G 6040 (Shepseskafankh) (Giza Mastabas Series 5), Boston.
Wettengel, Wolfgang (1992), “Zu den Darstellungen des Papyrusraschelns”, in: Studien zur Altägyp-
tischen Kultur 19, 323–340.
130 Antonio J. Morales

Wilde, Keike (2013), “Grabbeigaben und ihre symbolische Bedeutung anhand eines Konvolutes aus
Giza (Mastaba D 208)”, in: Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde 140, 172–187.
Willems, Harco (1996), The Coffin of Heqata (Cairo JdE 36418) (Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 70),
Leuven.
Wilson, John A. (1944), “Funeral Services of the Egyptian Old Kingdom”, in: Journal of Near Eastern
Studies 3 (4), 201–218.
Woods, Alexandra A. (2009), “zSS wAD Scenes of the Old Kingdom Revisited”, in: Nigel Strudwick
and Helen Strudwick (eds.), Old Kingdom, New Perspectives. Egyptian Art and Archaeology,
2750–2150 BC, Oxford, 314–319.
Zinn, Katharina (2011), “Temples, Palaces and Libraries: A Search for an Alliance between Archaeo-
logical and Textual Evidence”, in: Rolf Gundlach and Kate Spence (eds.), Palace and Temple.
Architecture–Decoration–Ritual (Königtum, Staat und Gesellschaft früher Hochkulturen 4.2),
Wiesbaden, 181–202.
Zumthor, Paul (1983), “L’intertexte performanciel”, in: Texte. Revue critique et de théorie littéraire 2,
49–59.
Sara Campanelli
Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age
Family and Sacred Space in a Private Religious Context

1 Introduction
The private foundation consists of an endowment of funds (capital or real estate)
whose income is intended to realize an ongoing purpose freely chosen by the found-
er.1 A private foundation can be defined as a cult foundation when its purpose is
exclusively or mainly cultic in nature.2 In this paper, “cult” refers to a wide range of
ritual performances, including rituals directed to the gods, to the dead, or to both.3
Evidently, what distinguishes the foundation from an isolated act of euergetism
is its potentially permanent continuance. For this reason, the will of the founder had
to be embedded into a system of measures and regulations that ensured its continuity
beyond the individual’s lifetime.

Within this regulatory system, an essential role was played by the designation of a
social group (or, more rarely, an individual) as the body responsible for the continu-
ing fulfilment of the purpose established by the founder and for the management of
the funds allocated to it. The chosen group was often also the recipient of the various
possible benefits connected with the foundation (e.g. banquets, money distribution,
contests, building activities, and the use of landed properties).4
The body in charge of the foundation not only ensured its operation, but also
represented the social context in which the founder intended it to operate. There-
fore, a classification of Greek foundations based on the different social interlocutors

This article emerged from the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cultures.
Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies”. The CRC 933 is financed by the
German Research Foundation (DFG).

1 Cf. Laum 1914, 1, 1f.; Lupu 2005, 81f.

2 This clarification is needed because almost all Greek foundations include a cultic component, even
when their main purpose is different in nature: cf. e.g. the foundation of Eudemos from Hellenistic
Milet, which is dedicated to the education of Milesian children, but also includes sacrifices and a
procession (Milet I 3, 145 = Laum 1914, 2, no. 129, ll. 30–36; 69–77); cf. also the agonistic foundation
of C. Iulius Demosthenes from Oinoanda (Hadrianic period), which establishes a wide range of cult
activities along with musical, poetic and rhetorical contests and sports performances (text and trans-
lation in Wörrle 1988, 4–17, cf. ll. 68–87; for the organization of the festival as a whole see 227–258).
3 This broad definition of “cult” reflects the classification of the foundations made by Laum 1914, 1, 60.
4 For the individuals and social groups known from the documents as managers and beneficiaries of
foundations see Laum 1914, 1, 159–166.

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-005, © 2016 Sara Campanelli, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
132 Sara Campanelli

chosen by the founders, is a fruitful way to understand the intention of the founders
themselves and the significance they attributed to their initiative. A private individual
who decided to create a foundation might intend it either for public or for private
enjoyment: family cult foundations are foundations that limit participation in the
established rituals, and management of the funds allocated thereto, to the family5 of
the founder.6
In light of this, it is easy to understand why the (family cult) foundation as an
institution offers many opportunities for analysis. Although each aspect is closely
connected to the others, studies on this subject can focus on specific perspectives
of investigation, preferring, for example, the juridical or financial point of view;7
alternatively, it is possible to focus on the social or ideological background of such
an institution.8 Moreover, when the foundation has a cult purpose, the adoption of
a religious perspective is also valid;9 family cult foundations, in particular, involve
further fields of research, relating to the history of the Greco-Roman family as well as
to family and household religion.10

5 The term “family” is meant here in an extensive sense, including kin relationships that go beyond
the nuclear family, since some family cult foundations also allow members of the extended family to
participate therein.
6 This definition of “foundation”, when applied to the “family dossiers”, seems not to be as prob-
lematic as argued by Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 67f. The different conception and structure of
the private foundations, depending on the different social interlocutors chosen by the founders, are
briefly discussed by Campanelli 2012b, 71–75 through two Hellenistic examples: the foundation of
Kritolaos from Amorgos (IG XII 7, 515: public enjoyment) and the foundation of Epikteta from Thera
(family cult foundation: see below).
7 See e.g. Mannzmann 1962, which deals with theoretical issues connected with the juridical form of
the foundation and interprets it in terms of homologia between the founder and the group appointed
by him as the body responsible for the foundation; the homologia is meant as a bilateral agreement
which takes on the juridical form of the contract; for criticism of this interpretation see Modrzejewski
1963. Among the more recent studies discussing financial and administrative aspects of foundations
are Sosin 2001, Gabrielsen 2008, Migeotte 2010, Harter-Uibopuu 2011, and Migeotte 2012.
8 Such are the main concerns of Schmitt-Pantel 1982 and Veyne 1976, 241–251 respectively.
9 See Purvis 2003, who analyzes in detail three private cult foundations of the Classical period, con-
textualizing them in the general framework of the elective cults; see also Hupfloher 2012, who dis-
cusses the same pieces of evidence as Purvis, together with other documents from the Classical age
onwards, but mainly concentrates on “Kultgründungen” by private individuals rather than on foun-
dations which meet the above definition, where the emphasis is on the continuity of the established
(cult) purposes over time.
10 The distinction between household religion and family religion has been conveniently pointed out
by Faraone 2008, 211–213: the former is meant in a “locative” sense, referring to the cult practices that
took place at the house and aimed at protecting it; the latter is meant in a “genetic” sense, referring to
the rituals that were intended to cement kin relationships, based on descent from common ancestors,
and to define the identity and position of the family within society. Gherchanoc 2012, 159–168 discuss-
es family cult foundations in the framework of family rituals, celebrations and sociability; an inter-
pretation of family cult foundations as a Hellenistic development of the traditional gentilicial cults is
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 133

This paper will present a comparative analysis of five inscriptions from the
south-Aegean Doric area which record foundations that arose in a family context
during the Hellenistic age. The analysis will concentrate on an aspect that has hardly
been touched on in studies of this topic, namely, the physical spaces as an integral
part of the foundation system.11 The term “space” is used here to include not only the
family sanctuaries and tombs, which in most cases were clearly built concurrently
with the enactment of the cult, but also the estate that was the source of income
intended for funding cult activities.
Art, monumental visibility, and ritual as a cluster of factors that interact to trans-
late family identity into language of signs have been pointed out in some studies,12
but the intention here is to look more specifically into how the spaces were meant to
be used in material and conceptual terms and to see how they contributed to defining
group identity. This kind of analysis partially overlaps with the developing field of
studies of the “religious landscape”, conceived as the result of a complex interac-
tion of environmental, territorial, ritual, normative, and socio-economic factors.13 In
this case, the “religious landscape” falls into the elusive sphere of the private space
outside the house walls.
Being essentially regulatory in nature, the texts under examination do not
provide actual descriptions of the cult places or attached properties, but the very fact

suggested by Graf 1995, 112f.; some references to the foundation of Diomedon from Cos (see below) are
included by Brulé 2005, 33, fn. 25; 45 (reprinted in Brulé 2007, 420f.) in his discussion of the domestic
cult of Zeus; in general, however, family cult foundations are scarcely considered in studies of family
and household religion, which mostly concentrate on literary sources, usually focusing on Attic doc-
umentation; the references given here by way of example only concern general works, including the
post-Classical period: Jost 1992, 245–261; Price 1999, 89–107; Mikalson 2005, 133–159; Faraone 2008.
Continuity and change are the main parameters adopted to interpret the post-Classical developments
of the family, but the focus is generally on its civic role and/or the possible influence of non-Greek
elements, social mobility, institutional rearrangements of its structure and legal aspects: cf. e.g. van
Bremen 2003; Modrzejewski 2011, 359–415; however, family cult foundations are taken into account
by Pomeroy 1997b, 108–113 (even though some of her conclusions are questionable: see below); stud-
ies of the juridical and socio-political condition of women during the Hellenistic and Imperial periods
make extensive use of epigraphic evidence concerning (family cult) foundations: cf. van Bremen 1996
(212–216 on Epikteta’s foundation); Stavrianopoulou 2006 (see in particular 226–236; on Epikteta’s
foundation notably 292–302).
11 Wittenburg 1990 dedicates some pages (139–147) to the architectural and decorative features of
the sanctuary belonging to Epikteta’s family in Thera, but he does not intend to provide an in-depth
examination of this topic (as explicitly stated on p. 139, fn. 1) and, above all, he does not compare this
sanctuary to evidence provided by the cult places from other family cult foundations.
12 Cf. Stavrianopoulou 2006, 290, 294–302 (with specific reference to the foundation of Epikteta from
Thera).
13 For this perspective of investigation see e.g. Cole 2004 and Brulé 2012; see also the contributions
included in Olshausen/Sauer 2009; for the problems of definition connected with the notion of “reli-
gious landscape” and for an attempt to circumscribe its scope see Horster 2010, 436–438.
134 Sara Campanelli

that some of them pay a lot of attention to regulating the use of the spaces points to
their centrality in the foundation system. From a methodological point of view, this
kind of analysis will show how and to what extent inscriptions can be used as sources
for reconstructing the architectural layout of places known only from epigraphic
records.14 Indeed, archaeological remains of structures connected with family cult
places established by foundations are only preserved in one instance from Cos;15 for
this reason, the mention of buildings, open spaces, and land throughout the texts
concerned represents the main piece of evidence for the architectural and spatial
arrangement of family sanctuaries, tombs, and related properties.

Actual reconstruction hypotheses would require systematic comparisons between

the architectural terminology provided by the inscriptions and the archaeological
evidence for structures that show analogies with those under examination. This kind
of analysis, however, goes beyond the purposes of this paper, which aims, above all,
at identifying the significance of the spaces to the family groups who enjoyed them.
References to archaeological evidence, however, will occasionally be included for the
sake of comparison, to help clarify the function and architectural features of struc-
tures mentioned in the texts being examined.

The first section of this paper will address, albeit selectively, the main features of family
cult foundations, placing the discussion in the framework of a survey of the main
theories proposed over time concerning the origin and function of this institution.
The second section will focus on the cult communities and pay particular attention
to the membership requirements which are of an exclusively family nature. The third
section will concentrate on the arrangement, functions and meanings of the phys-
ical spaces mentioned throughout the texts. The expression “sacred space”, which
appears in the title of both the paper as a whole and the third paragraph, might turn
out to be problematic, given that the notion of “sacred land” is controversial, and its
very existence has been questioned.16 The scholarly debate mainly concerns the legal
status of properties belonging to sanctuaries (or, more precisely, to the gods) placed
under the administration of the polis or sub-polis groups, which seem to have treated

14 Methodological issues connected with this kind of analysis are concisely discussed by Hammer-
staedt 2009, including an extensive bibliography on the relationships between epigraphy and archi-
tecture.
15 According to the convention adopted by Sherwin-White 1978, 5, fn. 3, in this paper the spelling
“Cos” refers to the island as a whole, whereas “Kos” refers to the main city of the island.
16 For the debate on the notion of “sacred land” see the exhaustive overview of the scholarship pro-
vided by Papazarkadas 2011, 1–13.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 135

them as if they were public properties.17 Although such issues do not directly affect
the subject of this paper, which concerns properties connected with private sanctuar-
ies or tombs, attention will be paid to both the terminology that refers to the sacred-
ness of the spaces and the regulations that concern their use. What will be borne in
mind is the wide range of possible sacred spaces characterized by different degrees
of sacredness and by different statutes—themselves liable to change over time—as is
generally pointed out by those scholars who recognize the existence of sacred land as
an autonomous category.18 Using this varied framework, the notion of “sacred” can be
applied to the buildings, open spaces and landed properties which will be examined
in this paper. The conclusions will summarise the results of the analysis and point out
some clearly recognizable features that characterize the spaces involved in family cult
foundations, which might delineate a specific “religious landscape”.

2 Scholarly Theory, Epigraphic Evidence, and Cultic

Aspects
The existence of family cult foundations as a particular type of foundation is recog-
nized for the first time by B. Laum in his massive work, Stiftungen in der griechischen
und römischen Antike, published in 1914.19 At that time the main epigraphic evidence
for family cult foundations of the Hellenistic age was already known: the foundation
of Diomedon from Cos (fig. 1), that of Poseidonios from Halicarnassus (fig. 2), and the
“Testament of Epikteta” from Thera (fig. 3).20
Considering the chronology and geographic range of these inscriptions, Laum
points out the early appearance of the foundation as an institution in the family
context of the Doric insular area, in which Halicarnassus can also be included because
of its proximity to and its close cultural ties with the Dodecanese. He connects the

17 Cf. e.g. the texts collected by Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011, 2, 31–36; a particularly controver-
sial point is the expression τὰ τεμένη τὰ δημόσια (Arist., Oec. 2.2.3a) where the two categories of
“sacred” and “public” seem to overlap: see Migeotte 2006.
18 Cf. Parker 1983, 160–168; Dignas 2002, 13–35; Cole 2004, 40–50, 57–65; Horster 2004, 7–54 (with
discussion especially of the earliest archaeological, epigraphic, and literary evidence for sacred land
as an autonomous and well defined category); Horster 2010, notably 444–455.
19 Cf. Laum 1914, 1, 10, 15, 68–71, 158f., 224–227, 243–245.
20 Foundation of Diomedon: IG XII 4, 1, 348 (= Laum 1914, 2, no. 45; end of the 4th century B.C.–about
280 B.C.); foundation of Poseidonios: the latest edition is J.-M. Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge
2013, 99–114 (= Laum 1914, 2, no. 117; 3rd century B.C.; between 280 and 240 B.C., as proposed by
Carbon on the basis of palaeographic analysis, Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 99f.); foundation of
Epikteta: Wittenburg 1990, 22–37 (= Laum 1914, 2, no. 43; between 210 and 195 B.C.); from now on,
when quoted, these inscriptions will refer to the editions mentioned here (IG; Carbon; Wittenburg).
136 Sara Campanelli

origin of such a Hellenistic innovation to a weakening of family bonds, which led to

the creation of family cult communities gathered around a shared fund in order to
entrust them with the continuation of the funerary cult, which was no longer ensured
by the spontaneous acts of piety of the descendants, as it had been in earlier times.

Fig. 1: Foundation of Diomedon. Four-side engraved marble pillar now kept in storage within the
Castle of Knights, Kos city (photos S. Campanelli, reproduced with the kind permission of the 22nd
Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities, Greece).

In fact, Laum considers the funerary cult as the main purpose of family cult foun-
dations, attaching little importance to the gods who were worshipped along with the
ancestors and/or dead family members. In his view, the rise of this new form of family
aggregation found favourable conditions among the conservative Doric aristocracy,
who attributed to ancestry an important role in defining family identity.
The idea that disintegration of the family served as premise for the origin of the
Greek foundation is further developed by E.F. Bruck,21 and then brought into ques-
tion by W. Kamps,22 who reaffirms the crucial role played by the family in the origin
of the foundation, but stresses its evolution rather than its disintegration as Bruck

21 Bruck 1926, notably 190–276; Bruck 1955; for a similar view cf. Nilsson 1955–1961, 2, 116f.; further
bibliography and arguments against this theory in Stavrianopoulou 2006, 291; 301f.
22 Kamps 1937.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 137

does. By evolution, Kamps means a

change in the Hellenistic period from a
broad clan structure identifying itself in
the cult of shared ancestors to a more
restricted family unit that based its new
identity on cults founded ex novo by
family members. In his view, this change
did not entail a complete interruption of
the traditional ancestral cult, but rather
its reshaping within a more restricted
kin solidarity, whose new course was
marked by the foundation of cults ded-
icated to recently deceased individuals,
namely the founder and members of his
family, rather than (or not only) to the
ancestors. The act of creating a founda-
tion, therefore, caused a break in the tra-
ditional form of ancestry cult, which had
been spontaneously handed down from
generation to generation.
These newly introduced private cults
gradually came to feature the heroi-
zation of the deceased, according to
the chronological development which
Kamps describes in analyzing the three
foundations from Cos, Halicarnassus
and Thera. In the first stage, represented
by the foundation of Diomedon, there is
no heroization and the traditional ances-
try cult is still present; the ancestors
are placed under the protection of Her-
acles, “héros locale à Cos”,23 who is the
main recipient of the established rituals
Fig. 2: Foundation of Poseidonios. Two-side
and is worshipped together with other engraved stele rejoined from more than twenty
“génies”24 peculiar to the ancestral cult, pieces and partially damaged by fire; now kept
the Moirai and Pasios, the latter meant as in the British Museum © The Trustees of the
British Museum.

23 Kamps 1937, 152; this and the next quotation from Kamps’ article show how he pays little attention
to the importance of the gods, whose significance actually goes beyond that of mere ancestral heroes
and demons, see below.
24 Kamps 1937, 152.
 138
Sara Campanelli

Fig. 3: Foundation of Epikteta. Four engraved marble plaques attached to a base for three statues; now kept in the Museo Maffeiano, Verona, Italy (photo G.
Stradiotto; with the kind permission of the Direzione Musei d’Arte di Verona).
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 139

a form of the domestic Zeus. An innovation, however, is represented by the fact that
Heracles bears the epithet Diomedonteios, stemming from the name of the founder
himself and pointing, therefore, to a privileged relationship between him and this
god as a way to immortalize his memory without involving his actual heroization. In
Kamps’ view, an actual cult of Diomedon might have been introduced in later genera-
tions of his descendants, who would have regarded him as their ancestral hero.
Traditional elements are still present also in the foundation of Poseidonios,
where it is explicitly stated that the cult conforms to the customs of the ancestors (l.
7: καθάπερ καὶ οἱ πρόγονοι); but besides the gods, whom Kamps relates partly to the
ancestral milieu (Zeus Patroos, Moirai), and partly to the Anatolian context (Apollo
of Telmessos, Mother of the Gods), the Τύχη Ἀγαθή of Poseidonios’ parents and the
Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων of Poseidonios and his wife are also worshipped by the cult commu-
nity. This is a step towards heroization of the deceased family members, although
here it is not yet direct, but mediated by the individual demons.
A direct heroization is made manifest in the foundation of Epikteta, by the means
of which a cult of family heroes is established. It consists of the founder’s husband
and two sons who all predeceased her; Epikteta is to be included among them after
her death; they are recipients of annual sacrifices along with the Muses, the god-
desses who are worshipped together with the heroes by the cult community.
Kamps argues that this cultic evolution of family cult foundations goes hand in
hand with the development of their structure and function, which became increas-
ingly complex from a juridical and administrative point of view. This study of Kamps
has been presented in some detail because it is so far the only one specifically devoted
to family cult foundations of the Hellenistic age as a whole,25 and some of its con-
clusions are still valid. A good example of how his interpretation has affected later
studies is provided by the case of an inscription from Cos published in the middle of
the nineteenth century,26 but neither included in Laum’s collection nor discussed in
Kamps’ article. The inscription is on a boundary stone delimiting the estate conse-

25 Wittenburg 1990 is specifically dedicated to the analysis of Epikteta’s foundation and does not
include close comparisons with the other family cult foundations, which are scarcely mentioned: cf.
75, fn. 18; 76, fn. 19; 93, fn. 10; 99; Gherchanoc 2012, 159–168 (see above fn. 10) only summarizes the
content of the inscriptions concerned in order to highlight the value of ritual sharing for family socia-
bility and identity; there is a brief overview of family cult foundations in Parker 2010, 118–120 where
the aim is to contextualize a recently discovered foundation inscription from Hellenistic Lycia that
shows similarities with family cult foundations (see below); see also Lupu 2005, 86f., where family
cult foundations are briefly discussed as a type of sacred law. During the preparation of this paper,
two new works appeared: Paul 2013, addressing the family cult foundations from Cos in the frame-
work of Coan cults and sanctuaries (108–117, 232–235, 247f.); Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, focusing
on the priesthoods and cult offices in the foundations of Diomedon, Poseidonios and Epikteta, but
including quite a broad comparative analysis among the three texts.
26 Ed. pr. Ross 1845, no. 309; IG XII 4, 1, 355; henceforth, when quoted, this inscription will refer to
the IG edition.
140 Sara Campanelli

crated to the Twelve Gods and Charmylos, the hero of the Charmyleoi (fig. 4). Applying
Kamps’ theory, S. Sherwin-White categorizes this document as pertaining to family
cult foundations, on the grounds that Charmylos is not a mythical ancestor after
whom the cult group of the Charmyleoi is named, but the historical founder of a family
cult community like Diomedon,27 even if in this case the actual foundation deed is not
preserved.

Fig. 4: The boundary stone referring to Charmylos’ foundation embedded into the façade of the
medieval Church of the Stavros, Pyli, Cos (photos S. Campanelli).

Although the chronological development proposed by Kamps has undeniable

merits, it is too linear to account for all the data, derived both from later epigraphic
findings, as well as from the texts he analyzes. Among the later findings, another
inscription from Cos28 can be added to family cult foundations because it concerns
the establishment of a private cult by a certain Pythion, together with an anonymous
priestess who was probably his wife;29 even though the inscription dates to the 2nd

27 Sherwin-White 1977, 207–217; but it must be noted that a similar interpretation had already been
suggested by Herzog 1928, 31.
28 Ed. pr. Fraser 1953; IG XII 4, 1, 349; henceforth, when quoted, this inscription will refer to the IG
edition.
29 Cf. Fraser 1953, 44; 59–61.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 141

century B.C., there is no trace of heroization or funerary cult, since the foundation is
intended for the worship of Artemis, Zeus Hikesios and the Theoi Patrooi. This calls
into question the idea that the cult of the gods was involved in family cult founda-
tions only as a function of the funerary cult that was their main purpose. As for the
chronology relating to the development of the heroization, it must be pointed out that
the inscription considered as the most ancient in this cluster of documents, the foun-
dation of Diomedon, does not allow us to completely exclude a possibility that a cult
of the founder was already practised at this stage, since the restoration of his name,
albeit extremely dubious, has been proposed for ll. 26 and 36 in a very damaged part
of the text that deals with ritual regulations.30 In any case, heroization is explicitly
stated in the aforementioned foundation of Charmylos, which dates to the end of the
4th or the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. and is therefore coeval with the founda-
tion of Diomedon, whereas it is missing in the later foundation of Pythion.
Kamps identifies the cult directed both to dead family members and to gods as a
feature of family cult foundations in the Hellenistic age, but underestimates the role
played by the divine component. Since this paper does not intend to adopt a strictly
religious perspective, it can only touch upon the fact that the choice of the gods within
family cult foundations seems to have been very carefully considered, also involving
deities of the civic pantheon who are reshaped within the private context of the family.
In Cos, Heracles is something more than a local hero; he is the mythical forefather
of the Doric population of the island and, accordingly, he is closely connected to the
definition of the renewed civic body resulting from the μετοικισμός of 366 B.C. which
involved a complex institutional as well as cultic rearrangement.31 Thus, Diomedon
performed a complex cultic operation: drawing on the strong genealogical com-
ponents which characterize Coan Heracles, he bound him to his own lineage (also
through the epithet Diomedonteios) and in this way cemented the double ancestral
connection of his family, that stemming from their blood relation and that stemming

30 The fact that Kamps does not consider this possibility might have depended on the editions of
the text he uses: indeed, the highly uncertain restoration θυόντω | δὲ [τῶι Ἡρακλεῖ καὶ Διομέδ]ο̣[ν]
τι μόσχον (ll. 25f.) appears for the first time in Segre 1993, ED 149 and is then accepted in IG, whereas
in the editions quoted by Kamps this point is restored in a different way or not at all: cf. Dareste/
Haussoullier/Reinach 1898, 94–103, no. 24b; Laum 1914 (see above, fn. 20); Syll.3 1106; Herzog 1928,
28–32, no. 10; at l. 36, however, the restoration Διομέδ]οντι is already present in Herzog’s edition and
the reading has recently been improved by the editors of IG (Διομέ]δ̣οντι).
31 On the mythology concerning Coan Heracles and on the civic cult of Heracles on Cos see Campa-
nelli 2011, 648f., 654f., 668–669, 673–677 (with particular reference to the sanctuary of the god located
in the Harbour Quarter of the city of Kos); at greater length see Paul 2013, 95–108, 116–117, 288f. on
the connection between Heracles Kallinikos and Coan citizenship (cf. the sale of his priesthood, IG
XII 4, 1, 320, ll. 35–37, where individuals who have obtained citizenship are required to sacrifice to the
god); on this point cf. also Feyel 2009, 248; for the Coan μετοικισμός, see Sherwin-White 1978, 40–75;
Carlsson 2010, 216–218.
142 Sara Campanelli

from their Coan citizenship as well as from their shared Doric ancestry.32 A similar
process must have occurred in the choice of the Twelve Gods by Charmylos, as these
deities seem to be connected to the civic unity after the μετοικισμός.33
Even more complex involvements can be hypothesized behind the choice of
deities bearing the epithet Patroos, such as Zeus Patroos in Poseidonios’ foundation
and the Theoi Patrooi in that of Pythion: since the adjective patroos indicates all that
is inherited from the father,34 it also summarizes all of the religious memberships
handed down from father to son and, accordingly, can equally refer to the traditional
household gods and to those worshipped by sub-polis groups, like the phratries, into
which one was admitted only through legitimate descent; at the widest social level,
finally, this epithet can refer to the ancestral gods of the fatherland.35 For this reason,
it is often difficult to know exactly which social sphere a god named Patroos belongs
to,36 and this is also true for the “paternal” gods involved in family cult foundations.
In this respect, it can be observed that the Theoi Patrooi are known in Cos under this
collective denomination from inscriptions of the Hellenistic and Imperial periods,
especially the latter, but the nature of these deities is controversial, as they might be
the ancestral gods of the whole Coan state or the ancestral gods of some civic subdi-
vision.37 However, the latter hypothesis is more likely, at least as far as the Hellenistic
period is concerned, as is supported by a decree of the Coan deme of Isthmos that
deals with a private donation for the benefit of the local tribal cults; in case of viola-
tions, a fine was to be paid to the Theoi Patrooi, who were probably also recipients of

32 On Heracles and other civic (Aphrodite and perhaps Dionysus) and household (Moirai, Pasios)
deities who are part of the private pantheon founded by Diomedon, see Campanelli 2011, 655–657, 671,
675–677; Paul 2013, 53, 108, 111, 115, 295–297; civic cult of Aphrodite: 79–95, 285–288, 294f.; civic cult
of Dionysus: 117–127; other deities must also have been worshipped, but their names are lost due to
the bad condition of the stone on side A, ll. 25–36, where most of the ritual regulations appeared; the
attempts at restoration made by Herzog and other editors are mere conjectures (cf. Herzog 1928, 31),
and they have been almost entirely rejected by the editors of IG.
33 On the cult of the Twelve Gods on Cos, see Paul 2013, 40–42, 158f., 282f.
34 Cf. Liddell/Scott/Jones 1968, s.v. πατρῷος; Chantraine 2009, s.v. πατήρ; cf. also Ammon., Diff. 383:
πάτρια πατρῴων καὶ πατρικῶν διαφέρει. Πατρῷα μὲν γὰρ τὰ ἐκ πατέρων εἰς υἱοὺς χωροῦντα˙ πατρικοὶ
δ’ ἢ φίλοι ἢ ξένοι˙ πάτρια δὲ τὰ τῆς πόλεως ἔθη.
35 On the gods named Patrooi and on their worship at gradually wider levels of Greek society (from
the household to the whole polis) see Parker 2008, who pays particular attention to the intermediate
groups (phratries and “phratry-like bodies”), but also collects the epigraphic evidence referring to
the other social contexts where these cults are present; on Zeus Patroos and on the concept of ἱερὰ
πατρῷα, with particular reference to the gentilicial group of the Klytidai on Chios, see Brulé 1998,
especially 312–317 (republished in Brulé 2007, 392–398); see also Brulé 2003, 113–115 (republished in
Brulé 2007, 445–448).
36 Cf. Parker 2008, 204.
37 Cf. Sherwin-White 1978, 331f.; Buraselis 2000, 33f., 46–51, 154–162 (catalogues of the dedications
to the Theoi Patrooi from the 1st century B.C. onwards); Paul 2013, 290.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 143

a sacrifice.38 It is clear that in this case they are gods worshipped by the three tribes of
the deme of Isthmos.39 It is significant that the inscription of Pythion comes from this
deme,40 whose very ancient and illustrious religious traditions continued after the
μετοικισμός.41 Thus, it is likely that Pythion wanted to stress the tribal membership of
his family by including the “Paternal Gods” of his place of origin in his private panthe-
on,42 but it is also possible that he wanted to indicate various levels of religious mem-
bership, including the ancestral religious traditions of his own family, through the
potentially all-embracing nature of the Theoi Patrooi.43 Another of the three deities
involved in Pythion’s foundation seems to be connected to sub-polis groups: Zeus
Hikesios, who is one of the gods attested in Cos by several inscriptions on small stones
probably marking out the respective cult places of groups which bear names with the
typical patronymic ending in –dai; the stones date from the 4th to the 2nd century
B.C. and are from the area of the Asklepieion.44 The fact that some of the deities con-
cerned bear the epithet patroos beside their own name45 confirms the extra-family
involvements of this divine attribute on Cos, at least in the Hellenistic period.
On the other hand, Pythion might have re-marked the familial nature of his foun-
dation by placing Artemis beside the Theoi Patrooi and Zeus Hikesios, since she is
well known as the protector of childbirth, nurturer of children, and the goddess who
presides over the female life cycle.46 Moreover, Artemis seems to be the main recipi-

38 IG XII 4, 1, 100, ll. 26–28; on this inscription see Paul 2013, 231f.
39 For the civic organization of the Coan state after the μετοικισμός and for its internal subdivisions,
see Sherwin-White 1978, 153–174; Grieb 2008, 147–153; Carlsson 2010, 218–221.
40 Cf. Fraser 1953, 35–37, 56.
41 Cf. Pugliese Carratelli 1957 and 1963–1964, 147–158; for criticism of the historical and political im-
plications of his reconstruction, see Sherwin-White 1978, notably 74f., 196f.
42 The eventuality that an individual chose to privately honour gods of the “phratry-like body” to
which he belonged is admitted by Parker 2008, 204 (with reference to the foundation of Pythion).
43 That the Theoi Patrooi of Pythion’s foundation are to be meant as the family ancestral gods is
argued by Paul 2013, 233.
44 Cf. Parker 2008, notably 202; 211 (nature of these “phratry-like groups”); Paul 2013, 185f., 290f.
45 Cf. inscriptions (g), (h) and (u) in the list provided by Parker 2008, 202.
46 A parallel can be suggested with an Attic inscription (IG II2 4547) included by Purvis 2003 in her
study of private cult foundations of the Classical age; Artemis Lochia appears among the kourotro-
phoi deities listed therein as the recipients of the cult; such a cluster of deities fits the bond between
mother and son, which seems to be the forming principle of this foundation. Interpretation of this
text, however, is controversial: see the exhaustive examination of Purvis 2003, 15–32 (notably 18f. on
the kourotrophoi deities). The cult of Artemis Lochia is also attested in Cos (cf. IG XII 4, 1, 72, ll. 16f.):
however, based on the hypothetical number of missing letters (about eight, according to his calcula-
tion), Fraser 1953, 38f. rules out the possibility that this was the lost epithet of Artemis in Pythion’s
foundation, where a gap follows the name of the goddess at l. 2 (Ἀρτέμιτο[ς- - -]ας); as alternatives
he suggested Πατρώι]ας (but considers it too short) and Εἰλειθυί]ας: both would fit the context, even
though neither of the two is attested in Cos; among the epithets of Artemis known on the island, other
possibilities might be: Περγαί]ας (cf. IG XII 4, 1, 346, l. 8; IG XII 4, 2, 526), considered too short by
144 Sara Campanelli

ent of the established cult, as she is the first deity mentioned at l. 2 of the inscription
and the only one involved in the manumission of Makarinos, the slave whom Pythion
freed by consecrating him to the goddess in order to entrust him with the care of the
sanctuary he had founded (ll. 3–12).47
In any case, the possibility that Pythion intended to link his family microcosm to
“paternal” memberships wider than the household cannot be ruled out. This would
match the vitality of Coan gentilicial groups which claimed shared ancestry.48 Their
persistence on an island like Cos, where family cult foundations particularly flour-
ished, encourages a radical review of Kamps’ theory as far as the development of the
family structure is concerned.49
The cult, privately dedicated to deities like Heracles and the Theoi Patrooi, who
recall the plurality of social contexts to which each family actually belonged,50 points
to a will for self-representation which the founders seem to have put into practice by

Fraser, but re-evaluated by Cucuzza 1997, notably 17f., though not very convincingly; Ἀγροτέρ]ας (cf.
IG XII 4, 1, 358, ll. 18f.). In general, on Artemis as kourotrophos and on the involvement of the goddess
in female rites of passage and sexuality see Cole 2004, 198–230; for the cult of Artemis on Cos see Paul
2013, especially 140–145, 214–216, 263–265, 294, 298 (Artemis’ connection with birth and childhood),
307.
47 The consecration of slaves to deities was a common form of manumission and often imposed cul-
tic duties on the freed people; the same procedure occurs in the foundation of Diomedon, see below;
cf. Darmezin 1999, 159–161, 195f. (foundations of Diomedon and Pythion); 219–222 (cultic duties); Zel-
nick-Abramovitz 2005, 86–99, 228 with fn. 98, 232f.
48 Cf. Pugliese Carratelli 1963–1964, 147–158; Sherwin-White 1978, especially 158–169, considers the
gentilicial components traceable in Hellenistic Cos (e.g. groups’ names ending in –dai which claim
a shared ancestry) as remains of the kinship-based organization which characterized the phase pre-
dating the μετοικισμός; Vallarino 2009, 193–199 argues that in Hellenistic Cos gentilicial criteria are
traceable in the composition of the official cult college of the hieropoioi; the lineage κατ’ἀνδρογένειαν
seems to have played some role within the Ἀσκλαπιαδᾶν τὸ κοινὸν Κώιων καὶ Κνιδίων as late as the 4th
century B.C., when membership had already been extended to physicians who did not belong to the
original Coan genos: cf. Pugliese Carratelli 1991; gene claiming descent from Asclepius and Heracles
survived in the Imperial period: cf. Pugliese Carratelli 1994.
49 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 94f.
50 The idea of Greek religion as a network of multifaceted experiences, all of which are embedded in
the all-embracing polis system, corresponds to the model of the so-called “polis religion” theorized
by Sourvinou-Inwood 1988 (= Buxton 2000, 38–55); 1990 (= Buxton 2000, 13–37); cf. also Aleshire
1994; the network which joined public cults with family ones, passing through “cercles de sociabilité
intermédiaires”, is highlighted by Brulé in his study of the cults of Zeus Ktesios and Zeus Herkeios,
the two most typical forms of the domestic Zeus, who were nonetheless also worshipped by both
sub-polis groups and the polis as a whole: Brulé 2005 (= Brulé 2007, 405–428); a similar perspective
can be found in the aforementioned work of Parker on the Theoi Patrooi (Parker 2008); recent studies
have attempted to attenuate the idea of an all-embracing function of the polis in the religious sphere
by valuing the peculiarities of family cults (Faraone 2008; Boedeker 2008) or the role of individual
initiatives in the religious field (Purvis 2003, 1–13); for a review of the model of “polis religion” see
Kindt 2012, 12–35.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 145

placing their family identity in the framework of the fatherland’s religious traditions.
The conformity of the established cults to fatherland and ancestral mores is explic-
itly stated in the texts through expressions like κατὰ τὰ πάτρια in the foundation of
Diomedon (ll. 42; 92f.) and καθάπερ καὶ οἱ πρόγονοι in the foundation of Poseidonios
(l. 7).
The impulse to define family identity, which can be traced by examining, albeit
partially, the composition of the pantheon established through family cult founda-
tions, might find its historical explanation in the framework of the profound socio-
political changes which affected the Hellenistic age, as argued relatively recently by
A. Wittenburg and S. Pomeroy.51 Mainly on the basis of Epikteta’s foundation, they
connect the origin and the ultimate aim of family cult foundations to the need for
family self-preservation. Wittenburg argues that the ancient élite of Thera, to which
Epikteta’s family is likely to have belonged, experienced a sociopolitical marginaliza-
tion throughout the 3rd century B.C., due to the heavy interference of Ptolemaic rulers
in the internal issues of the island despite its formal independence. The author also
connects the influx of foreign people to Ptolemaic presence; such people included
parvenus who widely displayed their newly acquired influence, to the detriment of
the established local aristocracy. In his view, the constitution of family associations,
like the one founded by Epikteta, could be intended as a conservative reaction aimed
at preserving the prestige of the families that had been divested of their legitimate
political weight.52 As a working suggestion, Wittenburg attempts to apply a similar
sociopolitical interpretation to other places where family cult foundations arose,
namely Cos and Halicarnassus.
In more general terms, Pomeroy sees family cult foundations as a strategy to
prevent family disintegration due to wars, social mobility and mortality. She points
out, in particular, that the lack of direct heirs affected the structure of Epikteta’s family
and related inheritance matters, as well as raised concerns about the continuity of the
funerary cult. Following the death of her husband and two sons, Epikteta restored the
male line by resorting to collateral branches of the family in order to create a male cult
community. Despite the fact that some women were admitted therein, the male core
would more efficiently ensure the continuing accomplishment of the funerary duties,
since the patrilocal marriage tradition meant that women left their birth families to
join those of their husbands. In Pomeroy’s view, a similar lack of male descendants

51 Wittenburg 1990, 51–54, 57–70; Wittenburg 1998; Pomeroy 1997a, 206–209 and 1997b, 108–113.
52 Unlike Wittenburg, Stavrianopoulou 2006, 299f. with fn. 119, believes that the epigraphic evidence
for members of Epikteta’s entourage who held public office is sufficient to indicate that this kinship
group was politically active; in Stavrianopoulou’s view, the fact that the foundation text does not refer
to the civic merits of the deceased men of Epikteta’s own family is due to the completely private nature
of this foundation: according to her, in the Hellenistic age the polis was the only entity entitled to give
recognition for merit to its prominent citizens.
146 Sara Campanelli

was a factor in the foundation of Diomedon, where the “commemorative activities”53

were performed by the founder’s freedman Libys and his offspring rather than by
the descendants of Diomedon, who are only briefly mentioned throughout the text.
Pomeroy concludes that the involvement of distant relatives or non-family members
in commemorative celebrations and inheritance matters indicates a diminished value
of the actual kin ties in the Hellenistic age.
Pomeroy’s argument concerning the foundation of Diomedon is difficult to
accept, because the text clearly distinguishes between Libys and his offspring and
the descendants of Diomedon, who were in fact charged with guaranteeing freedom
of these manumitted slaves (ll. 6–9). The lines referring to the duties with which
the freedmen were entrusted are badly preserved (ll. 11–23), but they are likely to be
concerned simply with the care of the sanctuary and the provisions for ritual perfor-
mances (coverings for the dinner-couches, cleaning and crowning the images and so
on). In contrast to Pomeroy’s argument, the freedmen are no longer mentioned after
the initial part of the text, where they first appear among the goods consecrated by
Diomedon to Heracles Diomedonteios (ll. 1–5). The rest of the inscription lists regula-
tions involving the descendants of Diomedon, who represented the actual cult com-
munity, as will be discussed below. In fact, they were in charge of the crucial ritual
activities, such as the sacrifices (ll. 9–11: θυόντω δὲ τὰ ἱερὰ τοὶ ἐγ̣̣ [Διο]μέδον⟦δον⟧
τος καὶ ἀεὶ τοὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν̣ γεν[ό]μενοι). This instruction is placed just before the lines
dealing with the freedmen’s duties in order to highlight that the role of the latter did
not include the sacrificial performance.
The expression τοὶ ἐγ Διομέδοντος καὶ τοὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν γενόμενοι shows that Diome-
don actually had his own direct descendants, and the great importance attached to
legitimate descent can be seen clearly in the ritual through which newborn children
were introduced into the cult community (ll. 51–55).54 The text specifies the prerog-
atives of the descendants in the male line (οἱ κατ’ ἀνδρογένειαν: ll. 86f.; 154f.): the
performance of the sacrifice for Pasios and the Moirai was reserved only for them
(ll. 153–155) and, under particular conditions, they had the right to celebrate their
wedding in the sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios (ll. 86–111). Among the legit-

53 Pomeroy 1997a, 209; 1997b, 113; actually, there is no explicit trace of commemorative activities in
the text; these can be supposed to have taken place based on the fact that the foundation includes the
cult of the ancestors (cf. ll. 130–140), but the regulations concerning it are completely lost (ll. 20f.?);
note also the possibility that Diomedon was a recipient of the cult, see above. According to the pre-
served text, however, the rituals established by Diomedon mainly consisted of various sacrifices and
banquets in honour of Heracles and the other deities worshipped along with him; for the ritual as-
pects of Diomedon’s foundation, see Campanelli 2011, 657–661; Paul 2013, 109–115.
54 As for its meaning, this ritual can be compared to the ceremonies through which newborn children
were introduced to the domestic hearth and young people to the paternal phratries or similar bodies
to which their fathers belonged: cf. Campanelli 2011, 654; on these rituals and their connection with
legitimate descent, see Gherchanoc 2012, 35–48, 150–158.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 147

imate descendants, furthermore, the three officials of the community (epimenioi)55

were appointed annually (ll. 144–146), whereas the illegitimate children were entitled
neither to this office nor to the priesthood of Heracles (ll. 146–149),56 which was to be
handed down from eldest son to eldest son (ll. 23–25).57 All of this speaks in favour of
patrilineal descent as the basic requirement for membership in the cult community.
Given that the foundation of Diomedon provides no clues for supposing a gen-
eralized crisis of family ties in the Hellenistic age, the involvement of the extended
family in Epikteta’s foundation is probably to be understood as the consequence of
accidental factors, like the high male mortality rate, which affected the structure of
her family, as Pomeroy herself argues in the initial part of her discussion. In other
words, the more or less extended size of these family cult communities might have
depended on the individual family histories.58 These considerations seem to accord
with observations made in the studies that investigate the effect of demographic
factors and socioeconomic constraints on synchronic and diachronic developments
of the family.59

55 On the roles and meaning of this office in the foundations of Diomedon, Poseidonios and Epikte-
ta, see Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, especially 83–95; the most innovative conclusion the authors
come to concerns the fact that the temporary nature of the office, implied in the literal meaning of the
term epimenios, might be mirrored in the three foundation texts by the limited span of time in which
these officials carried out their task, that is, the period slightly before and during the annual celebra-
tions: this matches evidence on epimenioi in the public sphere, showing the way in which family cult
foundations drew on and reshaped the civic model; other equally important remarks are made on the
twofold nature, ritual and administrative, of epimenios’ office.
56 For the interpretation of this passage, see Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2008, 254–256.
57 These lines are very damaged, but their general content can be easily understood by compar-
ing them to the foundation of Poseidonios (ll. 19f.: ἱερατευέτω τῶν ἐκγόνων τῶν ἐκ Ποσειδωνίου ὁ
πρεσβύτατος ὢν κατ’ ἀνδρογένειαν).
58 For literary evidence on the possible family rearrangements due to various eventualities and
involving different degrees of kinship, see the cases discussed by Cox 1998, 141–167 (with specific
reference to 5th and 4th century Athens); family strategies are mirrored by funerary contexts: see
Marchiandi 2011, 35–46, on the more or less extended family structures emerging from the prosopo-
graphic analysis of the individuals buried within the 5th and 4th century Attic periboloi; van Bremen
1996, especially 193–204, 237–272, shows how family strategies can be at least partially reconstructed
through the evidence for family members acting together in civic euergetism (with particular refer-
ence to the role of women).
59 See the comparative overview of Huebner 2011; see also Zuiderhoek 2011, who interprets euer-
getism, including foundations for public enjoyment, as a strategy for public recognition adopted by
civic élites of the Hellenistic period to cope with the rapid turnover due to the high mortality rate,
which led notable families to quickly disappear from the political scene; as the author does not pro-
vide much evidence, for the moment this interpretation must remain an interesting working hypoth-
esis.
148 Sara Campanelli

What deserves attention within Pomeroy’s discussion is the concept of family self-pres-
ervation as the motivation that led Epikteta to a formal family rearrangement in order
to ensure the proper settlement of the inheritance and the continuity of funerary prac-
tices.60 This view, though only suggested by Pomeroy, matches Wittenburg’s interpre-
tation of Epikteta’s foundation as the way in which the old established élite of Thera
reacted to its sociopolitical marginalization. This is not the place to attempt to apply
Wittenburg’s reconstruction to the parallel contexts of Cos and Halicarnassus, since
such an analysis would require an in-depth examination of the local institutional
arrangements, the identity of the internal groups holding the power and the relation-
ship between local autonomy and interference from the Hellenistic kingdoms.61 This
paper will analyze the means by which this intention of family self-preservation or
at least self-representation comes to light in the texts. Some useful elements in this
regard have already emerged during the survey of scholarly theory, but the intention
now is to further the analysis by focusing on two aspects which seem to be especially
indicative for the above purpose: (1) the family acting as a cult community and (2) the
sacred space with the twofold function of cult place and source of income.

3 The Cult Community

The act of foundation formally turned the founder’s family into an exclusive cult com-
munity, which was both responsible for the continuity of the cult and entrusted with
the management of the funds allocated for this purpose.62 In most cases the cult com-
munity is identified in a way that clearly shows its family nature. In the foundation
of Diomedon, those in charge of the cult activities were named τοὶ ἐγ̣̣ [Διο]μέδον⟦δον⟧
τος καὶ ἀεὶ τοὶ ἐξ αὐτῶν̣ γεν[ό]μενοι (ll. 9–11).63 Whereas this definition emphasized

60 It should be noted, however, that the creation of the male cult community is not a personal ini-
tiative of Epikteta, but satisfies the express will of her deceased son Andragoras (ll. 22f.): see below.
61 For Cos and its relationships with the Hellenistic kingdoms, see Sherwin-White 1978, expecially
82–145; Carlsson 2010, 208–214; on the Coan government after the metoikismos, see Carlsson 2010,
221–243; on the relationship between Halicarnassus and the Ptolemies, see Isager 2004; Pedersen
2004; Konuk 2004, among others.
62 Before Laum 1914 (see vol. 1, especially 167 and 224, where he classifies family groups among the
“Vereine, die um der Stiftung willen ins Leben gerufen werden”), the foundations of Diomedon, Po-
seidonios and Epikteta were considered “Familienvereine” in the first works on Greek associations: cf.
Poland 1909, especially 87f.; see also Wittenburg 1998, 451; the foundation of Diomedon is mentioned
by Maillot 2013, 208 (cf. also 222, fn. 4) among the associations of Cos, but she considers it the only
family association on the island.
63 Cf. the slight variation at ll. 136–139 (τοὺ[ς ἐ]γ Διομέδοντος ⟦Ι- - - - -Ω .⟧[γ]εγενημένους καὶ τοὺς
ἐγγ[όν]ους αὐτῶν) and 145f.; the concept of legitimate descent down the male line is more specifically
stressed by the expression τοὶ κατ’ ἀνδρογένειαν (ll. 86f.; 154f.).
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 149

the descent as the basic requirement for the membership, the expression τοὶ τῶν
ἱερῶν κοινωνεῦντες (ll. 7; 81; 87f.), which alternates with the previous one through-
out the text,64 highlights the shared base around which the community is gathered,
namely the “sacred things”. The wide range of meanings included in the concept of
hiera is well known: it can refer to cult, rituals, cult furniture, sacrificial victims and
offerings, gifts for the gods, gods’ simulacra and symbols, cult places, funds devoted
to cult purposes, or cultic matters.65 In the text under examination hiera is likely to
include, beyond the rituals, all that was dedicated to Heracles,66 namely the precinct,
buildings, garden, and slaves that are objects of the initial dedication to the god (l. 1:
Δ̣[ιομέδων ἀνέθηκ]ε), and the cult furnishings listed in the inventory of ll. 120–130,67
which are equally dedicated to Heracles (l. 120: ἀνέθηκα) and are said to be sacred to
him (ll. 127–129: ὥστε πάντα ταῦτα ἱερὰ εἶναι τοῦ Ἡρακλεῦς). Although not explicitly
stated, the other buildings and lands mentioned throughout the text must also be
considered hiera because they were sources of income used for cult purposes.68 This
finds confirmation in the appearance of the designation “those who share the sacred
things” mostly in connection with management matters, such as the protection of the
freedmen (ll. 6–9) and the use of the spaces belonging to the sanctuary (ll. 80–90).69

64 Cf. the variation οἷ[ς] μέτεστι τῶν 〚των〛 ἱερῶν (ll. 52f.); Paul 2013, 116 conveniently points out that
κοινωνεῖν and μετεῖναι differ slightly in meaning: the former seems to entail some deliberative power
over the hiera, whereas the latter seems to indicate merely the birth right to participate in cult; these
nuances of meaning fit the contexts where κοινωνεῖν and μετεῖναι are used respectively throughout
the text; Paul also notices that μετεῖναι, in turn, differs from μετέχειν, used in ll. 146–149 to indicate
participation in the cult granted, within certain limits, to the illegitimate children who did not strictly
belong to the eligible group; for the terminology concerning the rights of participation in cult and in
cult management see Paul 2013, 196–203 (with particular reference to the tribal cult of Apollo and
Heracles in the deme of Halasarna).
65 For the wide range of meanings covered in the adjective ἱερός and its neuter plural ἱερά, see Casa-
bona 1966, 6–17; Rudhardt 1992, 22–30; Horster 2004, 50–52; on the sacred implying divine ownership
and on the various categories of “sacred things”, see Parker 1983, 151–175; Connor 1988 provides an in-
depth examination of the expression ἱερὰ καὶ ὅσια (broadly speaking: “sacred and profane things”),
pointing out its first appearance in the financial sphere.
66 Rudhardt 1992, 30 includes in his definition of ἱερός all that was transferred to the gods through
the act of dedication.
67 The list of objects dedicated to Heracles continues at ll. 155–157 (ἀνέθηκα δὲ καί); for the ritual
function of some of these objects, see Campanelli 2011, 658.
68 See below.
69 In contrast, Paul 2013, 340, fn. 73, classifies Diomedon’s foundation among the Coan texts where
hiera has the meaning of “cult”: accordingly, she translates the expression τοὶ τῶν ἱερῶν κοινωνεῦντες
into “ceux qui ont le culte en commune”; cf. also 108–111 and 114 for her translation of ll. 1–43 and 86–
115; for the differentiated use of the two definitions (“the descendants of Diomedon and those who de-
scend from them” and “those who share the sacred things”) throughout the text, see Campanelli 2011,
652f. The inscription also provides evidence for the use of the term hiera to indicate both the sacrificial
performance (l. 9: θυόντω δὲ τὰ ἱερὰ; ll. 65f.: ἐχθυσεῦν̣ται τὰ ἱερά) and the “sacred offerings” which
were part of the provisions that members of the cult community had to give as an “entrance tax” at the
150 Sara Campanelli

This point has to be borne in mind because of its consequences for the sanctuary’s
role as a family asset.
A definition of the cult community based on the concept of legitimate descent
also occurs in the foundation of Poseidonios, but in this case the inclusion of the
descendants down the female line is specified (l. 2–4: τοῖς ἐξ αὐτοῦ γινομένοις καὶ
οὖσιν, ἔκ τε τῶν ἀρσένων καὶ τῶν θηλειῶν); the second mention of the cult group,
however, indicates a more extended membership (ll. 12–14: τοῖς ἐξ ἑαυτοῦ καὶ τοῖς
ἐκ τούτων γινομένοις, ἔκ τε τῶν ἀρσένων καὶ τῶν θηλειῶν, καὶ τοῖς λαμβάνουσιν ἐξ
αὐτῶν), including οἱ λαμβάνοντες ἐξ αὐτῶν, probably to be understood as relatives
by marriage, such as the husbands of Poseidonios’ daughters.70 The verb λαμβάνω
to indicate “receive in marriage”, “take as one’s wife” is epigraphically attested, for
example in a series of honorary decrees from Tenos (2nd century B.C.) which record a
marriage agreement: Μήδειος μὲν ἐγδιδόμενος [τ]ὴν θυγατέραν Φιλίππην Σουνιάδης
δὲ λαμβάνων (IG XII 5, 864, ll. 5f.; “Medeios giving his daughter Philippe away and
Souniades receiving her …”).71 Unlike Poseidonios’ foundation, however, in this case
the object of λαμβάνω is explicitly stated. A recently discovered foundation inscription
from Hellenistic Lycia includes the sons-in-law of the founder in the limited group of
ten male relatives who are entitled to participate in the annual banquets connected
with two sacrifices in memory of the founder Symmasis and his wife Mamma.72 The
fact that the sons-in-law and their descendants are included among the relatives
(cf. A, ll. 34; 46f.; B, l. 38: ἀνχιστεῖς) shows that the notion of ἀγχιστεία could vary

birth of a child (ll. 51–55: εἰσαγώγιον δὲ διδότω ὧι κα γένηται παιδίον, οἷ[ς] μέτεστι τῶν ⟦των⟧ ἱερῶν,
χο[ῖ]ρον, ἱερά, λιβανωτόν, σπονδάν, στέφανον; cf. above, fn. 54); the priest, too, was probably required
to provide hiera (cf. ll. 36–38: ἱερ[ὰ δὲ παρεχέτω ἄρτον ποτὶ τ]ὰν ἀρ̣τ̣οφαγ[ίαν καὶ οἶνον καὶ μέλι ποτὶ
τὰ]ν̣ σ̣πονδά̣[ν]); for the offerings or sacrificial provisions called hiera, see Paul 2013, 341–344.
70 Cf. Kamps 1937, 157f.; Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 81f.
71 Cf. IG XII 5, 863, ll. 4f.; 865, ll. 7–9; on these decrees see Stavrianopoulou 2006, 40–43 (with trans-
lation of 863, 1–12); for the terminology of the marriage agreements (including λαμβάνω) in the literary
sources see Vérilhac/Vial 1998, 232–265.
72 Text and translation in Parker 2010, 104–108 and Arnaoutoglou 2012, 217–220; even though these
celebrations were commemorative in nature (cf. B, ll. 19–21: εὐωχηθήσονται ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ ἡμέρᾳ
ἄγοντες ἐπώνυμον ἡμέραν Συμμασιος καὶ Μαμμας), they began before the death of Symmasis and
Mamma as is clear from the fact that portions of the sacrificial victims were reserved for them (cf.
A, ll. 5–18; B, 38–47): this may be another similarity to Poseidonios’ foundation, which is classified
by Dareste/Haussoullier/Reinach 1898, 128–133 and 145, among the donationes inter vivos; the sacri-
fice for the Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων Ποσειδωνίου καὶ Γοργίδος (ll. 35f.), especially if it was already performed
during Poseidonios’ and Gorgis’ lifetime, can be compared to the sacrifice for the ἥρως Συμμασιος
καὶ Μαμμας (B, 31f.): the “hero of Symmasis and Mamma” is close to the notion of personal demon,
according to the convincing interpretation of Parker 2010, 116; in contrast, Arnaoutoglou 2012 simply
translates “the hero Symmasis and Mamma”: in this case, however, it would be difficult to understand
why the term “hero” is in the singular; on the Ἀγαθὸς Δαίμων in Poseidonios’ foundation, see Carbon/
Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 97; Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 107f.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 151

depending on context.73 Although this foundation shares the creation of a family cult
group and the link between funerary cult and divine cult (in this case, of Helios) with
other family cult foundations, it is not included in the dossier of inscriptions being
examined here because it involves a society of metalworkers along with the founder’s
family.74
Unlike Symmasis’ foundation and Epikteta’s foundation, which will be addressed
later, that of Poseidonios does not include a list of community members designated
by name, but their number must have been defined at a certain point, as we can
infer from the use of the perfect participle εἰληφότες instead of the present partici-
ple λαμβάνοντες at l. 23. Here the cult community is mentioned again at the begin-
ning of the decree by which the foundation is ratified and enacted (ll. 22f.: ἔδοξεν
Ποσειδωνίωι καὶ τοῖς ἐκγόνοις τοῖς ἐκ Ποσειδωνίου καὶ τοῖς εἰληφόσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν).75
Like Diomedon’s foundation, the officials charged with ritual as well as administrative
duties (epimenioi) were appointed annually from among the community members (ll.
23–33; 40–47). Despite this extended membership, the priesthood and the enjoyment
of the properties allocated by the founder were reserved for the eldest son of Poseido-
nios and then handed down through the male line (ll. 18–20; l. 20: κατ’ ἀνδρογένειαν).
In Epikteta’s foundation the complete denomination of the cult community is
κοινὸν τοῦ ἀνδρείου τῶν συγγενῶν, but the abbreviated form κοινόν appears more
frequently throughout the text.76 This definition summarizes the male basis of the
community and family ties existing among its members.77 The exclusivity of the κοινόν
is highlighted by the fact that the inscription includes a list of community members,
who can be distributed among the genealogical trees of three related families (ll.

73 The relatives by marriage are not included in the basic definition of ἀγχιστεία provided by Harri-
son 1968, 143–149; cf. Parker 2010, 115.
74 On all these aspects of Symmasis’ foundation, see Parker 2010 and Arnaoutoglou 2012.
75 Laum 1914 (cf. above, fn. 20) divides the text of Poseidonios’ foundation into three parts: “Veran-
lassung” (ll. 1–11); “Stiftung” (ll. 12–22); “Beschluß des Familienverbandes” (ll. 22–52); the text itself
highlights its tripartite structure: cf. ll. 49–50 (ἀναγράψαι δὲ καὶ τὸν χρησμὸν καὶ τὴν ὑποθήκην κ[αὶ]
τὸ δόγμα ἐν στήληι λιθίνηι); the presence of paragraphoi (and a punctuation mark at l. 22) graphical-
ly dividing the three sections is noticed by Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 103f.; Carbon/
Pirenne-Delforge 2013, notably 68–73, 83–85, 88, and 95 conveniently pay attention to the compos-
ite structure of Diomedon’s, Poseidonios’ and Epikteta’s inscriptions; on the foundation inscriptions
consisting of more than one document (e.g. excerpt from the founder’s testament or his/her ἐπαγγελία
followed by the endorsement of the body responsible for managing the endowment) cf. Laum 1914,
1, 3; a slightly more complex situation can be envisaged for Diomedon’s inscription, which does not
present a well-defined structure, but is the result of unsystematic additions over time: cf. Campanelli
2011, 652, 657.
76 The denomination of the cult community with all its variations appears in the following lines: 22f.,
26f., 30f., 40f., 52f., 56, 61, 71, 74, 76f., 132, 143, 145f., 165, 168, 177, 202, 205, 213, 215, 216f., 220, 222, 228,
233f., 236, 243, 248, 251, 254f., 258, 263, 278, 285f.
77 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 97f.
152 Sara Campanelli

81–93).78 After the men, a number of women are listed (ll. 94–106), including, among
others, the wives of those men previously mentioned and their children, the heir-
esses79 with their husbands and children, and Epikteta’s daughter Epiteleia; the role
and position of these women within the community are unclear, but they must have
been entitled to belong to the cult group in a different way than the men: whereas
the latter are listed first and under the definition of συγγενεῖς, which recalls the offi-
cial name of the community, the list of women is introduced by the verb πορεύομαι
(literally “to go”, “to walk”, “to proceed to”) which might be simply referring to their
presence at the annual celebration for the Muses and heroes without actually par-
ticipating in the management of the foundation;80 the idea of “being admitted into
(the cult community in order to attend the rituals)” might have stemmed from the
literal use of πορεύομαι and especially of its compound εἰσπορεύομαι to indicate the
right/prohibition to enter a sanctuary or the required conditions to gain access to a
sacred place.81 A development of this basic meaning can be seen in the participles
πορευόμενοι and especially συπορευόμενοι and εἰσπορευόμενοι when referring to
groups of “Festteilnehmer” or members of cult associations defined as “those who
go (together)”, or “participate (together) in” given feasts or cults.82 This meaning fits
the right to attend the annual celebration granted to the women listed in ll. 94–106
of Epikteta’s inscription. These women, moreover, are likely to have been admitted
at a second phase, due to an autonomous decision by Epikteta, independently of the
will of her second deceased son who, before dying, had asked his mother to create

78 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 63–66; Stavrianopoulou 2006, 295f.

79 On the heiresses in Epikteta’s foundation see Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011, 1, 250–252.
80 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 98f.; 101; the author includes a comparison with the foundations of Diomed-
on and Poseidonios where the women were probably allowed to participate in the banquets; neverthe-
less, at least as far as Diomedon’s foundation is concerned, the question of female participation seems
to be more complex than Wittenburg assumes: cf. Campanelli 2011, 660f. and below in this paper.
81 Cf. e.g. the foundation of Pythion: ἁγνὸν εἰσπορεύεσθαι (l. 15: purity requirements for gaining
access to the sanctuary; see below); Andania Mysteries regulations (1st century B.C.): ἃ μὴ δεῖ ἔχοντας
εἰσπορεύεσθαι (Gawlinski 2012, 72f. l. 37: items people were not permitted to carry into a special area
within the sanctuary); a good parallel would have been an inscription from Philadelphia (Lydia,
2nd/1st century B.C.) concerning purity and “moral” requirements for participating in a cult that was
newly established or renewed by a certain Dionysios (TAM V 3, 1539), but the verb πορεύομαι appears
there as the result of a restoration, albeit likely: πορευ]όμενοι εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον (ll. 14f.: people
allowed to enter the oikos/to participate in cult); εἰς τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον μ[ὴ εἰσπορευέσθω] (l. 32: entry
into the oikos/participation in the cult denied to men and women who do not respect the instruc-
tions of Dionysios); the nature of this cult community (private cult association or household?) and the
meaning of the term oikos (building, name of the cult group or both?) are controversial: cf. Stowers
1998; cf. Petzl’s commentary on l. 5 in TAM edition. According to a suggestion of Stavrianopoulou
2006, 300f., fn. 122, on the other hand, the verb πορεύομαι (“mitlaufen”) recalls the idea of a proces-
sion which reproduces the pecking order within the cult community founded by Epikteta.
82 Cf. Poland 1909, 73; for example, the κοινὸν τῶν συμπορευομένων παρὰ Δία Ὑέτιον (IG XII 4, 1,
121; Cos, ca. 200 B.C.).
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 153

the κοινὸν τοῦ ἀνδρείου τῶν συγγενῶν (ll. 22f.).83 Membership in the community was
based on a hereditary principle, which was, however, limited to the male line, since
daughters were admitted only as long as they were under their father’s guardian-
ship (cf. ll. 95–97; 135–139). Just as in the foundations of Diomedon and Poseidonios,
annual epimenioi were appointed from among the συγγενεῖς (ll. 65f.), and the same
must have been true for other community officials mentioned throughout the text.84
The prominent position of Epikteta’s own family within the cult community
emerges from the fact that the priesthood of the Muses and heroes was reserved for
the son of Epikteta’s daughter Epiteleia and then handed down from eldest son to
eldest son among Epiteleia’s descendants (ll. 57–61), similar to the foundations of
Diomedon and Poseidonios again; moreover, Epikteta bequeathed to Epiteleia herself
the sanctuary of the Muses (Mouseion) and the funerary precinct with the annual obli-
gation to pay the agreed part of the income deriving from her inheritance in order to
allow the cult community to celebrate the annual feast in honour of the Muses and
heroes (ll. 29–41): a similar procedure, which takes into account the rights of inher-
itance,85 occurs in Poseidonios’ foundation, where the firstborn of the descendants
was entitled to enjoy the properties allocated by the founder, provided he paid for the
family community’s annual religious feast.
The term συγγενεῖς occurs in two other inscriptions, from Thera and Halicarnas-
sus, which probably refer to foundations as far as it is possible to infer from the small
preserved parts of the texts. The first86 was thought to be related to Epikteta’s founda-
tion because of the onomastic concurrences between the two texts, but this hypoth-
esis has not been generally accepted.87 Beyond the term συγγενεῖς (l. 12), which is
likely to refer to a cult community based on kinship, other references to descent might
be the participles [γ]εγονότες (l. 17) and γινόμενοι (l. 20).
The inscription from Halicarnassus is first recognized as a foundation text by L.
Robert.88 Its family nature can be concluded from the mention of the συγγενεῖς (ll. 3;
4?; 5) and οἱ ἐκ τοῦ γένους (l. 10); the terms γέρα and [σ]πλάγχνων (ll. 8f.) very likely
refer to the privileges and/or obligations of a priest, similar to the regulations in the
foundations of Diomedon, Poseidonios and Epikteta;89 similarly to these again, one

83 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 83–84.

84 For the offices and authorities occurring in the text see below.
85 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 75; Stavrianopoulou 2006, 141, 151–154, 126–130.
86 IG XII Suppl. 154 (2nd/1st century B.C.).
87 Hiller von Gaertringen 1914, 131–133; Kamps 1937, 166–168; contra Wittenburg 1990, 65, fn. 9.
88 Robert 1937, 466–468; the first editor, Bérard 1891, 550f., no. 22, interprets the inscription as a rent
contract and considers the term συγγενεῖς as referring to a tribe of Halicarnassus: this is why the text
is not included in Laum’s collection.
89 Foundation of Diomedon: ll. 39–41 (γ̣[έ]ρη δὲ λαμβανέτω τοῦ ἱερέο̣[υ] ἑκάστου σκέλος καὶ τὸ
δέρμα); ll. 101–103 (ἐ̣[φιέτω δὲ] καὶ ὁ ἱερεὺς εἰς τοὺς γάμους τὰ γέρ̣[η τῶι τὸ]ν γάμον ποιοῦντι); cf. also
ll. 36–39 (sacrificial supply to be provided by the priest); foundation of Poseidonios: ll. 38–40 (ὁ δὲ
154 Sara Campanelli

may suppose that the expression οἱ ἐκ τοῦ γένους, occurring after the mention of γέρα
and [σ]πλάγχνων, refers to the principle of primogeniture in handing down the priest-
hood, if the incomplete sentence ὅταν δέ τι[—] σι τῶν ἐκ τοῦ γένους (ll. 9f.) can be
compared to ll. 59–61 of Epikteta’s inscription, where the succession in the priesthood
is regulated in the case that something befalls the designated priest, Andragoras, son
of Epiteleia (εἰ δὲ τί κα πάθῃ οὗτος, ἀεὶ ὁ πρεσβύτατος ἐκ τοῦ γένους τοῦ Ἐπιτελείας).
In Charmylos’ foundation the family group is named Charmyle(i)oi after the
founder, who therefore has an eponymic function.90 The text provides no further
information about the cult community because its function is limited to marking out
the property consecrated to the Twelve Gods and to Charmylos as a hero.
An actual definition of the cult community is not present in Pythion’s founda-
tion, but the family statute of the sanctuary he founded can be inferred from ll. 15f.,
where it is stated that the sanctuary had to be owned in common by all his children
(τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν ἔστω τῶν υἱῶν πάντων κοινόν). This fits the aforementioned fact that
Pythion and the priestess with whom he acted are likely to have been husband and
wife, as does the fact that the inscription makes reference to their joint testament (ll.
11f.).91 There is no apparent reason to suppose, as Fraser does, that the expression υἱοὶ
πάντες includes the offspring of the freedman Makarinos as well:92 like in the case of
Libys and his descendants in the foundation of Diomedon, Makarinos was essentially
charged with the care of the sanctuary (cf. l. 6); “the other sacred and profane things”
with which Makarinos was entrusted probably refer to activities relating to this prac-
tical sphere; even though the text does not specify what these consisted of, it refers to
a “sacred tablet” where the requirements must have been explained in detail.93 The
task of ministering to “those who perform the joint sacrifice” (ll. 6–8: ὅπως ἐπιμέληται

ἱερ̣[ε]ὺς ‹λ›αμβανέτω ἑκάστου ἱ̣ερείου κωλῆν καὶ τεταρτημ̣[ο]ρ̣ίδα σπλάγχνων, καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἰσόμοι-
ρος ἔσ̣τ̣ω̣); foundation of Epikteta: ll. 194–197 (οἱ δὲ ἐπιμήν[ιοι] οἱ θύοντες τὰς θυσίας ταύτας ἀποδω-
σο[ῦ]ντι τῶι κοινῶι τός τε ἐλλύτας πάντας κ[αὶ] τῶν σπλάγχνων τὰ ἡμίση, τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ [ἑ]ξοῦντι αὐτοί).
90 For the form Charmyle(i)oi, see Sherwin-White 1977, 214f.; for other cases of family groups named
after the founder of the family tomb, cf. the μνῆμα Βουσελιδῶν known from D. XLIII 79 and intended
for the burial of all of the descendants of the Athenian Bouselos, including members of his extended
family (συγγενεῖς): cf. Marchiandi 2011, 24f.; 40f.; cf. also the family tomb built by Makrinos Phil-
adelphos for the burial of the Philadelphoi (Ritti 2004, 274f., no. 9) and the funerary foundation of
Makedonikos, which involved the members of the founder’s family named Makedonikoi, along with a
cult association (Altertümer von Hierapolis 153 = Laum 1914, 2, no. 181); both cases are from Hierapolis
in Phrygia and date to the Imperial period.
91 Cf. above, fn. 29.
92 Fraser 1953, 44f.; the inscription, moreover, makes no reference to the existence of any children of
Makarinos, unlike the inscription of Diomedon where the ἔγγονα of Libys are mentioned (ll. 4f.; 11f.).
93 Ll. 9–11: ἐπιμελέσθω καὶ Μακαρῖνος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ἱερῶν καὶ βεβάλων καθάπερ καὶ ἐν τᾶι ἱερᾶι
δέλτωι γέγραπται; for an interpretation of the phrase hiera kai bebala see Campanelli 2012a, who
argues that a set of requirements concerning protection and use of Pythion’s sanctuary was summa-
rized therein.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 155

τοῦ ἱερο[ῦ] καὶ τῶν συνθυόντων πάντων διακονῶν καὶ ὑπηρετῶν ὅσσωγ κα δῆι ἐν τῶι
ἱερῶι)94 also points to the exclusion of Makarinos from the cult community, because
the task includes assisting sacrifice-performers without actually being a member of
the group of the συνθύοντες. The verb συνθύω fits the shared sacrificial action as the
way to cement socio-political and religious ties as well as kinship bonds, whether
real or fictitious. The correlated substantive συνθύτης applies to private religious
associations of the Hellenistic age gathered around the θυσία.95 The terms συνθύτης,
συνθυσία and συνθύω also appear in inscriptions concerning interstate relation-
ships, where the joint sacrifice had the function of confirming existing alliances or
συγγένεια bonds among cities.96 In the context of household religion, which is our
main concern here, the verb συνθύω occurs in a passage of Isaeus’ judicial speech
“On the Estate of Kiron”.97 The action of “sacrificing together” (συνθύειν) represents
an argument for the legitimacy of the kinship between an Athenian named Kiron, who
died without leaving sons, and the speakers, who claimed to be his natural grandsons
and, accordingly, to have a right to his inheritance. The close collaboration between
grandfather and grandsons in sacrificing to the domestic Zeus Ktesios is expressed in
the text through three verbs with the prefix συν–, corresponding to as many shared
ritual actions. Kiron attributed such a sense of family intimacy to this joint sacrifice
that neither slaves nor freemen from outside the family were allowed to participate
in it.98
Returning to Pythion’s foundation, we can conclude that in this case the iden-
tity of the cult community passes through the sacrificial solidarity (συνθύειν) which
matches the regulation concerning the sharing of the sanctuary by all the children.

94 The correct interpretation of ll. 7f. is due to Klaffenbach 1955, 123 who understands the two terms
ΔΙΑΚΟΝΩΝ and ΥΠΗΡΕΤΩΝ as present participles in singular nominative referring to Makarinos
(διακονῶν and ὑπηρετῶν: “ministering to” and “serving”), instead of plural genitives of the substan-
tives διάκονος and ὑπηρέτης as Fraser thinks (διακόνων and ὑπηρετῶν); in fact, it would be very
unlikely that Pythion founded a sanctuary in order to allow these two different categories of subor-
dinate cult ministers to sacrifice therein; moreover, the functions of diakonos and hyperetes tend to
overlap: both are classified by Poland 1909, 391f. among the sacrificial ministers; the two offices never
appear together, for example, in the lists of cult personnel from north-western Greece: cf. Baldassarra
2010; the two terms are considered as synonyms in the literary sources: cf. Balsassarra/Ruggeri (2010)
(with particular reference to the lists of cult personnel from north-western Greece); in some contexts,
however, a slight difference in function between diakonos and hyperetes seems to be detectable: cf.
Collins 1990, notably 167.
95 Cf. Poland 1909, 34; Baldassarra 2010, 355, T10; 364; Kloppenborg/Ascough 2011, 283f., no. 56
(with reference to other attestations).
96 Cf. Jones 1998; Weiß 1998.
97 VIII 15f.; this passage is often quoted as evidence for domestic sacrificial practice: cf. e.g. Nilsson
1955–1961, 1, 403f.; Jost 1992, 246; Mikalson 2005, 134f.; Parker 2005, 15f.; Faraone 2008, 216; Boedeker
2008, 230f.; Gherchanoc 2012, 74f.
98 For an exhaustive commentary on the whole passage see Ferrucci 2005, 167–174.
156 Sara Campanelli

In this respect, the role of Makarinos can be compared to that of the domestic slaves:
Kiron excluded them from participation in the sacrifice to Zeus Ktesios probably as a
personal choice, but we cannot rule out the possibility that in other cases they were
allowed to participate in domestic rituals, possibly acting as subordinate cult minis-
ters.99 This fits the meaning of the verbs διακονέω and ὑπερητέω, both referring to
Makarinos’ tasks within the joint sacrifice.100
Finally, there is no reason to suppose that a third group of individuals, namely,
the ἐπιμελόμενοι, was involved in the foundation, as Fraser does on the basis of ll.
12–14 where “people who take care of the sanctuary and increase it” are mentioned.101
Actually, these lines contain a blessing generically addressed to all those who will
look after the sanctuary over time: such expressions are connected to the hope for the
continued fulfilment of the founders’ will, which is the common denominator of all
foundations.102

4 The Sacred Space

As for Diomedon’s foundation, the interpretation proposed above for the “sacred
things” shared among the community members (τοὶ τῶν ἱερῶν κοινωνεῦντες)
includes the consecrated properties, which clearly have a patrimonial meaning along
with the more obvious sacral one. The goods listed in the initial dedication to Hera-
cles comprise real estate (ll. 1–4): a precinct (τέμενος), guest houses (or rooms) within
a garden (ξενῶνας τοὺς ἐν τῶι κάπωι) and other buildings (οἰκημάτια). The garden
was a source of income because it was rented out to the freedman Libys and his chil-
dren, who had to pay the rent in the month before that designated for the annual
feast in honour of Heracles so that the money would be available for cult expenses

99 Cf. Bömer 1958–1963, 3, 475f.; 4, 941–950; Mikalson 2005, 156; Parker 2005, 15f.; Boedeker 2008,
231; Gherchanoc 2012, 74–76; slaves are sometimes present in Attic reliefs depicting family groups in
the act of sacrificing: cf. Parker 2005, 37–42; cf. also Cohen 2011, 482f.
100 Both verbs, along with the correlate substantives διάκονος, διακονία, ὑπηρέτης and ὑπηρεσία,
appear in reference to tasks accomplished by cult ministers especially in the context of sacrificial
banquets: cf. Collins 1990, notably 156–168.
101 Fraser 1953, 44f.
102 Cf. Diomedon’s foundation, ll. 115–119: τοῖς δὲ ἐπι[μ]ε̣λομένοις ὅπως ἕκαστα συ̣[ντε]λῆται καθὰ
διαγέγραπται [εἰ]ς δύναμιν εἶναι εὖ εἴη καὶ αὐ[τ]οῖς καὶ τοῖς ἐγγόνοις αὐτῶν; Poseidonios’ foundation,
ll. 51f.: τοῖς δὲ ταῦτα διαφυλάσσουσιν καὶ ποιοῦσιν ἄμεινον γίνοιτο ὑπὸ θεὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον: this is Car-
bon’s reading in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, based on the stone; previous editors have changed
the phrasing ὑπὸ θεὸν καὶ ἄνθρωπον to the more common genitive plural ὑπὸ θεῶν καὶ ἀνθρώπων: cf.
Laum 1914 (see above, fn. 20); LSAM 72; for the phrasing actually present on the stone and for other
kinds of inscriptions which include blessing formulas, cf. Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013,
114 (notes on ll. 51f.).
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 157

(ll. 11–17).103 The next reference to funds occurs at ll. 69–80, where the temenos, the
xenones, and probably the garden104 are indicated as sources of income. The mention
of the latter two is consistent with the initial regulation concerning the rent of the
garden, where the xenones were located, whereas the addition of the temenos needs
some clarification regarding the chronology of the text. In fact, based on palaeo-
graphic and linguistic considerations, the editor princeps, L. Ross, and later editors
agree that the inscription was engraved in three stages.105 Their chronology (end of
the 4th century B.C. to about 280 B.C.) is established by Rudolf Herzog and accepted
in all later editions, including the most recent one in Inscriptiones Graecae (2010).106
It is significant that the regulation under discussion is placed right at the beginning
of the third stage, probably due to the need for further clarification about the funds
and their use. In this regard, a confirmation may come from the fact that the upkeep of
the sanctuary had already been mentioned at ll. 47–51 (first stage), but without spec-
ifying the source of the πόθοδος used for the purpose. Accordingly, two possibilities
are open: either the temenos was added to the sources of income in this third stage,
or the temenos was part of the funds right from the outset, even though this was not
explicitly stated. In any case, there may have been a financial rearrangement in the
third stage. In fact, at the beginning the income from the garden is likely to have been
directed to cult expenses concerning the annual feast in honour of Heracles (ll. 15–17:
ἐς τὰν θυ[σίαν Πεταγειτ]ν̣ύο̣υ ἑκκαιδεκάται κ̣[αὶ ἑπτακαιδεκάται),107 rather than for
the maintenance of the sanctuary as stated in ll. 69–80; moreover, in these lines it is
specified that the surplus, namely, the money not spent on maintenance, along with
the ἐξαιρήματα (“amounts set aside for specific purposes”)108 had to be divided into
parts intended for each sacrifice: this suggests that other sources of income were used
beyond the garden and the temenos. In all likelihood, such additional funds were the
plots of land (τεμένη) which are mentioned immediately after (ll. 81f.), within a set of
prohibitions concerning the use of the spaces belonging to the sanctuary (ll. 80–86).
The plural clearly distinguishes the temene from the temenos of l. 75, which must be
identified with the precinct consecrated to Heracles at the beginning of the text. The
prohibition against using these temene for agricultural purposes indirectly confirms

103 For the Coan calendar, in which the month of Theudaisios preceded that of Petageitnyos, see
Paul 2013, 382.
104 ἀρ̣γ̣ύριον ἀπὸ τῶν προσόδ̣ων [τῶν ἀεὶ πιπτο]υ̣σ̣ῶν ἀπὸ τοῦ τεμένευ̣ς̣ [καὶ τοῦ κήπου] καὶ τῶν
ξενώνων (ll. 74–76); the term kepos has been restored, but the mention of the garden is very likely, as
it is in conjunction with the xenones which were located inside it (cf. l. 3).
105 Ross 1945, 45–54, no. 311; cf. Paton/Hicks 1891, no. 36; Syll.2 734; Syll.3 1106.
106 Herzog 1928, 28–32, no. 10; cf. Segre 1993, ED 149.
107 The lines immediately following (17–23) are very damaged, but are likely to contain other duties
of the freedmen referring to preparation for ritual performances (cf. above in this paper): the eventual
expenses, therefore, must have been included in the specifications concerning the cult.
108 Cf. Klaffenbach, 1930, 214.
158 Sara Campanelli

that they were actually suitable for farming. Besides indicating the sacred precinct as
the divine dwelling and the place where the cult activities were performed, the term
temenos can also refer to some agricultural land consecrated to a given deity as the
financial support for its cult.109 In the text under examination the prohibition against
farming the temene is addressed to “those who share the sacred things”, namely the
members of the cult community, probably in order not to decrease the economic value
of these plots, which are likely to have been rented out,110 as was a common prac-
tice with land belonging to sanctuaries.111 For the same reason, probably, “those who
share the sacred things” were forbidden from dwelling in the xenones and in the oikia
located within the temenos (ll. 82–84: μηδ’ ἐν τοῖς ξε̣[νῶσι] ἐνοικεῖν μηδ’ ἐν τῆι οἰκίαι
τῆι ἐπὶ τ̣[οῦ τε]μένευς) as these buildings were evidently fit for residential use and
could be rented out for this purpose. The indication concerning the location of the
oikia within the temenos clarifies the way in which the temenos itself was a source of
income (cf. l. 75) and allows this temenos to be further distinguished from the temene
mentioned at l. 82: both were probably rented out, but the former was fit for residen-
tial use, the latter, probably, for agricultural use only. A rent contract from Rhamnous
provides a close parallel for the rent of a temenos including an oikia where the tenant
had to dwell (ll. 21f.: οἰ̣κ̣ήσει ̣ [τ]ὴ̣ν̣ ο[ἰ]κίαν ὁ μισ[θω]σάμενος <τὴ>ν ἐπὶ τῶι τεμέ̣νει
τούτωι).112 The temenos belonged to the goddess Nemesis and was rented out by a
group of demesmen for agricultural purposes.113 Based on this instance, the possibil-
ity that the temenos of Diomedon’s foundation was also fit for farming or something
else cannot be completely ruled out, even though it was an actual cult place.114
The oikia itself turns out to be decisive in confirming that the temenos of ll. 75 and
83f. is to be identified with that consecrated to Heracles at the beginning of the text.
This “house” is very likely the same oikia mentioned in ll. 56–59 as the place where
the statues and the votive offerings were to be kept, since the inscription does not
mention other oikiai apart from the οἰκία ἀνδρεία and the οἰκία γυναικεία (ll. 104–111),
which are nevertheless easily recognisable because of the two adjectives matched

109 Cf. Parker 1983, 160–168; Hellmann 1992, 170–172; Cf. Horster 2004, 24f.; Lambrinoudakis et al.
2005, 308–310; for the semantic development of the term temenos, see Casevitz 1984, 84–87.
110 This convincing hypothesis goes back to Dittenberger: Syll.2 734, n. 30; Syll.3 1106, n. 27.
111 See Isager/Skydsgaard 1992, 181–190; Horster 2004, 139–191; as an explanatory example of agri-
cultural temenos, see the rent contract of the temenos (l. 36) of Zeus Temenites in Arkesine (Amorgos;
2nd century B.C.): see Brunet in Brunet/Rougemont/Rousset 1998, 222–231, no. 52 (text, translation,
and commentary).
112 Petrakos 1999, no. 180.
113 See the commentary by Pernin 2007, 61–62.
114 The possibly multi-purpose nature of a temenos can be illustrated by a Coan inscription concern-
ing the sale of the priesthood of Zeus Alseios: see below; sanctuary buildings could also be rented out
for banquets performed by cult associations or family groups: cf. Leypold 2008, 197–199; the author
also suggests that the oikemata of Heracles Diomedonteios’ sanctuary were dining rooms.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 159

in this case with the substantive οἰκία. As the place dedicated to keeping ἀγάλματα
and ἀναθήματα, the oikia can be a thesauros, but, besides this or as an alternative to
this function, it must be considered a shrine, since the ἀγάλματα were used in the
rituals performed by the cult community and were therefore actual divine simula-
cra.115 Accordingly, the temenos where the oikia lay is to be interpreted as a sacred
precinct. The text provides confirmation, moreover, that the oikia and, consequently,
the temenos itself must have already existed with the same function as here in the
original foundation statute. Indeed, the regulation concerning the keeping of the
statues and votive offerings occurs right at the beginning of the second stage of the
text and is presented as ratification of a praxis already in force: “the statues and the
votive offerings should be kept in the house on the spot as it is now” (ll. 56–59: τὰ δὲ
ἀγάλματα καὶ τὰ ἀναθήματα ἔστω ἐν τᾶι οἰκία[ι] κ̣ατὰ χώραν ὥσπερ καὶ νῦν̣ ἔχει). Up
to that time, therefore, the “house” had been dedicated to this function, but had not
been mentioned before, probably because its existence was implied in the dedication
of the temenos at the very beginning of the inscription.
These conclusions have consequences for understanding the value of the sanctu-
ary founded by Diomedon as family cult place and assets as well: based on this, the
sharing of the hiera among the community members gains a patrimonial meaning
too.
The practice of using cult places as financial support for maintenance and cult
expenses is not rare, especially when sanctuaries belonging to religious associations
are involved.116 Significant evidence is provided by a well-known 4th century B.C.
inscription from Athens that refers to the rent contract of the private sanctuary of
Egretes, a hero worshipped by a cult association of orgeones.117 The tenant Diognetos
was allowed to use the buildings belonging to the cult place, provided that he made
the “oikia where the hieron lies” available (ll. 26–28: παρέχειν Διόγνητον τὴν οἰκίαν, οὗ
τὸ ἱερόν ἐστι, ἀνεωιγμένην) when the orgeones celebrated the annual feast in honour
of their patron hero. The term ἱερόν raises interpretative problems, because here it

115 The hypothesis that this oikia was a thesauros goes back to Poland 1909, 460f., who also exclud-
ed the possibility that it could be rented out; that it functioned as a temple is argued by Svenson-Evers
1997, 142; the ritual function of the ἀγάλματα emerges from ll. 95–97: the statues, probably those of the
other deities worshipped by the cult community along with Heracles, were arranged around the kline
prepared for the god on the occasion of the xenismos; on the same occasion, the statues were probably
decorated with the gold crowns mentioned in the inventory of ll. 120–130: στεφανίσκους̣ πέντε τοῖς
ἀγάλμασιν χρυσοῦς (ll. 124f.); from this, one could also infer that the statues were five in number; for
the role of the divine simulacra in the theoxenia rituals, see Bettinetti 2001, 211–231 (223–227, in par-
ticular, for the xenismos in Diomedon’s foundation); cf. also Campanelli 2011, 658; for criticism of the
distinction between cult statue and votive statue, see Donohue 1997.
116 Cf. Svenson-Evers 1997, 139; this aspect is well illustrated by the documentation concerning the
Attic orgeones: Horster 2004, 162–164; Papazarkadas 2011, 191–197.
117 IG II2 2499 (307/306 B.C.).
160 Sara Campanelli

cannot indicate the sanctuary as a whole, as it does in other points of the text, where
this is undoubtedly the right meaning (ll. 2f.: [Ο]ἱ ὀργεῶνες ἐμίσθωσαν τὸ ἱερὸν το[ῦ]
Ἐγρέτου; ll. 5–7: χρῆσθαι τῶι ἱερῶι καὶ ταῖς οἰκία<ι>ς ταῖς ἐνωικοδομημέναις ὡς ἱερῶι).
Among the proposed interpretations are “cella in qua simulacrum herois est”118 and
“object sacré”.119 If ἱερόν indicates a divine symbol or the internal room where the
divine image was housed, the oikia must be a shrine similar to the oikia of Diomed-
on’s foundation. Evidently, this function did not conflict with the use of the sanctuary
as a source of income. Indeed, the orgeones retained the right to use their sanctuary
for the annual religious meeting in honour of Egretes. On that occasion, besides the
shrine, they also had at their disposal other spaces of the sanctuary, as is suggested by
the clauses concerning the obligations of the tenant (cf. ll. 24–30). The furniture and
facilities he had to provide for the annual feast included dinner-couches and tables
for two dining rooms, a kitchen and a temporary covered structure (l. 28: στέγη),120
which was evidently set up somewhere within the open space of the sanctuary.
A similar management can be supposed for the oikia and other rented out struc-
tures of Diomedon’s foundation. The xenones, in particular, were probably inhab-
ited by Libys and his offspring, who paid rent for the garden where these buildings
stood. In fact, literary and epigraphic evidence121 suggests that the term ξενών indi-
cates rooms or free-standing buildings suitable for both convivial and residential
use. Furthermore, the duties of Libys and his offspring, which included providing
furniture for religious celebrations, were similar to those of the tenant Diognetos. It
is possible, therefore, that the xenones were made available for the annual feast in
honour of Heracles to allow the cult community to use them for the banquets man-
dated by the statute of the foundation.122 The text offers further evidence that build-
ings usually dedicated to residential use could be turned into meeting places for the
cult community. This happened on the exceptional occasion when one of Diomedon’s
descendants in the male line was allowed to celebrate his wedding in the sanctuary

118 Syll.2 937, no. 4; Syll.3 1097, n. 3; cf. Kloppenborg/Ascough 2011, 48–52, no. 7.
119 Hellmann 1999, 104.
120 This is the interpretation of Hellmann 1999, 104.
121 See the sources collected by Campanelli 2011, 661f.; a parallel for a xenon attached to a garden
and used as a dwelling house is provided by the ξενὼν πρὸς τῷ κήπῳ mentioned in the testament of
Aristotle (D.L. V 14) as the property bequeathed to his concubine Herpyllis should she decide to reside
in Chalcis (ἐὰν μὲν ἐν Χαλκίδι βούληται οἰκεῖν); as an alternative, she could choose to dwell in the
paternal house of the philosopher in Stagira.
122 The term which might refer to a banquet is συν]αιγλία (ll. 90f.), but convivial activities can also
be implied in the terms διαν̣[ομήν] (l. 91) and συνα]γωγή (ll. 93f.; cf. l. 141: συνάγειν): see Campanelli
2011, 659f.; cf. also ἀρ̣τ̣οφαγ[ίαν (ll. 37f.); in any case, the thysia, which was performed on the 16th of
the month of Petageitnyos (cf. ll. 15–17, 59f.), is a kind of sacrifice which generally entailed a banquet:
cf. e.g. the overview of Van Straten 2005; a reference to the portions of sacrificial meat distributed
among the participants can be seen in the term μερίδας of l. 158: cf. the same term in Poseidonios’
foundation (ll. 42f.).
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 161

immediately after the days dedicated to the feast of Heracles (the 16th and 17th of
the month of Petageitnyos).123 In such cases, the holders of the οἰκία ἀνδρεία and the
οἰκία γυναικεία were required to make the two houses available, storing the σκεύη in
some other building (oikemata: ll. 104–108). The use of the participle ἐκτ[η]μένοι to
indicate the holders of the two oikiai suggests that their juridical status was different
from the shared ownership that characterized the rest of the real estate mentioned
throughout the text. As Dittenberger argues, it is probable that the two houses had
been inherited by some of Diomedon’s descendants in their private capacity.124 The
residential function of these buildings is further suggested by the term σκεύη, which
is likely to refer to domestic furniture.125
The adjectives ἀνδρεία and γυναικεία point to a gender separation, probably part
of the logistic rearrangement necessary on the occasion of a wedding. In fact, when
a wedding celebration was scheduled immediately after the annual feast of Heracles,
the main Heraclean rituals, namely the sacrifice (thysia) and the entertainment of the
god at a banquet (xenismos), had to be performed in the οἰκία ἀνδρεία (ll. 108–111) and
the xenismos had to remain fitted out while the wedding was celebrated (95–98), as
if the god were participating in the nuptials by acting as the protector of Diomedon’s
family.126 This suggests that the women were excluded from Heraclean rituals,127 but
were permitted to participate in the concomitant wedding celebration within a build-
ing reserved for them, the οἰκία γυναικεία.128
The realty of religious associations not infrequently included oikoi and oikiai
which attest to a functional flexibility similar to that observed in the case of the three
oikiai connected, albeit in different ways, to the sanctuary founded by Diomedon.129
An Athenian inscription, on the other hand, provides evidence for a case of conver-
sion of a private house into divine property: in accordance with an oracle, a certain

123 For an interpretation of the problematic passage concerning the wedding celebrations in the
sanctuary (ll. 86–111), see Campanelli 2011, 659–661.
124 Syll.2 734, n. 36; Syll.3 1106, n. 34.
125 Cf. the already-mentioned passage of Aristotle’s testament (above, fn. 121) where the term σκεύη
indicates the furniture needed to equip the house chosen by Herpyllis as her dwelling; the testament
of Theophrastus is even more explicit because it contains the expression οἰκηματικὰ σκεύη, which
indicates the pieces of domestic furniture bequeathed to the freedman Pompylos; in Ath. 170e the
τραπεζοποιός is the minister charged with washing the tableware, which is indicated by the term
σκεύη; see also Andrianou 2006, 251f.
126 This convincing observation goes back to Paton/Hicks 1891, 76; cf. also Campanelli 2011, 670.
127 For other cases of female exclusion from Heraclean rituals, see Graf 1985, 298–316 (especially 308
with fn. 105); Cole 1992, 105–107.
128 For this convincing hypothesis, see Jameson 1994, 42.
129 Cf. Poland 1909, 459–463, 485–487; for (hierai) oikiai functioning as shrines, see Lauter 1985,
159–177 (with particular reference to gentilicial groups); for oikai belonging to Attic phratries and
gene, cf. Papazarkadas 2011, especially 164–166, 174, 177f.; an oikia, whose function is not specified,
belonged to the temenos of Zeus Alseios on Cos: IG XII, 4, 1, 238, ll. 21f. (on this inscription see below).
162 Sara Campanelli

Demon dedicated his oikia with adjacent garden to Asclepius and became his priest.
The inscription does not provide clues to the intended use of this oikia, nor does it
indicate whether the owner continued to dwell therein, but it is likely to have been
rented out to contribute to cult expenses.130
The foundation of Charmylos offers further opportunity for analysis of the values
of the spaces, as far as it is possible to draw inferences from the inscription on a
boundary stone, which is the only preserved document pertaining to this foundation.
But the very nature of this document and the archaeological context where it was
found make it possible to gather new elements, which turn out to be crucial for the
purpose of this discussion.

Fig. 5: The funerary crypt of the Charmyleion and remains of the ground floor embedded into the
walls of the Church of the Stavros, Pyli, Cos (photos S. Campanelli).

The inscription was found among the ruins of an ancient building in a locality
currently called Pyli. The remains still visible today are an underground vaulted
chamber with twelve funerary loculi along its sides and part of the walls belonging to
the ground floor, which have been embedded into the construction of a small medie-
val church dedicated to the Stavros (fig. 5). Based on these remains and on the archi-
tectural fragments found in situ, in 1934 Schazmann proposed a reconstruction of
the building as a temple-tomb made up of three levels: the funerary crypt, a ground
floor elevated on a high podium, and an upper storey shaped like an ionic shrine in
antis (fig. 6).131 The monument has, understandably, been connected with the inscrip-

130 IG II2 4969 (4th century B.C.?); cf. Papazarkadas 2011, 43f.
131 Schazmann 1934; the Charmyleion is often included in studies on funerary architecture of the
Hellenistic age as one of the best preserved examples of private heroon: cf. Scholl 1994, 261–266; Kader
1995, 201f.; Berns 2003, 21f.; Fedak 2006, 84. Roux 1987, 111–113, questions the existence of the second
storey because of the lack of evidence of stairs leading up; he has also questions the division of the
ground floor into two twin-rooms, considering that the dividing wall would have covered the holes
made in the floor in order to pour libations into the underlying funerary chamber.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 163

tion found in situ and currently built into the façade of the Stavros church. Both have
been dated between the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. The
structure of the monument as reconstructed by Schazmann suggests a twofold cult—
divine and funerary—practised by the family community: the Twelve Gods and the
heroized founder Charmylos are explicitly mentioned in the text, but it is likely that
the statute of the foundation also established a cult for the deceased family members
buried in the crypt, putting them under the protection of the deities chosen as the
family patrons.
This concurrence of archaeological and epigraphic data provides a rare opportu-
nity to compare the architectural terminology and the building to which the inscrip-
tion actually refers in order to understand the structure of the cult place and the
meaning of its various components. According to its function, the boundary stone
marked the properties consecrated to the Twelve Gods and Charmylos: “land”,
“oikia on the land”, “gardens”, “oikiai in the gardens” (ἱερὰ ἁ γᾶ καὶ ἁ οἰκία ἁ ἐπὶ
τᾶι γᾶι καὶ τοὶ κᾶποι καὶ ταὶ οἰκίαι ταὶ ἐπὶ τῶν κάπων Θεῶν Δυώδεκα καὶ Χαρμύλου
ἥρω vac. τῶν Χαρμυλέων).
The oikia mentioned first and in the singular seems to distinguish itself from the
plurality of the oikiai lying in the gardens. It might be identified, therefore, with the
temple-tomb partially preserved in situ, as is also suggested by the parallels with both
Diomedon’s foundation and the rent contract of Egretes’ sanctuary, where the term
oikia is very likely to refer to shrines. The latter text, in particular, also provides evi-
dence for the concomitant presence of a single oikia-temple and a number of other
oikiai also lying within the sanctuary. Similar to the Athenian rent contract, which
allowed the tenant to use these oikiai (albeit taking into account the sanctity of the
place; cf. l. 7: ὡς ἱερῶι), it is possible that in Charmylos’ inscription the oikiai and
the gardens represented the funds on which the foundation was based.132 This would
also match the rent of the garden in the foundation of Diomedon, obviously including
the buildings which were overlooking it, the xenones. An even closer comparison for
oikiai meant as a source of income is provided by another foundation text from Hel-
lenistic Cos,133 which is not specifically dealt with in this paper because the city in this
case is involved as both the authority in charge and the beneficiary of the foundation.
A certain Phanomachos financed a civic cult of Zeus and the Damos along with the
building of their sanctuary through the income from some land and a number of oikiai
and other structures located there. The formulation adopted by the text offers almost
a literal parallel for Charmylos’ inscription:

132 For the rent of the oikiai belonging to Apollo on Delos and for their various functions cf. Hellmann
1992, 291–294; in general, rent contracts of agricultural properties including one or more oikiai are well
documented: cf. Chandezon 1998, 45f. (rent contracts of farmsteads from Mylasa); Pernin 2007, 51f.;
for the κῆπος as a vegetable garden and for its economic use cf. Vatin 1974; Hellmann 1992, 207–210.
133 IG XII 4, 1, 79 (early 2nd century B.C.).
164 Sara Campanelli

ἀνιεροῖ τῶι τε Διὶ καὶ τῶι Δάμωι καὶ δίδωτι τὰς <γ>ᾶς τὰς αὐτοῦ τάς τε ἐν Ἀκόρναι καὶ τὰς οἰκίας
τὰς ἐπὶ ταῖς γαῖς καὶ τἆλλα τὰ <ἐ>ν ταῖς γα[ῖς] πάντα, αἷς γείτονες Ἀριστοκλῆς Χαρμίππου, Ἁγησίας
Ἁγησία κατὰ φύσιν δὲ Γενοκλεῦς, Θρασύανδρος Ἁγησία⟦ς⟧, καὶ τὰν γᾶν τὰν ἐν Αἰγήλωι καὶ τὰν
οἰκίαν τὰν ἐπὶ τᾶι γᾶι καὶ τἆλλα τὰ ἐν τᾶι γᾶι πάντα καὶ τὰ προσόν̣τα τᾶι γᾶι ταύται π[ά]ν̣τ̣[α] ἇι
γείτονες [Θε]ύδωρος Χαιρεδ̣[άμο]υ̣, Δι ο̣ μέδω̣[ν Πυ]ρρίχου, . . - - - - - - - - - - - - (ll. 7–19).

[Phanomachos] consecrates and gives to Zeus and the Damos his plots in Akorna and the houses
on the plots and everything else in the plots, which have as the neighbours Aristokles the son
of Charmippos, Hagesias the son of Hagesias, natural son of Genokles, Thrasyandros the son
of Hagesias, and the land in Aigelos and the house on the land and everything else in the land
and everything that belongs to this land, which has as the neighbours Theudoros the son of
Chairedamos, Diomedon the son of Pyrrichos, .. - - - - - - - - - - - -

There is, however, a substantial difference. The land and buildings consecrated by
Phanomachos must have been located in rural areas different from the place where
the inscription was set up, as can be inferred from the identification of the allocated
properties by means of toponyms and names of the neighbouring owners. The cult
activities, moreover, are likely to have taken place in the city, since a cult such as that
of Zeus coupled with the personified Damos of the Coans must have had a strong civic
value.134 This would be consistent with the findspot of the inscription in the city of
Kos, where the sanctuary of Zeus and the Damos was probably also built.135 Accord-
ingly, the landed properties listed in the text had an exclusively financial value, unlike
Charmylos’ land and gardens, which must have lain in the same place where both
the inscription delimiting them was displayed and the cult place was located. If this
hypothesis is viable, a rural sanctuary can be envisaged, with the temple-tomb and
other buildings (oikiai) surrounded by landed properties that comprised the financial
basis of the foundation.136 This would also fit the location of the Charmyleion, which
lies in an area that even now is scarcely urbanized.

134 Cf. Paul 2013, 43, 157f., 283; she is incorrect, however, in considering the plots listed in ll. 7–19 as
the place where the sanctuary was being built (157): first, the consecration of already-existing build-
ings along with the land can have no other aim except allocating them as sources of income (for
the rent of rural oikiai lying on landed properties see above, fn. 132); secondly, in ll. 35f. (πλὰν τῶν
γραφομένων χάριν τᾶς κατασκευᾶς τοῦ ἱεροῦ) the participle τῶν γραφομένων implies χρημάτων (cf.
IG, n. ad loc.) and refers, therefore, to the funds and not to the place where the sanctuary was being
erected; finally, the verbs ἀνιερόω and δίδωμι, which introduce the list of the properties, are common
in foundation texts with reference to the funds allocated by the founders for financing the established
activities (ἀνιερόω, in particular, when the foundations have cult purposes): cf. Laum 1914, 1, 120–122.
135 Cfr. IG XII 4, 1, 79: “inventum in fundamentis curiae urbanae”; the urban location of the cult
would be even more probable if the restoration proposed for l. 29, referring to the route of the proces-
sion, was correct: ἐκ τ[οῦ πρυτανείου ἐς] τὸ ἱερόν, even though processions starting from the city and
destined for extra-urban sanctuaries are well known: see in general True et al. 2004.
136 One can wonder whether a fragment from Χαρμύλι (IG XII 4, 1, 392; Hellenistic period?), as
the area around the Stavros church in Pyli is called by the locals (cf. Ross 1845, 45), refers to the
Charmyleion: in fact, the words γεωπόνου (l. 1) and δένδρον (l. 2) fit a sanctuary which included culti-
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 165

The horos explicitly claims the sacredness of the place, including buildings and
land that were likely used as a source of income. The marking out of the estate that
became divine property through the foundation is known from other documents
which show, like the Coan one, the definition of the borders as a procedure closely
connected with the consecration itself, since the boundary stones made hieros the
space they physically separated from the surrounding area.137 A horos records one
of the most ancient foundations epigraphically known, that established by a certain
Archinos on Thera. The inscription on the boundary stone states its function of demar-
cating a plot consecrated to the Mother of the Gods (ll. 1f.: οὖροι γᾶς Θεῶν Ματρί) and
concisely regulates the sacrifices to be performed twice a year, possibly by using the
land revenues which may have included the harvest itself (cf. ll. 14f.: ἐπάργματα ὧν αἱ
ὧραι φέρουσιν).138 A similar procedure is attested by a literary source, the well-known
passage of Xenophon’s Anabasis concerning the foundation in honour of the Ephe-
sian Artemis, which the author himself established in the Peloponnesian locality of
Scillous, where he bought a plot in order to build a sanctuary for the goddess and
fund the related cult activities. According to the text, a stele placed near the temple
recorded the consecration of the estate to Artemis (ἱερὸς ὁ χῶρος τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος)
and included concise regulations concerning the use of the land revenues for cult
and maintenance expenses.139 Finally, a very telling inscription about this point is
the “Testament of Epikrates” from Lydia, which might fall into the developments of
family cult foundations in the Imperial age.140 The text deals with the funerary cult
established by the founder in honour of his deceased and heroized son Diophantos.
For this purpose, Epikrates allocated a number of plots which are carefully listed and
identified by means of landscape features, toponyms, and names of neighbouring
owners. The formula used to introduce each plot highlights the simultaneous process
of marking out the boundaries and consecrating the land (ll. 3f.; 11f.; 14f.: ὁμοίως
ἀφώρισα καὶ συνκαθωσίωσα τῷ μνημείῳ). The definition of the boundaries involves
the physical action of arranging boundary stones on the ground, as the text seems
to make explicit through the expression “up to the horoi I have marked” (l. 31: μέχρις
ὧν σεσημείωμαι ὅρων). The sacred status of the demarcated land seems to stem from
its connection to the funerary monument, which can be seen as a locus religiosus

vated land, as the Charmyleion must have been; the letters κοψΙ[- - - - - - - - - may refer to a form of the
verb κόπτω, which appears in inscriptions concerning the protection of the sanctuaries (τῶν δένδρων
μη]θὲν κόψη̣[ι, IG); cutting down trees was generally forbidden or only permitted under certain con-
ditions: cf. Dillon 1997, 115–122; Horster 2004, 110–120.
137 Cf. Horster 2004, 23–33; Naerebout 2009, 201–208; Brulé 2012, 83–89.
138 IG XII 3, 436 (4th century B.C.); cf. Mannzmann 1962, 127f.
139 An. 5.3.4–13; due to its documentary value, this passage has often drawn the attention of schol-
ars, including Purvis 2003, 65–120, and Brulé 2012, 98–109.
140 Herrmann/Polatkan 1969, 7–36, no. 1; see Campanelli 2012b for the possibility of including this
inscription in the framework of family cult foundations.
166 Sara Campanelli

since it was the dwelling of the hero Diophantos. This is all the more significant if one
considers that the tomb, also intended for the future burial of Epikrates and other
members of his family, is likely to have lain on the landed properties the founder had
marked out and consecrated: a spatial arrangement already adopted by Charmylos
some centuries before.141
Consecration was a security measure to which the founders occasionally resorted
in order to protect the foundation’s capital, even when the main purpose of a founda-
tion was not cultic in nature.142 This role of consecration emerges all the more clearly
in such cases as that of the Charmyleion, where a physical overlap occurs between
the ritual space and the real estate (land, gardens and oikiai) that likely represented
the foundation’s capital. In this respect, Charmylos’ boundary stone seems to make
explicit what is probably implied in the expression τοὶ τῶν ἱερῶν κοινωνεῦντες of
Diomedon’s foundation, where, again, the sharing among the community members
can be extended to the physical space of the sanctuary meant as a twofold inher-
itance, based on the overlap between ritual space and family assets.143 In the light
of the reconstruction proposed above for the sanctuary founded by Charmylos, the
one founded by Diomedon can be similarly viewed as a rural cult place lying on the
family’s landed estate.144 The temene, indeed, might have lain in the immediate sur-
roundings of the sanctuary since no identifying topographical references are given.
The localization in the countryside might also be confirmed by the findspot of the
inscription, which comes from the garden of a private house located in a suburb of
Kos city, where it had been built into some modern stairs, according to the only infor-
mation provided by the editor princeps, L. Ross.145
Based on the architectural terminology recorded in the inscription, the sanctuary
founded by Diomedon can be envisaged as similar to but perhaps more complex than
the Charmyleion, even though it is not possible to verify whether the former included
a burial place for family members, since the preserved text only provides evidence
for the cult of the ancestors, but does not allow for understanding of what it entailed.

141 Cf. Campanelli 2012b, 75–83, where a close connection between Diophantos’ heroization and
land ownership is also argued.
142 Cf. Laum 1914, 1, 169.
143 This patrimonial concept of the “sacred things” can be added to the various meanings of the
neuter plural τὰ ἱερά which emerge from the Coan documentation according to the recent analysis of
Paul 2013, 340–344 (cf. also 196–203): among the uses of the term pinpointed by the author, the one
which comes closest to the interpretation proposed above is “affaires sacrées”, but in the foundations
of Diomedon and Charmylos this meaning seems to acquire a more material nuance, if it includes the
sacred space meant as family assets to be managed in common by the cult community.
144 Cf. Campanelli 2011 for criticism of the hypothesis of De Matteis 2004, 191–196; 207; 219; 231f.,
who identifies the sanctuary founded by Diomedon with the sanctuary of Heracles located in the
Harbour Quarter of Kos city, namely, a public and strongly urbanized area; De Matteis’ hypothesis is
also rejected by Paul 2013, 111–113.
145 Cf. above, fn. 105.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 167

The sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios comprised a temenos including an

oikia-temple, a garden with xenones overlooking it, and other buildings (oikematia
and oikemata), some of which might have had service functions146 as is evidently
the case for the oikemata in which domestic furnishings were stored when the οἰκία
ἀνδρεία and the οἰκία γυναικεία had to be made available for ritual and wedding cel-
ebrations. The latter buildings, as argued above, were probably private property, but
their adjacency to the sanctuary is likely, because on these particular occasions the
furniture needed for Heraclean xenismos (dinner couch and related coverings, table,
god statues and so on) could be transferred to the οἰκία ἀνδρεία and, at the same time,
the σκεύη which usually stood inside the two houses were moved to oikemata cer-
tainly belonging to the sanctuary itself, as buildings named like this are mentioned
in other points of the text (ll. 44; 48). Moreover, it can be supposed that the original
sanctuary cluster expanded over time, since buildings not previously mentioned first
appear in the prohibitions of ll. 80–86, which belong to the third stage of the text.
Besides being forbidden to farm the temene and dwell in the oikia of the temenos
and in the xenones, the members of the cult community were not permitted to use
the building located within the hieron (ll. 84f.: τῆ̣[ι λέσ]χ̣ηι τῆι ἐν τῶι ἱερῶι)147 and
the peripatos as an ἀποθήκη (“storehouse” or “refuge”). The only exception to these
regulations was in the case of war. The hieron is to be understood here as a sacred pre-
cinct, because at least one building, the lesche (?), lay within it; on the other hand, it
cannot be the same as the temenos, because the two terms both appear in this passage
and the prohibitions which concern each of them are different, and must therefore
refer to different spaces. The only possibility is that the hieron was a second sacred
precinct attached to the sanctuary in addition to the temenos.148 There is evidence,
in fact, for the concomitant presence of the two terms temenos and hieron with refer-
ence to the same sanctuary. In some cases this might have a conceptual explanation,
since temenos seems to indicate the sanctuary as a physical space delimited by an
enclosure, whereas hieron refers to the same space but in a ritual sense. This is con-
sistent with the literal meaning generally attributed to the term temenos as a piece of
land “cut off” and “set aside” to become the property of a god independently of the
use for which it was intended.149 The term temenos, therefore, can also indicate the
area of the sanctuary providing income directed to cult expenses, whereas hieron is
the area where the deity dwelt and the cult was practised. The functional distinction
between temenos and hieron can also be based on cultic need when the two terms are
used to distinguish areas reserved for different cults or cult activities within the same

146 This interpretation is also supported by the generic meaning of the term οἴκημα, which could
indicate various kinds of buildings fit for different functions: cf. Hellmann 1992, 288–290.
147 As an alternative, αὐλ]ῆι was proposed by Paton/Hicks 1891 (cf. above fn. 105).
148 For this hypothesis see Campanelli 2012, 665–667.
149 Cf. the bibliographical references quoted above, fn. 109.
168 Sara Campanelli

sanctuary or to define parts of it characterized by a higher degree of sacredness.150

This might have happened especially when a sanctuary was affected by expansion
over time.151 A distinction between temenos and hieron for cultic reasons can also
be hypothesized for the sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios, considering that the
temenos was an actual cult place and therefore cannot be seen as a mere piece of land
whose revenues were being used for cult expenses. Accordingly, it can be supposed
that the two sacred spaces were needed to physically separate cult areas reserved
for some of the deities belonging to the pantheon created by Diomedon; as an alter-
native, the hieron can be thought to have become, perhaps at a later stage, the area
dedicated to the sacred meals, if the construction lying inside it was actually a lesche,
a building which generally appears in sanctuary contexts as a meeting place that can
also be used for banquets.152 The existence of areas intended for different uses within
the same sacred precinct is well illustrated by the Coan inscription concerning the
sale of the priesthood of Zeus Alseios.153 The purchaser was granted the right to enjoy
the temenos (ll. 18–20: καρπεύσεται δὲ καὶ τὸ τέμενος καθότι καὶ ὁ πρότερον ἱερεὺς
ἐκαρπεύετο),154 but the text specifies that a particular area was reserved for rituals in
honour of a goddess who can be identified as Athena Alseia (ll. 20–24).155 This pro-
vides evidence not only for the economic use of (part of) a temenos, but also for its
internal arrangement in distinct areas (albeit not always architecturally separated) as
a function of cultic need.
Temenos and hieron would appear together again in Pythion’s foundation, if the
restoration proposed in the IG edition for the first preserved line of the text is correct:
⟦rasura?⟧ τὸ τέ[μενος τόδε ἔστω] vacat ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιτο[ς – – –]ας καὶ Διὸς Ἱκ[ε]σίου
καὶ Θεῶν πατρώιων (ll. 1–3). This reading raises problems because the temenos is no
longer mentioned in the continuation of the text, where the term hieron appears in all

150 For the various possible relationships between temenos and hieron, especially when the two
terms appear together in the same inscription, see Casevitz 1984, 85–87; Le Roy 1986, 285f.; Cole 2004,
59–63; Patera 2010, 538–547; one of the inscriptions most frequently mentioned when discussing the
semantic and functional relationships between temenos and hieron is IG I3 84 (418/417 B.C.); it refers
to the Athenian sanctuary of Neleus, Basile and Kodros, which consisted of two separate but adjacent
spaces: the hieron, where the cult was practised, and the temenos, rented out for farming: cf. Wycher-
ley 1960, especially 62.
151 For the development of sanctuaries over time, cf. Bergquist 1967, especially 57–61; Hellmann
2006, 193–196.
152 Cf. Leypold 2008, 13; 174f., 200f.
153 IG XII 4, 1, 328 (1st century B.C.).
154 For the right to enjoy landed properties and for the use of the verb καρπεύω in this context, see
Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011, 2, 70–73; note that this verb appears in Poseidonios’ foundation
with reference to the eldest son of the founder, who was granted the right to enjoy the properties
allocated for cult purposes (ll. 18f.; 28); the related substantive καρπεία is present in Epikteta’s foun-
dation (l. 72).
155 Cf. Paul 2013, 49f., 58.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 169

passages involving the sanctuary: its care (l. 6), the supply for the joint sacrifice per-
formed therein (l. 8), the wish for the cult’s everlasting prosperity (l. 13), and finally,
the sharing of the sanctuary among all of the founder’s children (l. 15). This is proba-
bly the reason behind Fraser’s proposed restoration:156 [ἱερὸν ἔστω τόδε] τὸ τέ[μενος
καὶ τὸ] vac. 5 ἱερὸν Ἀρτέμιτο[ς . . . . . . . .]ας καὶ Διὸς Ἱκ[ε]σίου καὶ Θεῶν Πατρωίων,
where, nevertheless, the tautology ἱερὸν ἔστω …τὸ ἱερόν is scarcely convincing.
On the assumption that both a temenos and a hieron are involved in this foun-
dation, one may hypothesize that hieron has the restricted meaning of “temple”,
lying within the sacred precinct represented by the temenos:157 in this case, however,
it would be difficult to understand why all of the above-mentioned regulations only
refer to the temple, without involving the sacred precinct as a whole, since the latter,
with its altars and other possible structures, generally played an essential role in
ancient Greek cult practices.158 A preferable alternative might be to suppose that both
terms refer to the sanctuary space, but with a conceptual differentiation between the
two. Thus, temenos might indicate the extent of the sanctuary in a physical sense, and
hieron might refer to the same space in a ritual sense, or to the part more specifically
reserved for cult performances. This seems to be the case in an inscription from the
Amphiareion at Oropos that forbids anyone to carry the meat of the victims sacrificed
within the hieron outside the temenos:159 it is clear that there is a conceptual distinc-
tion between the ritual space of the sanctuary (hieron), where the sacrifices were per-
formed, and its total extent (temenos), whose perimeter was the limit beyond which
the consumption of the sacrificial meat was forbidden.160 A similar conception of
the spaces might be seen in the aforementioned temenos of Zeus Alseios on Cos. This
interpretation might explain the apparent inconsistency of the IG reading of ll. 1–3 of
Pythion’s inscription, where there is a mention of a temenos that is no longer involved
in the rest of the text. Its content, in fact, seems to be consistent with the hieron meant
as the ritual space of the sanctuary: the regulations engraved on the stone specifically
concern the religious sphere; as for the rest, the text refers to other documents where
the “profane things”161 were regulated as well. Moreover, it should be noted that the
last lines of the inscription contain requirements of ritual purity to gain access to

156 Fraser 1953, 36, 37f. (notes on these lines).

157 For hieron meant as a temple cf. Hellmann 1992, 170; Cole 2004, 40; Patera 2010, 546f.; cf. also
above for the meaning of cella, which has been attributed to the hieron located within the oikia of
Egretes’ sanctuary.
158 See in general Sinn in Sinn et al. 2005, notably 1–4; for the relatively late appearance of the tem-
ple in cult places, cf. Bergquist 1967, 132; Burkert 1996.
159 I.Oropos 277, ll. 29–32.
160 Cf. Le Roy 1986, 285f.; in general, for the prohibition against taking away the sacrificial meat and
the obligation to consume it “on the spot”, that is, within the sanctuary, see Paul 2013, 358–364 (with
a review of the scholarship on the subject).
161 Cf. above, fn. 93.
170 Sara Campanelli

the sacred place (ll. 15–17): regulations of this kind are typical of the inscriptions set
up at the entrance of sanctuaries in order to communicate the conditions needed to
enter.162 The same function, accordingly, has to be attributed to the Coan one (cf. in
particular l. 15: ἁγνὸν εἰσπορεύεσθαι). On the other hand, the mention of the temenos
in l. 1 becomes understandable when one considers that ll. 1–3 contain the dedication
of the sanctuary and therefore necessarily concern the total extent of the consecrated
area (the temenos), possibly including the part used as a source of income. What
might be inconsistent with this interpretation is the regulation which states that the
hieron belongs to all of the founder’s children, who would be expected to have owned
in common all of the properties of the sacred place, that is, the temenos as a whole. It
can be supposed, however, that the children are regarded here as the cult community
of “those who sacrifice together” (cf. l. 7: συνθύοντες) within the hieron, and, in this
way, a ritual sense can be attributed to the “ownership” of the sanctuary as well.
The definition of the sacred space with its meanings and logistic arrangement is
more difficult to grasp in the case of the foundation of Poseidonios. As for the funds,
the founder allocated an ἀγρός, identified through a toponym and the names of the
neighbouring owners, an αὐλή, a κῆπος, “what lies around the μνημεῖον,” and a
half of the “rights of tillage”163 relating to a plot identified by another toponym (ll.
15–18).164 The enjoyment of these properties was assigned to the eldest son of Posei-
donios, provided that he paid the cult community the amount decreed for the celebra-
tion of the two-day religious feast every year (ll. 18–22). The properties were subject
to a bond which can be interpreted as something looser than an actual mortgage,
despite the terminology used in the text (l. 12: ὑπέθηκεν; l. 25: τῆς ὑποθήκης; l. 28:
τὰ ὑποκείμενα; l. 49: τὴν ὑποθήκην).165 This hypotheke, therefore, can be defined as

162 Cf. Lupu 2005, 14–21, 35 (reference to Pythion’s foundation).

163 The term ἐνηρόσιον was translated by Laum 1914 (cf. above, fn. 20) as “Ackerland” at l. 18 and
as “Pacht” at ll. 30f.; for this last interpretation cf. 1, 154; Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013,
109f. (notes on l. 18) interprets ἐνηρόσιον as the cash income from an arable plot which was rented
out or farmed: the scholar suggests that this land was sacred based on the Delian evidence for the
term used with reference to ἱερὰ τεμένη and ἱερὰ χωρία; Carbon’s suggestion that Poseidonios allo-
cated only half of these revenues for the foundation because the rest belonged to a sanctuary might
be supported by two inscriptions from Mylasa (I.Mylasa 205 and 206), which attest the sale of half of
a property to Zeus of the Otorkondeis: cf. Dignas 2002, 104; a comparable case, albeit concerning a
public garden, is represented by IG VII 43 (= Laum 1914, 2, no. 21; Aigosthena, 3rd century B.C.): fund-
ing of a religious celebration and a contest through the revenues from half of a garden which Arete
Aristandrou purchased from the Aigosthenitai, and where she had a temenos built (ll. 4–7: τοῦ κήπου
τὸ ἥμυσυ, ἀγοράσασα παρὰ τῶν Αἰγοσθενιτῶν δραχμῶν χιλίων, τὸ πρὸς θάλασσαν, καὶ ποεῖ τέμενος
Ποσειδώνιον); on this inscription cf. Vatin 1974, 354.
164 On the toponyms attested in Poseidonios’ foundation see Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge
2013, 108–110 (notes on ll. 15–18).
165 See Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011, 2, 141–189 for the hypotheke and its terminology, which
does not sharply differentiate between pledge and actual mortgage: both can be indicated by the verb
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 171

a pledge consisting of a “trust fund” created by Poseidonios to the perpetual benefit

of his family.166 The system is similar to that adopted in Epikteta’s foundation, where,
unlike in Poseidonios’ inscription, the monetary value of the pledged land is explic-
itly stated as three thousand drachmas that comprised the foundation capital as a
whole (ll. 29–34); the testament granted Epikteta’s heirs some margin to use this land
freely, since they were allowed to transfer the hypotheke to another landed property
of equal value (ll. 75–79). The hypotheke, however, was de facto fictitious: in the event
that the heiress Epiteleia (or later heirs) failed to provide the amount decreed for the
annual religious feast (210 drachmas) every year, the cult community was permitted
to recoup the funds by directly using the land’s income, but only up to the amount of
210 drachmas, whereas the actual property right remained untouched (ll. 70–75).167
In contrast, in the case of failure by Poseidonios’ firstborn, the landed inheritance
passed to the shared ownership of the cult community, and the annually appointed
epimenioi had to provide for renting out τὰ ὑποκείμενα, namely, the properties men-
tioned before, and the temenos (ll. 27–30). In this sense, the security system emerging
from Poseidonios’ inscription seems to be closer to an actual mortgage.
Whether in an exceptional or a regular situation, the epimenioi were entrusted
with financial duties, including the management of the income to provide for the
annual celebration (31–33) and the sale of the fleeces of the sacrificial victims; the
income surplus was spent on anathemata (l. 47f.). The epimenioi were also required
to account in detail for the money spent every year (ll. 45–47). In the latest edition
of the text by Carbon the reading based on the stone (ΔΕΙΠΝΟΥ) is re-established at
this point,168 rejecting thereby the previous reading (πρὸ τοῦ δήμου), which entailed
a participation of the people’s assembly of Halicarnassus in supervising the cult
group’s accounting.169 Thus, the epimenioi had to give their account “on the second
day (scil. of the annual feast) before the dinner” (πρὸ τοῦ δείπνου), not “before the
people’s assembly”.170

ὑποτίθημι and the correlated substantives; on the hypotheke as a security measure aimed at protect-
ing the foundation capital see Laum 1914, 1, 170–174.
166 Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 108 (notes on l. 12).
167 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 115.
168 Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 104 (apparatus); cf. 74, fn. 32.
169 Cf. e.g. the edition of Sokolowski (LSAM 72), where the amendment which had been made at this
point is neither indicated through punctuation nor notified in the apparatus.
170 Cf. the statute of Epikteta’s foundation, which decrees the annual convocation of the members’
assembly on the second day of the feast (ll. 203f.). The reading πρὸ τοῦ δείπνου weakens the thesis of
A. Wittenburg 1998, especially 453, who considers the involvement of a civic institution in Poseidoni-
os’ foundation as an indication that family associations, particularly those of Poseidonios and Epikte-
ta, aimed at breaking the boundaries between the private and public sphere in order to reaffirm their
prestige of local established aristocracy in the changed socio-political conditions of the Hellenistic
age; however, the author’s remarks on the adoption of civic procedures and language by these family
cult foundations remain valid: on this point see also Stavrianopoulou 2006, especially 300 and 302.
172 Sara Campanelli

Unlike the texts seen so far, the inscription of Poseidonios does not refer explicitly
to the sacred status of land and buildings: indeed, the verb used to indicate the allo-
cation of properties for cult purposes is ὑποτίθημι, which refers to the bond to which
they were subject, rather than to their sacredness, in contrast with the verb ἀνατίθημι
and the adjective ἱερός in the Coan family cult foundations. The sacred status of the
land ἐμ Μελαιναῖς, allocated as a pledge by Epikteta, is all the more doubtful since
her heirs had the option of transferring the hypotheke to another property. The prop-
erties of the gods were theoretically inalienable and unexchangeable, but quite a high
degree of flexibility in the actual management of the sacred land must be taken into
account.171 Sacred land, for example, could be mortgaged by cities,172 and there are
cases in which assets belonging to deities worshipped by cult groups were alienat-
ed;173 moreover, the special status of land belonging to gods could be disputed. This
is why claims to sacredness had to be bolstered by regulations and administrative
procedures ensuring the correct use of the sacred properties.174 As far as Poseidonios’
foundation is concerned, the sacredness can be implied at least in the terms temenos
and perhaps ἐνηρόσιον, as the latter seems to appear exclusively in connection with
ἱερὰ τεμένη and ἱερὰ χωρία.175
As for the places intended for cult activities, it is difficult to determine how they
were conceived and arranged. The αὐλή, the κῆπος and the μνημεῖον of l. 17 prob-
ably formed one and the same complex, as they are mentioned in close sequence
and without any clarification of their location, unlike the plots mentioned immedi-
ately before and after this line. However, the phrasing of the text does not completely
rule out the possibility that the mnemeion and its attached properties lay in the same
place as the agros ἐν Ἀστυπ̣α̣λαίαι. While a funerary building attached to other struc-
tures and surrounded by land fit for agricultural use (τὰ περὶ τὸ μνημεῖον) is perfectly
plausible,176 the picture is complicated by the temenos being mentioned for the first
time at l. 29, where its shared ownership is decreed in the event that the eldest son of
Poseidonios fails to fulfil his obligations (τὸ δὲ τέμενος εἶναι [κο]ι ̣νόν). The temenos is

171 Cf. Isager/Skydsgaard 1992, 182; Horster 2004, 12f.; Horster 2010, 444; cf. above, fn. 18.
172 Cf. Dignas 2002, 27f.; Horster 2004, 47–49; Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011, 2, 34f.
173 See Papazarkadas 2011, 197–204, for the alienation of properties belonging to Attic orgeonic
groups.
174 In this respect, the most debated and emblematic case is the dispute over the Hiera Orgas, the
sacred land of Demeter and Kore lying on the boundary between Athens and Megara: see now the
overview of Papazarkadas 2011, 244–259.
175 Cf. above, fn. 163.
176 Cf. Kubińska 1968, 142–147 (funerary gardens and their possible use as a source of income);
129–132, 163 (land surrounding the funerary monument); 148–150 (structures around the funerary
monument); Ritti 2004, 470f., 509f. (with particular reference to Hierapolis of Phrygia in the Imperial
period); Vatin 1974, 355 (with reference to the kepos of Poseidonios’ inscription); Carroll-Spillecke
1989, 38, 58.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 173

Fig. 6: Reconstruction of the Charmyleion by P. Schazmann (taken from Schazmann 1934, 117, Abb. 5).

mentioned separately from the other goods liable to become the property of the cult
community in the same situation (l. 28: εἶναι τὰ ὑποκείμενα κ[οι]νά). The latter are
likely to be the same as the ἀγρός and the ἐνηρόσιον of ll. 15f. and 18 respectively, but
it is not clear whether the funerary monument and its related properties are implied
in the expression τὰ ὑποκείμενα as well. If this is the case, the temenos has to be con-
sidered as an additional space, but could not be a mere piece of land used as a source
of income: indeed, although it was rented out and was therefore fit for residential or
agricultural use, it was also deemed appropriate for displaying the stele on which
the text under examination was inscribed (ll. 49–51), and thus had to be an actual
sacred precinct intended for worship. In fact, when the temenos was an agricultural
plot lying elsewhere from the sanctuary of the deity who owned it, it was more com-
monly equipped with boundary stones which demarcated its divine ownership; on
the other hand, rent contracts of sacred land and regulations concerning its use were
usually displayed in the sanctuaries.177 As a parallel, the engraved base bearing the

177 Cf. Horster 2010, 441f., 454f.; a good example of boundary stones demarcating sacred land not
physically attached to a sanctuary is provided by a series of horoi from Aegina: cf. Polinskaya 2009.
174 Sara Campanelli

“Testament of Epikteta” can be considered: it was obviously set up in the cult place
(Il. 273–276) and not in the landed property which Epikteta had allocated as a pledge
to ensure the annual payment of the amount decreed for cult expenses. Similarly,
the block inscribed with the foundation of Diomedon is likely to have been placed in
the sacred precinct, especially if the restoration of the deictic τόδε at l. 1 is correct:
Δ̣[ιομέδων ἀνέθηκ]ε τὸ τ̣έμ̣ε̣νος [τόδε].
If the temenos and the mnemeion were two different structures, the former could
have been dedicated to the cult of the gods (Apollo of Telmessos, Zeus Patroos, and
the Mother of the Gods) and the latter to the burial of Poseidonios’ parents, Posei-
donios himself along with his wife and, probably, other family members, as was the
case in the Coan Charmyleion. A distinction between two sacred areas based on their
different cultic functions would find correspondence in the sanctuary completed by
Epikteta, which consisted of a Mouseion, dedicated to the cult of the Muses, and a
temenos, where the funerary monuments of the heroized family members stood (cf. ll.
35f.; 41–51).178 The two areas must have been distinct but adjacent since the inscribed
base that supported the lost statues of Epikteta and her two sons (fig. 7) was placed in
the Mouseion instead of the temenos, which could be envisaged as the most suitable
location because it was specifically dedicated to the commemoration of the deceased
family members. Epikteta’s inscription, however, attests that the temenos was meant
also as a funerary precinct: because of this, the possibility cannot be ruled out that
in Poseidonios’ inscription, too, the temenos was a funerary precinct including the
mnemeion and the attached properties.179 In this case, the arrangement would be
similar to that of the Charmyleion, where one building, surrounded by other struc-
tures, gardens, and land, was probably used for both the funerary and the divine cult.
In contrast, the ἀγρός and the ἐνηρόσιον of ll. 15f. and 18 respectively were located
elsewhere, as is shown by the topographical clarification concerning them. It cannot
be ruled out, however, that the mnemeion was also ἐν Ἀστυπ̣α̣λαίαι, like the ἀγρός: if
this was the case, the funerary monument and the temenos have to be considered as
two different structures, even though the comparison to the other family sanctuaries/
tombs from Cos and Thera speaks in favour of an adjacency of (if not overlap between)
the areas dedicated to the divine and the funerary cults respectively.
The absence of explicit reference to the structures used for the worship of the
gods might be surprising, because they played an essential role in the cult as the
recipients of the sacrifices (ll. 36–38). Setting aside the Theran Mouseion, whose cultic
function is self-evident, the architectural terminology of Diomedon’s inscription also
provides clues to structures connected in some way to the divine cult (temenos, oikia,

178 Cf. Wittenburg, 139–143.

179 Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 109 (notes on l. 17) only touches on this possibility, but
the comparison with the temenos and the kepos of Diomedon’s foundation is not completely satisfac-
tory because these were not specifically funerary in nature.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 175

Fig. 7: Reconstruction of the base bearing the “Testament of Epikteta” with the statues originally
arranged on its top (taken from Wittenburg 1990, Tav. 2).

hieron), and the same goes for the inscriptions of Pythion (hieron) and Charmylos
(oikia). As for Poseidonios’ inscription, some clues in this respect might come from
the term αὐλή, which is attested in connection with sanctuaries as a courtyard where
statues, stelae and votive offerings could be displayed.180 If this was the case, the
αὐλή of Poseidonios’ inscription might also be the place where the votive offerings
mentioned at l. 48 were arranged. A good example of an αὐλή used for this and other
purposes is the so-called “Établissement des Poseidoniastes de Bérytos” on Delos,
since it is the cult and meeting place of a private religious association, albeit ethnic
in nature. In an honorary inscription to one of its benefactors, the Roman banker
Marcus Minatius Sextus, the association of the “Berytian Merchants, Shippers and
warehouse Workers” decreed the location of his statue in “a place chosen by him
in the courtyard […] or in whatever other place he may decide, except a place in the
temples and the porticos”.181 The architectural complex, which is relatively well pre-

180 See Pippidi 1966, 90–93; cf. e.g. IG II2 1329: the honorary decree for Chaireas Dionysiou, secretary
of the Attic orgeones of the Mother of the Gods, was to be displayed in the courtyard of the sanctuary
(ll. 28f.: ἀναγράψαι δὲ τόδε τὸ ψήφισμα εἰς στήλην λιθίνην καὶ στῆσαι ἐν τεῖ αὐλεῖ τοῦ ἱεροῦ).
181 I.Délos 1520 (after 153/152 B.C.), ll. 23–25; translation (slightly modified) from Ascough/Harland/
Kloppenborg 2012, 136–139, no. 224.
176 Sara Campanelli

served, includes three courtyards.182 The aule mentioned in the inscription is proba-
bly to be identified with the courtyard indicated by the letter X on the plan drawn by
Picard (fig. 8), because it was a cultic and representative place (“cour d’honneur”), as
has been inferred from the findings in situ (altars and an exedra intended for display-
ing honorary statues) and from its proximity to the most sacred area of the complex
with rooms serving as shrines.183

Fig. 8: Plan of the “Établissement des Poseidoniastes de Bérytos”, Delos (taken from Trümper 2002,
267, Abb. 1)

By comparison, the αὐλή seems to be more rarely attested in the terminology spe-
cifically concerned with funerary architecture,184 even though monumental tombs

182 Cf. Picard 1921, 77–112; for a concise description of the structure of this building as a whole, see
Trümper 2002, 266 with Abb. 1 (plan based on Picard 1921, pl. I).
183 Cf. Bruneau 1970, 623–626; cf. Hellmann 1992, 60f.; for a description of the courtyard X and the
findings in situ, see Picard 1921, 21–33.
184 The term is not listed among the Greek words analyzed by Kubińska 1968 (see Index, 175–178)
in her work on the architectural terminology referring to the funerary monuments of Asia Minor: the
only (but rare) terms which come close to αὐλή are περίαυλον and περιαύλιον, which seem to refer
to the land surrounding the funerary monument (132, 163); see Sartre in Lewis/Sartre-Fauriat/Sartre
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 177

of the Hellenistic age with various buildings or rooms organized around (peristyle)
courts are archaeologically known.185 On the other hand, we cannot ignore the fact
that the term is frequently used in connection with farmsteads, all the more so as
this use is attested in Caria. Even though αὐλή literally indicates the courtyard of the
farmstead, it seems also to have been used to refer to the estate as a whole as a pars
pro toto.186 With regard to the inscription being examined, it is interesting to note that
in some cases funerary monuments have been discovered within or in close prox-
imity to Anatolian farmsteads dating from the Classical age onwards. These burials
must have belonged to the owners of the properties concerned.187 The inclusion of
Poseidonios’ inscription in a similar framework might entail a location of the mne-
meion-complex in the countryside. Even though an urban localization of properties
fitted for agricultural use cannot always be ruled out,188 the presence of the funerary
monument point to a rural structure. The findspot of the stele, nevertheless, does
not help in this respect, because at its discovery it was broken in several fragments
(later recomposed), which were built into the house of Hadji Captan, not far west of
the Maussolleion terrace, that is, within the city walls of Halicarnassus.189 That this
was the original location of the stone, however, is unlikely, because the whole action
of Poseidonios is the result of a private initiative, without any involvement of the city,
which was the only authority entitled to bestow the honour of burial within the urban
centre on prominent citizens and their families.190 If it was located outside the city,

1996, 87, no. 52, for an inscription from Hauran (Boṣrā al-Ḥarīri), which records the building of a
μνημῖον and an αὐλή in front of it: the latter has been interpreted as a “résidence à cour”; a similar
interpretation can be found in Sartre-Fauriat 2001, 19f., with regard to other inscriptions from Hauran
showing the construction of tombs near aulai: the author does not rule out the possibility that αὐλή
indicates the precinct of the tomb (possibly including a funerary garden), but points out that αὐλή as
a rural court-residence is more frequent; based on this, she hypothesizes that the tombs concerned
were built in close proximity to country dwellings or within their courtyards; note, however, that the
context of Hauran is obviously different from that of the Halicarnassus inscription.
185 For instance, the Heroon of Kalydon and the Heroon I of Milet: see Kader 1995, 205–211 with Abb.
3.4 and 3.6.
186 Cf. Hellmann 1992, 59f.; Schuler 1998, 59–61; Chandezon 1998, 43–46.
187 Cf. Geppert 1996; Hailer 2000; Lohmann 1999, notably 454–456, 464; Chandezon 2003, 204, 213;
Carstens 2004, 50–52; isolated funerary periboloi of the Classical period found in the Attic countryside
have been connected to family farmsteads or landed properties: cf. Marchiandi 2011, 107–109 (with
interesting reference to literary sources which highlight the praxis of placing the tomb on one’s land-
ed property), 158–160; a similar feature has been observed in the north-Aegean area (e.g. present-day
Bulgaria), where imposing mound burials located in isolated sites have been discovered: Archibald
2013, 297–300; for the location of these tombs see 151, fig. 4.7; 153, fig. 4.8.
188 Cf. Schuler 1998, 60f. with fn. 18.
189 Cf. Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 101.
190 For the same reason Carbon in Carbon/Pirenne-Delforge 2013, 109, admits the possibility that
Poseidonios’ stele is a pierre errante; on the burial within the city in the Hellenistic age, see Gauthier
1985, 60–66; Chiricat 2005; Galli 2007–2008; Ehrhardt 2008.
178 Sara Campanelli

the cult complex established by Poseidonios would join the Charmyleion and proba-
bly the sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios in the type of family sanctuaries/tombs
erected on the estate belonging to the family.
Since Epikteta’s foundation provides a close comparison for land allocated as a
pledge (but also for the arrangement of the cult complex established by Poseidonios),
some of its features have already been mentioned, but more is needed to complete the
picture. By all appearances, the funds on which the foundation was based came from
Epikteta’s personal possessions: the plots allocated as a pledge on the total amount
of the foundation funds (3,000 drachmas) are defined as αὐτόκτητα χωρία (l. 32),
namely, properties personally held by Epikteta, even though the way in which they
were acquired remained unspecified. These have to be distinguished from her other
means to which the text refers, τὰ ἄλλα μοι ὑπάρχοντα (ll. 37f.), probably connected
with Epikteta’s paternal inheritance, including her dowry.191 Since Epikteta is named
as the executor of the last will of her husband and then of her second deceased son
(cf. ll. 7–27),192 the issue remains open as to whether the directions they gave her on
the point of death included endowments aimed at bringing the project to comple-
tion.193 As far as it is possible to understand from the mere textual data, the prop-
erty allocated for funding the cult institution seems to fall into the category of the
ματρῶια.194 In accordance with the legitimate inheritance rights, Epikteta’s assets
were bequeathed to her daughter Epiteleia and subsequently to her descendants (ll.
30–41). All of the related obligations rested on the heirs, including the annual remit-
tance of the income intended for the religious meeting of the cult community (210
drachmas),195 but the management of this amount was in the hands of the κοινὸν τοῦ
ἀνδρείου τῶν συγγενῶν. For this purpose, a complex administrative system, hierar-
chical in nature, was enacted in the foundation statute which immediately follows
Epikteta’s will (ll. 109–288). The community officials were appointed annually by
the members’ assembly (σύλλογος), which was the highest deliberative authority of
the association and probably consisted of the twenty-five men listed in ll. 81–93 of
the testament, but their sons were also almost certainly included in the number of
councillors, because the text specifies that they were to attain membership in the
cult community with full rights at the end of the ephebia (ll. 135–139; cf. ll. 96f.).196 An
administrator (ἀρτυτήρ) was entrusted with the collection of the annual income from

191 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 73, 85–88; Stavrianopoulou 2006, 141, 152f.; see Velissaropoulos-Karakostas
2011, 2, 52–54, on the αὐτόκτητα possessions and on the distinction between them and those that
women acquired by inheritance or dowry (with reference to the “Testament of Epikteta”).
192 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 84; Stavrianopoulou 2006, 297–300.
193 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 77–79; Stavrianopoulou 2006, 142.
194 On the ματρῶια and πατρῶια goods cf. Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011, 2, 48–50.
195 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 74f.
196 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 112–114.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 179

Epikteta’s heirs and with distributing it as required (ll. 221–229).197 He was subordi-
nate to a supervisor (ἐπίσσοφος; cf. ll. 223f.), who was in charge of the accounting as a
whole (ll. 213–215) along with many other duties connected with overseeing the obser-
vance of the testament and statute (ll. 205–207); his tasks also included the role of
secretary, as he had to draw up the documents relating to the association (lists of the
officials, payments of any fines incurred in violations against the decreed regulations,
decisions made by the association: ll. 207–213).198 All of the male members of the asso-
ciation had to serve in turn as cult ministers (epimenioi). They were obliged to fulfil
the office once at their own expense in order of seniority, supplying wine, crowns,
musical entertainment and perfumed oil (ll. 134–141), whereas the sacrificial victims
were probably paid for by the association. After all of the community members had
served as cult ministers at their own expense, the three epimenioi appointed every
year received the necessary funds from the administrator (ll. 155–161).199 Because of
this free service obligation, the association had, at least in the early period of its life,
an income surplus which was invested in the form of loans by specifically appointed
officials (ἐγδανεισταί: ll. 146–155).200 Several measures were taken in order to protect
the foundation, including fines and penalties (such as temporary exclusion from the
cult community) as well as the appointment of special committees called to intervene
in any violations against the testament and the statute (241–254).201
A similar balance between inheritance rights and management rights can be
seen with respect to the cult place, which was bequeathed to Epiteleia as the legit-
imate heiress, but was submitted to the control of the cult community in order to
ensure its proper use in accordance with Epikteta’s will (ll. 35–57). As mentioned,
the cult place was made up of two components corresponding to the twofold cult
practised by the koinon. There are no clues to the structure of the Mouseion, which
might have consisted of a temple or an open-air precinct with an altar inside.202 In
both cases, however, dining structures must have been included, as the text states
that the annual three-day meeting, during which at least one community meal was

197 The administrator was in general involved in the operations concerning cash management: cf.
Wittenburg 1990, 108f.
198 The first supervisor was also in charge of recording the testament and statute on the stone and
on wooden tablets; moreover, he had to appoint an archivist entrusted with the upkeep of the associa-
tion’s written documents (ll. 267–286); on the duties of the supervisor and the archivist see Wittenburg
1990, 103–107, 109–111.
199 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 100–103; see above, fn. 55.
200 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 109, 116.
201 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 111f., 116–118.
202 Examples of sanctuaries shaped like this are mentioned by Hellmann 2006, 122–126: e.g. the
Mouseion of Thespiae, which still in the 3rd century B.C. consisted of an altar, a long porch and a
theatre; cf. also 146f. for the altar as the essential element of every sanctuary.
180 Sara Campanelli

scheduled,203 took place in the Mouseion (ll. 61f.; 118f.; 131–133); banquets could also
be held in the open spaces of the sanctuaries or within temporary structures set up
there.204 Actually, Epikteta hopes in her testament for the future construction of a stoa
in the temenos (ll. 48–50: μηδὲ ἐνοικοδομῆσαι ἐν τῶι τεμένει μηθέν, εἴ κα μή τις στοὰν
οἰκοδομῆσαι προαιρεῖται; “nor [shall anybody have the right] to build anything in the
temenos, unless somebody wants to build a stoa”); this could be for convivial use,
but other functions cannot be ruled out.205 When used for banquets within sanctu-
aries, a stoa mainly served as the connecting structure for dining rooms (often called
oikoi) arranged in a row, also providing them with a monumental façade as well as
a covered space in front; there are also cases in which the banquets were held in the
stoa itself.206
The temenos was certainly a precinct enclosing the funerary monuments, here
called ἡρῶια. This term lends itself to a wide range of applications including a whole
funerary complex, a free-standing building, or sepulchral monuments such as
niches, aedicules, or sarcophagi located in the middle of a precinct or built into its
walls.207 One of the latter must have been the case of the heroa under examination,
but the text does not provide other clues to the shape of these funerary monuments.
The arrangement of a burial within a temenos might recall some open-air hero cult
places from the Geometric period onwards, arisen around the presumed tombs of
mythical or historical personalities. Two examples of this are the Heroon of Pelops in
the sanctuary at Olympia (5th century B.C.) and the Heroon of Opheltes in the sanc-
tuary at Nemea (several phases starting from the 4th century B.C.).208 A similar shape
recurs in some Hellenistic heroa which were privately built for prominent individuals
recently deceased, whether explicitly heroized or not.209 A good example, which has
indeed been mentioned as a comparison for the family temenos of Thera,210 is the
heroon of Gölbaşɪ Trysa (Lycia; ca. 360–350 B.C.) (figs. 9 and 10),211 which probably

203 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 133–137.

204 Cf. Leypold 2008, 193.
205 E.g. shelter for the participants in cult activities or display of votive offerings: on the multifunc-
tional nature and various possible shapes of stoai in sanctuaries, cf. Hellmann 2006, 212–218.
206 Cf. Börker 1983; Hellmann 2006, 216, 222–225; epigraphic evidence for a stoa built against a
row of dining rooms (oikoi) is provided by a rent contract from the Herakleion of Thasos, which en-
tails building activities by the lessee (IG XII Suppl. 353, l. 13: [οἰκοδομήσει δὲ καὶ οἴκους πέντε] οὐκ
ἐλάσσους ἑπτὰ κλινῶν καὶ παρὰ τούτους στωιήν): see Leypold 2008, 125–128.
207 Cf. Kubińska 1968, 26–31; Wittenburg 1990, 146f.; Weber 2004, 151f.
208 Cf. Hellmann 2006, 275–277 and figs. 220, no. 8 and 381; for other examples dating from the Ge-
ometric and Archaic periods, see Mazarakis Ainian in Damaskos et al. 2004, 133–140.
209 Modern archaeological language has generalised the use of the term heroon to indicate several
kinds of monumental tombs independently of the actual heroization of the individuals buried there-
in: cf. Hellmann 2006, 275–287.
210 Cf. Wittenburg 1990, 139–141.
211 See Oberleitner 1994; for the sculptural decoration see Landskron 2011.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 181

Fig. 9: Plan of the Heroon of Gölbaşɪ Trysa (Lycia) with indication of the scenes depicted in the peri-
bolos’ frieze (taken from Oberleitner 1994, 20, Abb. 24).

belonged to a local ruler and consisted of an open-air precinct enclosed by a peribo-

los lavishly embellished with friezes; the inner area included the burial, represented
by a monumental sarcophagus in the middle of the temenos, a quadrangular base
182 Sara Campanelli

by the northern wall probably used as an altar, and traces of a wooden structure at
the south-east corner which was likely used for banquets and seems to recall the
stoa that Epikteta wanted for her funerary temenos. The so-called periboloi of Attica,
dating to the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.,212 can also provide a good comparison as
they are open-air funerary monuments which gather the burials of a variable number
of family members belonging in several cases to more than one generation and to
various degrees of kinship.213

Fig. 10: Remains of the Heroon of Gölbaşɪ Trysa, Lycia (taken from Oberleitner 1994, 19, Abb. 23).

The sepulchral cluster is delimited by a pi-shaped enclosure, or at least by a wall

as a monumental façade, on top of which stood several kinds of semata and inscrip-
tions referring to the individuals buried within the precinct.214 Even though the geo-
graphical and chronological context is different, the number of sculptures charac-
teristic for Attic periboloi might recall the ἀνδριάντες, the ζῶια, and the ἀγάλματα

212 For the chronology of the periboloi and for the fenced-in family tombs predating the Classical
period, see Marchiandi 2011, 19–34.
213 See Marchiandi 2011, notably 35–46.
214 See Marchiandi 2011, notably 47–78.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 183

mentioned in Epikteta’s inscription.215 According to the finds in situ, funerary rituals

took place in the internal space of the periboloi.216
Since the text does not mention landed properties surrounding the Mouseion and
the funerary temenos, the sanctuary of Thera cannot be included with certainty in the
pattern seen so far, which shows a family sanctuary/tomb resting on the family estate.
Furthermore, unlike the cases from Cos and Halicarnassus, the cult place is not used
as a source of income; therefore an actual economic value is not added to the sacral
meaning of the place. Precisely because of this, however, a particular significance can
be attributed to the regulations concerning the use of the spaces (ll. 41–57). The tes-
tament denies anyone the right to sell, mortgage, exchange, or alienate the Mouseion
and the temenos, along with the statues located therein, or to carry away any object;
moreover, nobody was allowed to build anything else in the temenos except for a stoa,
nor did anybody have the right to use the Mouseion for personal reasons except for the
weddings of Epiteleia’s descendants. The koinon was vested with the responsibility
and authority to prevent such violations (ll. 52f.: κύριον ἔστω τὸ κοινόν; cf. l. 57).
The adoption of measures aimed at ensuring the inalienable nature of the funds
is a feature common to all of the foundations, including those intended for public
enjoyment.217 Similar prohibitions also occur in simple funerary inscriptions as a way
to prevent misuse and usurpation of the burial place and attached properties, and
the place where the tomb lay was sometimes explicitly called a locus religiosus;218
however, norms of this kind are all the more significant in foundations such as those
being examined, where a well-defined family group is called to share a cult space
for joint ritual actions which are formally regulated and funded. The prevention of
any free initiative within the sanctuary activates a dialectic between the individual
and the group which is solved in favour of the group, but it has been shown that the
cult place of Epikteta’s family was not meant as a source of income and, accordingly,
it was not an integral part of the funds. The only exceptions to the prohibition of
using the sanctuary for purposes other than the annual community meeting were,
significantly, the wedding celebrations of Epiteleia’s descendants, crucial events for
perpetuating the direct descent of Phoenix, father of Epiteleia and husband of Epik-
teta. The ultimate aim of the foundation, in fact, seems to have been the preservation
of the male line, which is highlighted through both the official denomination of the
cult community (which clearly values the male component: κοινὸν τοῦ ἀνδρείου τῶν
συγγενῶν) and the bestowing of the priesthood on the son of Epiteleia and on his

215 The sculptural decoration of the Mouseion and the temenos is briefly dealt with by Wittenburg
1990, 144–147.
216 See Marchiandi 2011, notably 92–94.
217 Cf. Laum 1914, 1, 178–193.
218 Cf. Ritti 2004, 474f., 510–530 (with particular reference to Hierapolis of Phrygia in the Imperial
age); cf. also Harter-Uibopuu 2010, notably 257–261.
184 Sara Campanelli

descendants after him. By a twist of fate, this responsibility rested on the heads of the
two surviving women of the family, one of whom was affiliated to Phoenix’s family by
marriage rather than by legitimate descent.219
The interpretation of the above prohibitions as a way to ensure the exclusively
shared use of the sacred space sheds light on the analogous regulations in Diome-
don’s foundation (ll. 80–86), where “those who share the sacred things” are forbid-
den from farming the temene, from dwelling in some buildings which belonged to the
sanctuary (the xenones and the oikia within the temenos), and from using the building
in the hieron (lesche?) and the peripatos as a storehouse (or refuge). There may be an
economic reason behind these prohibitions, since the cult place was also a source
of income, but besides this, there may be a connection between the sharing of the
“sacred things”, which the denomination of the cult community clearly claims, and
the joint use of the sacred spaces. The prohibitions aimed to prevent privatization of
the sacred spaces by single members of the cult community for uses different from
those decreed. It is hardly coincidental that here, too, an exception was made for the
wedding celebrations of the founder’s descendants, but this right was reserved for
those who were in need at the moment of their marriage: a regulation which points
towards family solidarity as a basic principle of the cult community (ll. 86–90).220 The
other permitted exceptions concern the usage of the sanctuary spaces in case of war,
but the phrasing of the text does not clarify whether the permission only concerns
the last item mentioned (ll. 84–86: μηδὲ ἀποθήκηι χρᾶσθαι τῆ̣[ι λέσ]χ̣ηι τῆι ἐν τῶι
ἱερῶι μηδὲ{ν} τῶι περιπάτω[ι] ἂμ μὴ πόλεμος ἦι), or extends to the two previous ones
(farming the temene and dwelling in the xenones and in the oikia). In any case, it is
important to point out that in emergency situations the resources of the sanctuary
could be converted to uses different from those for which they were conceived. Such
uses can be compared with the “profane things” mentioned in Pythion’s foundation,
where the reference might apply to the sanctuary’s goods, whose enjoyment was evi-
dently subject to specific regulations. As the text states that the sanctuary had to be
shared among all of the founder’s descendants, the “profane things” might have also
included possible use of the sacred spaces by individual members of the cult com-
munity for purposes not sacral, but similar to the agricultural and residential uses
which the foundation of Diomedon forbids. This does not necessarily mean that any
“profane” use was forbidden, but that eventual “profane” uses were regulated or only

219 Cf. van Bremen 1996, 214–216; Stavrianopoulou 2006, 142, 297–299, who also points out that Epik-
teta earned a legitimate position within Phoenix’s family because of her total commitment to perpet-
uating the male line according to the wishes of Phoenix and Andragoras.
220 The same meaning is to be attributed to the fact that on the occasion of nuptials taking place in
the sanctuary the gere to which the priest was normally entitled were given to the person celebrating
his wedding, along with other portions of the sacrificial victims (ll. 100–104); cf. Campanelli 2011,
notably 669f.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 185

admitted in exceptional situations, such as war in Diomedon’s foundation.221 The

latter contains another set of regulations concerning the management of the sacred
spaces (ll. 43–47): besides the prohibitions of sale and mortgage, appropriating the
temenos and the attached buildings to oneself (ἐξιδιάζεσθαι) is also forbidden. The
verb ἐξιδιάζεσθαι is formed upon ἴδιος (“one’s own”, “private”, “personal”), which is
the opposite of κοινός,222 and therefore calls attention, again, to sharing as the only
acceptable way to properly enjoy the spaces.
The dialectic between idion and koinon as a common feature in the sphere of
private associations can be illustrated through two examples, different in nature but
both involving the management of community spaces. The first concerns the three
decrees issued by the gentilicial group of the Klytidai on Chios in order to endorse the
construction of an οἶκος τεμένιος ἱερός, also called κοινὸς οἶκος (4th century B.C.).223
This “sacred house belonging to the temenos”, or “shared house”, was intended for
keeping the ἱερὰ τὰ κοινά, otherwise indicated as τὰ πατρῶια ἱερά, that is, the ances-
tral sacred objects of the community which were previously preserved in the ἰδιωτικαὶ
οἰκίαι, probably understood as single families which belonged to the Klytidai and
had been the privileged holders of the hiera up to that time. The transfer of these to
the shared house certainly aimed at cementing the group identity on a more egal-
itarian basis through a wider sharing of the sacred objects, which thereby became
really koina. The process toward the koinon is fulfilled in the third decree, through the
clause which sanctions the collective enjoyment (ll. 27f.: χρῆσθαι Κλυτίδας κοινῆι) of
the house and the plot surrounding it, forbidding individual usage by any person or
group (φατρία).224
The second example is a passage of Theophrastus’ testament, which Laum
includes in the number of the foundations he collects.225 The text, in fact, shows many

221 For the relationship between the regulations concerning the usage of spaces in Diomedon’s foun-
dation and the “profane things” of Pythion’s foundation, see Campanelli 2012a, especially 87–90,
where reference is also made to sacred laws which forbid or limit individual uses of material resources
belonging to sanctuaries.
222 Cf. Liddell/Scott/Jones 1968, s.v. ἐξιδιάζομαι and ἴδιος.
223 Reference is made to the edition of Graf 1985, 428f., no. 3; the considerations which follow are
based on the interpretation of this inscription by Brulé 1998 (= Brulé 2007, 385–403).
224 For the interpretation of the word φατρία see Brulé 1998, 317f.
225 D.L. V 52, 9–54, 6 (= Laum 1914, 2, no. 15, not including the full passage); Dareste/Haussoulli-
er/Reinach 1898, 108, compare Epikteta’s foundation with Theophrastus’ testament in view of both
the inalienable nature of the private properties allocated as cult/meeting places and the designation
by name of those having the right to membership in the respective communities; the authors argue,
however, that the juridical status of the two were different, since the philosophical communities had
no legal personality; in their view, this is demonstrated by the way in which Theophrastus’ bequest
was handed down to subsequent successors as can be reconstructed through the testaments of the
two peripatetic philosophers, Strato and Lyco, who seem to have become, in succession, the exclusive
holders of the property allocated by Theophrastus for the philosophical activities; cf. D.L. V 70 for
186 Sara Campanelli

similarities with the foundations examined here. The bequest of the philosopher was
to the benefit of a well-defined group of κοινωνοῦντες whose names are listed. They
were called to share the κῆπον καὶ τὸν περίπατον καὶ τὰς οἰκίας τὰς πρὸς τῷ κήπῳ
πάσας, provided that they owned these spaces in common and enjoyed them in terms
of familiarity and friendship (ὡς ἂν ἱερὸν κοινῇ κεκτημένοις καὶ τὰ πρὸς ἀλλήλους
οἰκείως καὶ φιλικῶς χρωμένοις) for the established purpose, namely, joint philosophic
practice. The estate, which was conceived as sacred (ὡς ἂν ἱερόν), was declared to be
inalienable and nobody was permitted to appropriate it for himself. The prohibition
of self-appropriation is expressed by the same verb used in Diomedon’s foundation,
ἐξιδιάζεσθαι, which contrasts with the following adverb κοινῇ, “in common”. Both
the affiliates of the philosophical community and the descendants of Diomedon were
κοινωνοῦντες, and what they shared with their respective fellow members were not
only activities, whether intellectual or ritual, but also the places where such activities
were performed.
Albeit in different and not always explicit ways, the concept of koinon recurs in all
of the family cult foundations seen so far, and goes beyond the self-evident sharing
of ritual actions, also embracing spatial and patrimonial values. Both Diomedon’s
and Epikteta’s foundations make this explicit through the designation of the respec-
tive cult communities. In both texts a number of prohibitions aimed at preventing
any individual use of the cult place, which was reserved for collective enjoyment;
however, there are some differences between the two foundations. In that of Diome-
don the physical and patrimonial overlap between sacred funds and sacred spaces is
phrased through the broad and multifaceted sense of hiera, “the sacred things” which
were to be fully shared among the community members; in Epikteta’s foundation,
on the other hand, the situation is more elaborate, since a logistic and patrimonial
distinction is made between the foundation assets and the cult place: indeed, the
plots allocated as a pledge lay elsewhere from the sanctuary which, in turn, was not
an integral part of the funding system; both were bequeathed to the legitimate heiress
Epiteleia, but the management of the funds and the supervision over the cult place
were shared among the community members, who enacted an administrative and
deliberative koinonia by means of a complex organisational system.
A somewhat similar situation can be seen in Poseidonios’ foundation, where the
principle of primogeniture was respected in designating the founder’s firstborn as the
beneficiary of the properties allocated for funding the cult, but in this case, too, the
community members were entrusted with management of the funds through the office
of epimenios; they also appear as a deliberative body in the sanction formula of the
dogma by which the foundation is ratified and enacted (ll. 22–23: ἔδοξεν Ποσειδωνίωι
καὶ τοῖς ἐκγόνοις τοῖς ἐκ Ποσειδωνίου καὶ τοῖς εἰληφόσιν ἐξ αὐτῶν). Unlike Epikteta’s

the passage of Lyco’s testament concerning the bequest of the peripatos to a group of ten friends who
intended to use it to carry on with their philosophical studies.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 187

foundation and similar to that of Diomedon, the revenues came, at least partially,
from the cult place, which thereby turns out to have an economic value too. Signifi-
cantly, the term κοινόν appears in reference to the passage of the properties under the
ownership of the cult community in the event that Poseidonios’ eldest son failed to
fulfil his obligations. In contexts such as this, the phrase εἶναι κοινόν (cf. ll. 28f.) indi-
cates an internal transition to an extended ownership which occurs completely pri-
vately, in contrast with εἶναι δημόσιον, which refers to something that is or becomes
public.226 The latter formula appears for example in a civic decree from the island
of Anaphe,227 by which a place in the sanctuary of Apollo Asgelatas was granted to
a private citizen who had requested it in order to build a public temple of Aphrodite
(ἦμεν δαμόσιον: ll. 21; 28) at his own expense.228
The same difference between “public” and “in common” can be seen in the
private status of the sanctuary founded by Pythion: the fact that this had to be held in
common by all of his descendants (ll. 15f.: τὸ δὲ ἱερὸν ἔστω τῶν υἱῶν πάντων κοινόν)
certainly fits the practice of a joint sacrifice therein (l. 7: συνθυόντων), but a shared
ownership of the material resources of the sanctuary can be supposed, even though it
is not possible to specify the conditions and requirements on which it was based, due
to the document’s brevity. The same goes for Charmylos’ foundation, known from a
horos which is by nature concise and does not specify the regulations concerning the
use of the properties consecrated by the founder. However, the shared enjoyment of
the sacred spaces by the family group named after Charmylos is very likely.
In conclusion, a brief reference can be made to the two fragments from Thera
and Halicarnassus. The inscription from Thera229 mentions χωρία (ll. 1; 3; 7), which
may have served as sources of income, and probably refers to building or mainte-
nance activities within the cult place (l. 2: ἐπισκευάξ̣[ηι]; l. 4: τὰ δέο]ντα ἐπισ̣κευ[ᾶς];
l. 5: στ̣εγνόν). The remains of ll. 8f. concern prohibitions which, however, seem to be
slightly different from those in the foundations of Diomedon and Epikteta, because the
employed formulas are characteristic of the funerary sphere: μὴ ἐχέτ[ω δὲ ἐξουσίαν
μηθεὶς θέμ]εν ἄλλον μηθένα̣ [ἐς τὸ τἐμενος· ἔστω δὲ ὁ] θεὶς καὶ ὑπόδικος τῶ[ι δάμωι
τῶι Θεραίων δρα]χ̣μᾶν χιλιᾶν, καὶ τὸ ἐπ̣[ιδέκατον ἔστω τοῦ κοινοῦ] τ̣ῶν συγγενῶν.
The verb τίθημι, referring to a person (μηθένα̣), technically indicates the burial rights
within a funerary monument (“to put someone”, that is, “to bury”); fines against vio-

226 Cf. Migeotte 2006, especially 188–190, where he points out that the concept of koinon in Poseido-
nios’ foundation has been misunderstood by Hegyi 1976, 85f., in her attempt to demonstrate the way
in which sanctuaries originally in private ownership were liable to become public; in other contexts,
however, the term koinon is used as a synonym of demosion: cf. e.g. Velissaropoulos-Karakostas 2011,
2, 36–38.
227 IG XII 3, 248 (ca. end of the 3rd century B.C.).
228 He was, however, allowed to use materials made available by the sanctuary: cf. ll. 9f.
229 Cf. above, fn. 86.
188 Sara Campanelli

lations are also a common feature in these contexts.230 Accordingly, it is likely that the
foundation from Thera dealt with the funerary cult at a family tomb, but it is not pos-
sible to determine from the surviving text whether a cult of deities was also included.
The inscription from Halicarnassus231 refers to an oikia which may have belonged
to the syggeneis mentioned in the lines immediately preceding and following l. 4 (ἡ
οἰκία ἔστω τῶν [συγγενῶν—]). It would have been interesting to know the nature
of this “house”, but from what remains of the text it is not possible to understand
whether it was a mere source of income or had a cultic function similar to that of
the oikia in Diomedon’s and Charmylos’ foundations. The reference to the polis in l.
7 (εμ πόλει πρὸς τοῖς [—]) certainly concerns the localization of properties allocated
for funding the cult.232 Whatever the nature of the cult was, it must have included an
animal sacrifice, since the σπλάγχνα are mentioned at l. 9. The allocation of proper-
ties lying within the city might differentiate this foundation slightly from the previ-
ous ones, which seem to show a more rural context. Besides this urban real estate,
however, landed properties must also have been involved, as the last preserved lines
(11–16) deal with the rent conditions of an ἀγρός.
Finally, a fragment from Cos deserves to be mentioned because it might fall into
the category of family cult foundations.233 From what remains of the text, indeed, it
is possible to reconstruct a testamentary formula similar to that in the “Testament of
Epikteta”: εἴη [μέν μοι ὑγιαίνοντι τὰ ἐμαυτοῦ διοικεῖν˙ ἐὰν δέ τι π]ε̣ρί με γίνηται τῶν
ἀν[θρωπίνων, καταλείπω - - - - - - - -].234 The other surviving words concern a conse-
cration of an ἀγρός, possibly including an οἰκία, and something else which is lost:
ἀνιερῶ τὸν ἀγρὸν τ[ὸν - - - - - - - καὶ τὴν οἰκί]α̣ν τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ ἀγρο[ῦ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ἀ]
νιερῶ δὲ [καὶ. It is not possible to know, however, whether the family of the testator
was the beneficiary of the bequest or the purpose for which this was intended, even
though the consecration of land points to a cult foundation.235

230 Cf. Ritti 2004, 494f., 513f., 539–548 (with particular reference to Hierapolis in Phrygia in the Im-
perial period); the term temenos referring to the burial place was restored by Hiller von Gaertringen
(cf. above, fn. 87) who was convinced that this inscription was connected with Epikteta’s foundation.
231 Cf. above, fn. 88.
232 Cf. e.g. TAM II 1037 (= Laum 1914, 1, no. 138a): allocation of “three houses lying in front of the
stadium” in order to fund annual libations for the deceased Pheidias and Arete (Olympos, Lycia; Im-
perial period).
233 Laum 1914, 2, 57, no. 48; for another similar fragment cf. Segre 1993, ED 219.
234 Cf. Epikteta’s foundation, ll. 5–7: εἴη μέν μοι ὑγιαινούσαι καὶ σωιζομέναι τὰ ἴδια διοκέν, εἰ δέ τί κα
γένηται περί με τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων, ἀπολείπω κτλ.
235 The same verb is used in the foundation of Phanomachos seen above.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 189

5 Conclusions
During the Hellenistic age, the creation of family cults addressed either to deities or
jointly to deities and deceased family members brought into being family cult com-
munities which were responsible for both the continuity of the cult institution and the
management of the funds intended for this purpose.
The fact that two fragments from Thera and Halicarnassus (and possibly a third
fragment from Cos) can probably be added to the documentary cluster (all from the
south-Aegean Doric area), suggests that the phenomenon, at least in these locali-
ties, might have been more widespread than the main dossier of the five relatively
well-preserved inscriptions would lead us to believe.
The comparative analysis of the texts provides a consistent picture of a well-cod-
ified family institution. From a religious point of view, a trend toward the heroization
of deceased family members is apparent, even though the chronology of the inscrip-
tions and textual data do not allow us to accept the idea of a linear development
toward the bestowal of the actual title of hero on the deceased, passing through an
intermediate stage in which they were indirectly heroized by means of their cultic
connection with deities or divine personifications. However, this old, going back
to W. Kamps interpretation has the merit of identifying the placement of deceased
family members under the aegis of a family’s patron deities as a feature of family cult
foundations in the Hellenistic age. Kamps is also right in considering the heroization,
whether incipient or fulfilled, of recently deceased people as a religious expression
of a new family solidarity more restricted than the clan, which recognized itself in
the worship of remote shared forefathers. The application of this theory has allowed
S. Sherwin-White to ascribe to the number of family cult foundations the horos from
Cos, bearing traces of the foundation of Charmylos, who has been recognized as a
recently deceased founder of a family cult instead of as a mythical eponymous hero.
The essential data provided by this document and its archaeological context has con-
tributed to further research. The result of later studies on family structure in different
places and times lead us to reject the idea of a generalized passage from an extended
to a nuclear family during the Hellenistic period. Nonetheless, Kamps’ interpretation
suggests the necessity of studying family cult foundations in the light of sociopolitical
and historical factors that likely affected the structure and identity of the family. This
has partially been attempted in more recent times, by interpreting family cult founda-
tions as a strategy of aggregation to cope with external (sociopolitical upheavals) and
internal (mortality, migration) dangers which could undermine the social recognition
of the family or its survival.
The analysed texts show the intention for self-representation in the private pan-
theon created by the founders, where a common thread is the juxtaposition of gods
closely connected with the household sphere and gods borrowed from the civic pan-
theon or from cults of sub-polis groups. The adherence to the religious traditions of
the polis and its internal subdivisions reveals a will to display all of the social levels to
190 Sara Campanelli

which a family belonged, over and above membership in the household. The father-
land’s religious customs were embedded in the family tradition in various ways: by
establishing a privileged bond between the founder and a civic god, as is the case
of the epithet Diomedonteios attributed to Heracles in Diomedon’s foundation, or by
dedicating a cult to deceased family members along with or under the aegis of civic
gods, as is the case in Charmylos’ foundation; especially significant is the choice of
deities named patrooi, as in the foundations of Pythion and Poseidonios, where this
multifaceted adjective reflects the merging of fatherland ancestry with household
ancestry.
Some differences among the foundations can be detected in respect of the mem-
bership in the cult communities and the juridical means of handing down the funds
allocated for the cult. The membership in the cult communities shows various degrees
of inclusiveness, ranging from the generic entitlement of the founder’s descendants
in Diomedon’s foundation to the designation by name of a number of extended family
members outside the direct line of descent in Epikteta’s foundation; Poseidonios’
foundation can be perhaps placed at an intermediate point, because the descendants
of the founder by both the male and female lines are included, but membership also
seems to be extended to his sons-in-law; in Pythion’s and Charmylos’ foundations
the entitled people are designated in even more general terms than in Diomedon’s
foundation, but equally underlining the concept of progeny. In general, however, the
founder’s direct descent down the male line turns out to be privileged according to
the texts which allow us to verify this (foundations of Diomedon, Poseidonios and
Epikteta).
From a cultic point of view, the priesthood is handed down from eldest son to
eldest son in the foundations of Diomedon and Poseidonios, whereas in Epikteta’s
the situation is complicated by the absence of direct male offspring, and the principle
of primogeniture is therefore reinstated by the appointment of the son of Epikteta’s
daughter and his descendants as priests of the Muses and heroes. Diomedon’s foun-
dation also decrees a sharp distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children,
prohibiting the latter from access to priesthood and participation in the sacrifices to
Pasios and the Moirai, which are reserved for legitimate male descendants.
From a financial point of view, the foundations of Poseidonios and Epikteta priv-
ilege the direct descendants of the founders over other community members in the
transmission of the legacy according to the rights of inheritance; the remaining male
members of the family associations are only entitled to manage the part of the income
allocated for cult purposes.
The peculiarities of the individual foundations might be connected, at least in
part, with individual family histories, and might mirror the strategies adopted by fam-
ilies to cope with events which threatened to undermine the continuity of the oikos
and the proper inheritance of household assets.
Besides calling attention to the necessity of studying family cult foundations
in the light of diachronic and synchronic developments of the family, these consid-
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 191

erations also provide an appropriate framework for the main subject of this paper,
namely, the conception of the physical spaces which seem to play an essential role
in the foundation system. Two kinds of space emerge from the texts: the ritual space
structured as a sanctuary, whether connected with a family tomb or not, and the real
estate which provides income for funding the cult. The sacredness of both kinds of
space is phrased through the dedication formulas in Diomedon’s foundation and on
the boundary stone associated with the foundation of Charmylos, where the adjective
ἱερός is used with reference to all of the land and buildings included in the sanctuary.
Sacredness seems to be implied in the terms temenos and hieron, which appear in all
of the inscriptions studied here, except for the horos of Charmylos’ sanctuary. The
analysis of the texts confirms the wide range of meanings entailed in the basic nature
of the temenos as a space “cut off” for entry into the sacred sphere. In the documents
examined, its character ranges from that of consecrated land suitable for farming to
that of sacred precinct housing a shrine or heroic tombs and used, accordingly, for
cult activities. Both kinds of temenos are present in Diomedon’s inscription, where
they are indicated by the use of the plural temene and the singular temenos, respec-
tively. When temenos and hieron appear in the same inscription (Diomedon’s and
probably Pythion’s), the difference between the two can be supposed to be concep-
tual or functional in nature. The first possibility, which involves a difference in degree
of sacredness, might be illustrated by Pythion’s inscription, if a temenos is actually
mentioned along with the hieron: the latter might be interpreted as the ritual space
of the sanctuary and, accordingly, its most sacred part; temenos, on the other hand,
might indicate the physical area of the cult place as a whole, encompassing the hieron
itself. In the sanctuary founded by Diomedon, on the other hand, temenos and hieron
might indicate two distinct but adjacent precincts which probably differ in their cultic
function, given the plurality of deities worshipped by the cult community; the cultic
use of the temenos is in any case assured by the oikia lying therein, which functioned
as a shrine – the place where cult statues and votive offerings were kept. A cultic spe-
cialization can be attributed with certainty to the temenos of Epikteta’s inscription,
which was clearly for funerary purposes. It is more difficult, on the other hand, to
pinpoint the nature of the temenos in Poseidonios’ foundation and its topographi-
cal relationship with the family tomb (mnemeion), but it may be a sacred precinct
intended for cult activities (e.g. the worship of the deities: Apollo of Telmessos, Zeus
Patroos, the Mother of the Gods and the Moirai), because it was the place decreed for
displaying the stele engraved with the foundation inscription.
As for the constructions lying within these sacred spaces, the most informative
inscription is that of Diomedon, which also allows us to connect some of the build-
ings mentioned with the cult practices of the family community. As implied by the
very name and confirmed by literary and epigraphic evidence, the xenones might
have served as banquet halls, and the same function can perhaps be attributed to
the lesche if indeed it is actually mentioned as the structure within the hieron. The
oikemata can be interpreted as service buildings based on textual clues concerning
192 Sara Campanelli

the use of some of them as storehouses, at least in some situations. Two residential
buildings, probably owned by members of Diomedon’s family in their private capac-
ity, were topographically attached to the sanctuary and bear names alluding to the
ritual use for which they were fitted in exceptional cases (οἰκία ἀνδρεία and οἰκία
γυναικεία). The interpretation of the oikia within the temenos as a shrine is strongly
supported by the inscription on the horos of Charmylos’ sanctuary: the oikia, which
this text distinguishes from the other oikiai belonging to the cult place, is probably to
be identified with the partially preserved tomb-temple whose remains also indicate
the monumental shape which these private temples/tombs might have had.
The sanctuaries examined here show a flexibility in the use of the buildings
which were fit for “profane” functions, too. This is why they could be rented out
for residential use or other purposes. The freedmen who were tenants of the kapos
belonging to the sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios likely lived in the xenones over-
looking the garden itself, the same “guesthouses” or “guestrooms” where the annual
community banquets probably took place; similarly, the oikia-temple was suitable for
dwelling, as is indirectly confirmed by the prohibition against it. On the other hand,
open spaces inside the cult places or immediately surrounding them could be rented
out for agricultural use. This is certainly true for the temene and the garden belonging
to the sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios, and for the number of plots and gardens
marked out by the boundary stone of Charmylos’ sanctuary, whereas the economic
utilization of the temenos of Poseidonios’ inscription is less clear, because the phras-
ing of the text does not allow us to understand whether it was the precinct enclos-
ing the mnemeion or an independent cult area including buildings to be rented out
for residential purposes; the land surrounding the family tomb, on the other hand,
was certainly used for agricultural purposes: in this respect, the possibility that the
αὐλή attached to the mnemeion itself refers to a farmstead cannot be ruled out. Pos-
sible economic uses of the sanctuary’s spaces might also be implied in the “profane
things” concisely mentioned in Pythion’s inscription.
The fact that these cult places also represented a body of economic resources
has important consequences for the conception of the sacred space, which can be
understood, accordingly, as an actual patrimonium blending family religious tradi-
tions with family assets. The concept of patrimonium fits the interpretation of the
phrase τοὶ τῶν ἱερῶν κοινωνεῦντες, used in Diomedon’s inscription to designate the
members of the cult community, as indicating those who share not only rituals but
also sacred spaces with a financial value. The shared enjoyment of the sacred spaces
among the members of the family communities recurs in various ways throughout the
inscriptions: the sanctuary founded by Pythion was to be τῶν υἱῶν πάντων κοινόν;
the temenos and other properties involved in Poseidonios’ foundation were declared
to be κοινά under particular circumstances; prohibitions against individual uses of
the sacred spaces were included in Diomedon’s and Epikteta’s foundations. Since
the Mouseion and the temenos of the latter were not an integral part of the funding
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 193

system, these prohibitions specifically aimed at protecting the meeting place as the
representation of the group identity.
The main form of protection of the shared spaces was their consecration. It estab-
lished a distance between the cult community and the spaces which fell into divine
ownership, without, of course, excluding their management and use by humans. The
separation of the gods’ properties from the surrounding territory entailed the arrange-
ment of boundary stones on the ground. This well-documented procedure finds cor-
respondence in the horos of the Charmyleion, which claimed the sacredness of all of
the land plots and buildings it marked out independently of the specific use, whether
ritual or financial, for which they were intended. By way of analogy, similar boundary
stones may have demarcated the other family sanctuaries, tombs, and landed prop-
erties seen so far. But what is even more relevant is the location of the Charmyleion
in the Coan countryside. Since the horoi were necessarily set up in the spaces they
demarcated, the mention of the real estate (land, gardens and oikiai) together with the
oikia on the boundary stone of the Charmyleion allows us to conclude that the landed
properties of the Charmyle(i)oi lay in the immediate surroundings of the preserved
tomb-temple. This arrangement, with a family cult place resting on a family estate,
might represent the religious landscape typical of family sanctuaries/tombs estab-
lished by foundations, especially so since this supposition finds correspondence in
the epigraphic data, which suggest a topographical relationship between family cult
places and landed properties, at least as far as Diomedon’s and Poseidonios’ founda-
tions are concerned. Landed properties surrounded the family tomb of Poseidonios,
even though its topographical connection with the temenos, which could be rented
out, cannot be verified with certainty; on the other hand, undoubtedly attached to
the mnemeion was the “courtyard”, which would provide further evidence for farming
activities connected with the cult place if the term αὐλή actually referred to a farm-
stead. The temene belonging to the sanctuary of Heracles Diomedonteios were also
likely in its immediate surroundings, as the text does not give the topographical refer-
ences usually seen in inscriptions such as rent contracts or foundation texts dealing
with properties located elsewhere from the place where the inscriptions were dis-
played.
The above-mentioned concepts of family self-representation and self-preserva-
tion may provide an appropriate framework for interpreting the family sanctuary/
tombs and attached properties which are inherent in this particular foundation
system. Ultimately, family monumenta might have functioned as landmarks which
were placed on the family estate in order to display the presence of landowners’ fam-
ilies on given territories. But it is not only a matter of monumental visibility: family
sanctuaries as well as family tombs, especially when they housed heroized deceased,
also made manifest the act of consecration. In terms of family self-preservation, a
foundation might have been intended to ensure the legitimate transmission of the
inheritance under the aegis of the “ancestral” gods and family heroes. This is all the
more likely if one considers that the cult places were themselves an integral part of
194 Sara Campanelli

family assets and were used in most cases as sources of income. However, further
research is needed to verify whether family cult foundations can be interpreted as an
actual patrimonial strategy from a juridical and financial point of view.

6 Acknowledgments
I am grateful to the SFB 933 “Materiale Textkulturen” of Heidelberg University for
granting me this Fellowship, which has given me the opportunity to carry on the
research for this paper. I would like to say thank you to Heidelberg University’s
“Seminar für Alte Geschichte und Epigraphik” for hosting me and supporting me in
various ways during my stays in Heidelberg. Thank you, finally, to the participants in
my conference and workshop, which took place in Heidelberg in the months of April
and June 2013 respectively. The workshop, in particular, has been a fruitful space of
discussion, which has given me the opportunity to reconsider aspects of my research
and to find new causes for reflection, as well as some weak points which deserve
further examination.

Abbreviations
The titles of the periodicals are abbreviated according to L’Année Philologique. The
abbreviations for epigraphic corpora and collections conform to SEG – Index 36–45
(1986–1995) and SEG 55 (2005). Periodicals and epigraphic corpora and collections
not included in the above lists are quoted in extenso in the bibliography below.

Bibliography
Aleshire, Sara B. (1994), “Towards a Definition of ‘State Cult’ for Ancient Athens”, in: Robin Hägg
(ed.), Ancient Greek Cult Practice from Epigraphical Evidence. Proceedings of the Second
International Seminar on Ancient Greek Cult Athens, 22.–24. November 1991, Stockholm, 9–16.
Andrianou, Dimitra (2006), “Chairs, Beds, and Tables. Evidence for Furnished Interiors in Hellenistic
Greece”, in: Hesperia 75, 219–266.
Archibald, Zosia Halina (2013), Ancient Economies of the Northern Aegean. Fifth to First Centuries BC,
Oxford.
Arnaoutoglou, Ilias N. (2012), “Cultural Transfer and Law in Hellenistic Lycia: The Case of Symmasis’
Foundation”, in: Bernard Legras (ed.), Transferts culturels et droits dans le monde grec et
hellénistique. Actes du Colloque International Reims, 14.–17. Mai 2008 (Histoire ancienne et
médiéval 110), Paris, 205–224.
Ascough, Richard S./Harland, Philip A./Kloppenborg, John S. (2012), Associations in the
Greco-Roman World. A Sourcebook, Waco.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 195

Baldassarra, Damiana (2010), “Le liste cultuali della Grecia nord-occidentale: Tipologie, protagonisti
e fenomenologia rituale”, in: Claudia Antonetti (ed.), Lo spazio ionico e le comunità della Grecia
nord-occidentale. Territorio, società, istituzioni. Atti del Convegno Internazionale Venezia, 7.–9.
Gennaio 2010, Pisa, 341–371.
Baldassarra, Damiana/Ruggeri, Anna (2010), “Intorno al sacrificio: aozos e hierophoros”, in: Claudia
Antonetti (ed.), Lo spazio ionico e le comunità della Grecia nord-occidentale. Territorio, società,
istituzioni. Atti del Convegno Internazionale Venezia, 7.–9. Gennaio 2010, Pisa, 373–384.
Bérard, Victor (1891), “Inscriptions d’Asie Mineure”, in: BCH 15 (2), 538–562.
Bergquist, Birgitta (1967), The Archaic Greek Temenos. A Study of Structure and Function (Skrifter
utgivna av Svenska Institutet i Athen 4. 13), Lund.
Berns, Christof (2003), Untersuchungen zu den Grabbauten der frühen Kaiserzeit in Kleinasien (Asia
Minor Studien 51), Bonn.
Bettinetti, Simona (2001), La statua di culto nella pratica rituale greca (Le rane 30), Bari.
Boedeker, Deborah (2008), “Family Matters: Domestic Religion in Classical Greece”, in: John
Bodel and Saul M. Olyan (eds.), Household and Family Religion in Antiquity (Ancient World,
Comparative Histories), Oxford, 229–247.
Bömer, Franz (1958–1963), Untersuchungen über die Religion der Sklaven in Griechenland und Rom
(Abhandlungen der Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Klasse 1957/7, 1960/1, 1961/4,
1963/10), vols. 1–4, Mainz.
Börker, Christoph (1983), Festbankett und griechische Architektur (Xenia 4), Constance.
Bruck, Eberhard F. (1926), Totenteil und Seelgerät im griechischen Recht (Münchener Beiträge zur
Papyrusforschung und antiken Rechtsgeschichte 9), Munich.
Bruck, Eberhard F. (1955), “Les facteurs moteurs de l’origine et du développement des fondations
grecques et romaines”, in: RIDA 3e série 2, 159–166.
Brulé, Pierre (1998), “La sainte maison commune des Klytides de Chios”, in: Ktema 23, 307–324.
Brulé, Pierre (2006), “La parenté selon Zeus”, in: Alain Bresson, Marie-Paule Masson, Stravros
Perentidis and Jérôme Wilgaux (eds.), Parenté et société dans le monde grec de l’Antiquité à
l’Age moderne. Colloque international Volos (Grèce), 19.–21. Juin 2003 (Études Ausonius 12),
Bordeaux, 97–119.
Brulé, Pierre (2005), “‘La cité est la somme des maisons’. Un commentaire religieux”, in: Véronique
Dasen and Marcel Piérart (eds.) (2005), Ἰδίᾳ καὶ δημοσίᾳ. Les cadres “privés” et “publics” de la
religion grecque antique (Kernos, Supplément 15), Liège, 27–53.
Brulé, Pierre (2007), La Grèce d’à côté. Réel et imaginaire en miroir en Grèce antique (Collection
“Histoire”), Rennes.
Brulé, Pierre (2012), Comment percevoir le sanctuaire grec? Une analyse sensorielle du paysage
sacré, Paris.
Bruneau, Philippe (1970), Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l’époque hellénistique et à l’époque
impériale (Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d’Athènes et de Rome 217), Paris.
Brunet, Michèle/Rougemont, Georges/Rousset, Denis (1998), “Les contrats agraires dans la Grèce
antique. Bilan historiographique illustré par quatre exemples”, in: Histoire et Sociétés Rurales
9, 211–245.
Burkert, Walter (1996), “Greek Temple-Builders: Who, Where and Why?”, in: Robin Hägg (ed.), The
Role of Religion in the Early Greek Polis. Proceedings of the Third International Seminar on
Ancient Greek Cult Athens, 16.–18. October 1992, Stockholm, 21–29.
Buraselis, Kostas (2000), Kos between Hellenism and Rome. Studies on the Political, Institutional
and Social History of Kos from ca. the Middle Second Century B.C. until Late Antiquity
(Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 90.4), Philadelphia.
Buxton, Richard (ed.) (2000), Oxford Readings in Greek Religion, Oxford.
Campanelli, Sara (2011), “Tra epigrafia e topografia. Su una recente ipotesi di identificazione del
santuario di Eracle Diomedonteios a Cos”, in: Scienze dell’Antichità 17, 643–685.
196 Sara Campanelli

Campanelli, Sara (2012), “Hiera kai bebala in un’iscrizione di Cos. Lessico epigrafico e legislazione
sacra”, in: Gabriella Bevilacqua and Sara Campanelli (eds.), Ἀρετῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ σοφίας. Un
omaggio a Paola Lombardi. Giornata di Studio Roma, 28 Ottobre 2010 (Opuscula Epigraphica
14), Rome, 83–95.
Campanelli, Sara (2012), Eroizzazione e proprietà terriera nel ‘Testamento di Epikrates’. Per
una proposta di lettura delle fondazioni cultuali di carattere familiare. http://www.unipa.
it/dipartimenti/beniculturalistudiculturali/riviste/hormos/.content/documenti/5.-Sara-
Campanelli-hormos-2012.pdf (last accessed: 29.09.2015).
Carbon, Jan-Mathieu/Pirenne-Delforge, Vinciane (2013), “Priests and Cult Personnel in Three
Hellenistic Families”, in: Marietta Horster and Anja Klöckner (eds.), Cities and Priests. Cult
Personnel in Asia Minor and the Aegean Islands from the Hellenistic to the Imperial Period
(Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 64), Berlin/Boston, 65–119.
Carlsson, Susanne (2010), Hellenistic Democracies. Freedom, Independence and Political Procedure
in Some East Greek City-States (Historia-Einzelschriften 206), Stuttgart.
Carroll-Spillecke, Maureen (1989), ΚΗΠΟΣ. Der antike griechische Garten (Wohnen in der klassischen
Polis 3), Munich.
Carstens, Anne Marie (2004), “Rock-cut Tombs in the Halikarnassos Peninsula”, in: Jonas Eiring and
Jørgen Mejer (eds.), Proceedings of the Danish Institute at Athens, vol. 4, Athens, 49–67.
Casabona, Jean (1966), Recherches sur le vocabulaire des sacrifices en grec des origines à la fin de
l’époque classique (Publications des Annales de la Faculté des Lettres d‘Aix-en-Provence n.s.
56), Aix-en-Provence.
Casevitz, Michel (1984), “Temples et sanctuaires: ce qu’apprend l’étude lessicale”, in: Georges Roux
(ed.), Temples et sanctuaires. Séminaire de recherche 1981–1983 (Travaux de la Maison de
l’Orient 7), Lyon, 83–95.
Chandezon, Christophe (1998), “Paysage et économie rurale en Asie Mineure à l’époque
hellénistique. À partir de quelques baux de Mylasa (IIe–Ie siècle avant J.-C.)”, in: Histoire et
Sociétés Rurales 9, 33–56.
Chandezon, Christophe (2003), “Les campagnes de l’Ouest de l’Asie Mineure à l’époque
hellénistique”, in: Francis Prost (ed.), L’Orient méditerranéen de la mort d’Alexandre aux
campagnes de Pompée. Cités et royaumes à l’époque hellénistique. Actes du Colloque
international Rennes, 4.–6. avril 2003 (Pallas 62), Rennes, 193–217.
Chantraine, Pierre (2009), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque. Histoire des mots
(Librairie Klincksieck, Série linguistique 20), Paris.
Chiricat, Édouard (2005), “Funérailles publiques et enterrement au gymnase à l’époque
hellénistique”, in: Pierre Fröhlich and Christel Müller (eds.), Citoyenneté et participation à la
basse époque hellénistique. Actes de la table ronde Paris, 22.–23. May 2004 (Hautes études du
monde gréco-romain 35), Geneva, 207–223.
Cohen, Ada (2011), “Picturing Greek Families”, in: Beryl Rawson (ed.), Companion to Families in the
Greek and Roman Worlds (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Malden (MA), 465–487.
Cole, Susan Guettel (1992), “Gynaiki ou themis: Gender Difference in the Greek Leges Sacrae”, in:
Helios 19, 104–122.
Cole, Susan Guettel (2004), Landscapes, Gender, and Ritual Space. The Ancient Greek Experience
(Joan Palevsky Imprint in Classical Literature), Berkeley/Los Angeles/London.
Collins, John N. (1990), Diakonia. Re-interpreting the Ancient Sources, New York/Oxford.
Connor, Walter Robert (1988), “‘Sacred’ and ‘Secular’. Ἱερὰ καὶ ὅσια and the Classical Athenian
Concept of the State”, in: AncSoc 19, 161–188.
Cox, Cheryl Anne (1998), Household Interests. Property, Marriage Strategies, and Family Dynamics
in Ancient Athens, Princeton.
Cucuzza, Nicola (1997), “Artemis Toxitis a Coo. In margine alle guerre rodio-cretesi e ad Aglaos di
Coo”, in: PP 52, 13–31.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 197

Damaskos, Dimitris et al. (2004), “Heroisierung”, in: Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum, vol. 2,
129–158.
Dareste, Rodolphe/Haussoullier, Bernard/Reinach, Théodore (1898), Recueil des Inscriptions
Juridiques Grecques. Texte, Traduction, Commentaire, vol. 2, Paris.
De Matteis, Lorella (2004), Mosaici di Cos. Dagli scavi delle missioni italiane e tedesche (1900–1945)
(Monografie della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle Missioni Italiane in Oriente 17), Athens.
Dignas, Beate (2002), Economy of the Sacred in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor (Oxford Classical
Monographs), Oxford/New York.
Dillon, Matthew P. J. (1997), “The Ecology of the Greek Sanctuary”, in: ZPE 118, 113–127.
Donohue, Alice A. (1997), “The Greek Images of the Gods. Considerations on Terminology and
Methodology”, in: Hephaistos 15, 31–45.
Ehrhardt, Norbert (2008), “Der Bürger als Heros: Staatsbegräbnis und Öffentlichkeit in Kyzikos I”,
in: Engelbert Winter (ed.), Vom Euphrat bis zum Bosporus. Kleinasien in der Antike. Festschrift
für Elmar Schwertheim zum 65. Geburtstag, vol. 1 (Asia Minor Studien 65), Bonn, 187–196.
Faraone, Christopher A. (2008), “Household Religion in Ancient Greece”, in: John Bodel and Saul
M. Olyan (eds.), Household and Family Religion in Antiquity (Ancient World, Comparative
Histories), Oxford, 210–228.
Fedak, Janos (2006), “Tombs and Commemorative Monuments”, in: Frederick E. Winter (ed.), Studies
in Hellenistic Architecture (Phoenix, Supplementary Volume 42), Toronto/Buffalo/London,
71–95.
Ferrucci, Stefano (ed.) (2005), Iseo, La successione di Kiron (Studi e Testi di Storia Antica 15), Pisa.
Feyel, Christophe (2009), ΔΟΚΙΜΑΣΙΑ. La place et le rôle de l’examen préliminaire dans les
institutions des cités grecques (Collection d’Etudes anciennes 36), Paris.
Fraser, Peter Marshall (1953), “An Inscription from Cos”, in: Bulletin de la Société Archéologique
d’Alexandrie 40, 35–62.
Gabrielsen, Vincent (2008), “The Public Banks of Hellenistic Cities”, in: Koenraad Verboven, Katelijn
Vandorpe and Véronique Chankowski (eds.), Pistoi dia tèn technèn. Bankers, Loans and
Archives in the Ancient World. Studies in honour of Raymond Bogaert (Studia Hellenistica 44),
Leuven, 115–130.
Galli, Marco (2007–2008), “Sema: sepolture eroiche e identità civiche nell’Oriente dell’Impero
romano (II–I secolo a.C.)”, in: Gilda Bartoloni and Gilda M. Benedettini (eds.), Sepolti tra i vivi.
Evidenza e interpretazione di contesti funerari in abitato, Roma, 26.–29. Aprile 2006 (Scienze
dell‘Antichità 14), Rome, 567–590.
Gauthier, Philippe (1985), Les cités grecques et leurs bienfaiteurs (Bulletin de Correspondance
Hellénique, Supplément 12), Paris.
Gawlinski, Laura (2012), The Sacred Law of Andania. A New Text with Commentary (Sozomena 11),
Berlin/Boston.
Geppert, Karin (1996), “Gehöfte und Gräber im Gebiet des Avşar Tepesi”, in: Frank Kolb (ed.),
Lykische Studien 3. Die Siedlungskammer von Kyaneai in Lykien. Bericht über Feldforschungen
im Yanu-Bergland im Sommer 1992 (Asia Minor Studien 24), Bonn, 39–50.
Gherchanoc, Florence (2012), L’oikos en fête. Célébrations familiales et sociabilité en Grèce ancienne
(Publications de la Sorbonne. Série Histoire ancienne et médiévale 111), Paris.
Graf, Fritz (1985), Nordionische Kulte (Bibliotheca Helvetica Romana 21), Vevey.
Graf, Fritz (1995), “Bemerkungen zur bürgerlichen Religiosität im Zeitalter des Hellenismus”, in:
Michael Wörrle and Paul Zanker (eds.), Stadtbild und Bürgerbild im Hellenismus. Kolloquium
München, 24.–26. Juni 1993 (Vestigia 47), Munich, 103–114.
Grieb, Volker (2008), Hellenistische Demokratie. Politische Organisation und Struktur in freien
griechischen Poleis nach Alexander dem Großen (Historia, Einzelschriften 199), Stuttgart.
Hailer, Ulf (2000), “Gehöfte, Land- und Viehwirtschaftliche Installationen, Gräber”, in: Frank Kolb
(ed.), Lykische Studien 5. Die Siedlungskammer des Yanu-Berglandes. Berichte über die
198 Sara Campanelli

Ergebnisse der Feldforschungskampagne 1995 auf dem Territorium der Zentrallykischen Polis
Kyaneai (Asia Minor Studien 41), Bonn, 59–78.
Hammerstaedt, Jürgen (2009), “Die Bedeutung inschriftlicher Zeugnisse für die Bauforschung”,
in: Martin Bachmann (ed.), Bautechnik im antiken und vorantiken Kleinasien. Internationale
Konferenz Istanbul, 13.–16. Juni 2007 (Byzas 9), Istanbul, 243–250.
Harrison, Alick Robin Walsham (1968), The Law of Athens, vol. 1, Oxford.
Harter-Uibopuu, Kaja (2010), “Erwerb und Veräußerung von Grabstätten im griechisch-römischen
Kleinasien am Beispiel der Grabinschriften aus Smyrna”, in: Gerhard Thür (ed.), Symposion
2009. Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte, Seggau, 25.–30. August
2009 (Akten der Gesellschaft für Griechische und Hellenistische Rechtsgeschichte 21), Vienna,
247–270.
Harter-Uibopuu, Kaja (2011), “Money for the Polis. Public Administration of Private Donations in
Hellenistic Greece”, in: Onno M. van Nijf and Richard Alston (eds.), Political Culture in the
Greek City after the Classical Age (Groningen-Royal Holloway Studies on the Greek City after the
Classical Age 2), Leuven/Paris/Walpole (MA), 119–139.
Hegyi, Dolores (1976), “Τεμένη ἱερὰ καὶ τεμένη δημόσια”, in: Oikumene 1, 77–87.
Hellmann, Marie-Christine (1992), Recherches sur le vocabulaire de l’architecture grecque, d’après
les inscriptions de Délos (Bibliothèque des Écoles Françaises d’Athènes et de Rome 278), Paris.
Hellmann, Marie-Christine (1999), Choix d’inscriptions architecturales grecques traduites et
commentées (Travaux de la Maison de l’Orient 30), Lyon.
Hellmann, Marie-Christine (2006), L’architecture grecque, vol. 2: Architecture religieuse et funéraire
(Manuels d’art et d’archéologie antiques), Paris.
Herrmann, Peter/Polatkan, Kemal Ziya (1969), “Das Testament des Epikrates und andere neue
Inschriften aus dem Museum von Manisa”, in: Sitzungsberichte – Österreichische Akademie der
Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse 265 (1), 1–63.
Herzog, Rudolf (1928), Heilige Gesetze von Kos (Abhandlungen der preussischen Akademie der
Wissenschaften 1928, philosophisch-historische Klasse 6), Berlin.
Hiller von Gaertringen, Friedrich (1914), “Ἐπιγραφαὶ Ῥόδου, Θήρας, Νάξου, Ἀρκαδίας”, in: AEph,
130–135.
Horster, Marietta (2004), Landbesitz griechischer Heiligtümer in archaischer und klassischer Zeit
(Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten 53), Berlin/New York.
Horster, Marietta (2010), “Religious Landscape and Sacred Ground: Relationships between Space
and Cult in the Greek World”, in: RHR 227 (4), 435–458.
Huebner, Sabine R. (2011), “Household Composition in the Ancient Mediterranean – What Do We
Really Know?”, in: Beryl Rawson (ed.), Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds
(Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Malden (MA), 73–91.
Hupfloher, Annette (2012), “Kultgründungen durch Individuen im klassischen Griechenland”, in: Jörg
Rüpke and Wolfgang Spickermann (eds.), Reflections on Religious Individuality. Greco-Roman
and Judaeo-Christian Texts and Practices (Religionsgeschichtliche Versuche und Vorarbeiten
62), Berlin/Boston.
Isager, Signe/Skydsgaard, Jens Erik (1992), Ancient Greek Agriculture. An Introduction, London/New
York.
Isager, Signe (2004), “Halikarnassos and the Ptolemies I. Inscriptions on Public Buildings”, in:
Signe Isager and Poul Pedersen (eds.), The Salmakis Inscription and Hellenistic Halikarnassos,
(Halicarnassian Studies 4), Odense, 133–144.
Jameson, Michael H. (1994), “Theoxenia”, in: Robin Hägg (ed.), Ancient Greek Cult Practice from the
Epigraphical Evidence. Proceedings of the Second International Seminar on Ancient Greek Cult
Athens, 22.–24. November 1991, Stockholm, 35–57.
Jones, Christopher P. (1998), “Joint Sacrifices at Iasus and Side”, in: JHS 118, 183–186.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 199

Jost, Madeleine (1992), Aspects de la vie religieuse en Grèce. Du début du Ve siècle à la fin du IIIe
siècle avant J.-C. (Regards sur l’Histoire 86), Paris.
Kader, Ingeborg (1995), “Heroa und Memorialbauten”, in: Michael Wörrle and Paul Zanker (eds.),
Stadtbild und Bürgerbild im Hellenismus. Kolloquium München, 24.–26. Juni 1993 (Vestigia
47), Munich, 199–229.
Kamps, Werner (1937), “Les origines de la fondation cultuelle dans la Grèce ancienne”, in: Archives
d’Histoire du Droit Oriental 1, 145–179.
Kindt, Julia (2012), Rethinking Greek Religion, Cambridge.
Klaffenbach, Günther (1930), “Rudolf Herzog: Heilige Gesetze von Kos”, in: Gnomon 6, 212–217.
Klaffenbach, Günther (1955), “Zu zwei jüngst veröffentlichten griechischen Inschriften”, in: Ladislav
Varcl (ed.), Studia antiqua Antonio Salač septuagenario oblata (Československá Akademie Věd,
Sbornik Filologický 3.1), Prague, 122–124.
Kloppenborg, John S./Ascough, Richard S. (2011), Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, Translations,
and Commentary, vol. 1 (Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die
Kunde der älteren Kirche 181): Attica, Central Greece, Macedonia, Thrace, Berlin/New York.
Konuk, Koray (2004), “The Ptolemaic Coins in the Bodrum Underwater Archaeology Museum”, in:
Signe Isager and Poul Pedersen (eds.), The Salmakis Inscription and Hellenistic Halikarnassos,
(Halicarnassian Studies 4), Odense, 165–175.
Kubińska, Jadwiga (1968), Les monuments funéraires dans les inscriptions grecques de l’Asie
Mineure (Prace Zakładu Archeologii Śródziemnomorskiej Polskiej Akademii Nauk 5), Warsaw.
Lambrinoudakis, Vassilis et al. (2005), “Consecration, Foundation Rites”, in: Thesaurus Cultus et
Rituum Antiquorum, vol. 3, 303–346.
Landskron, Alice (2011), “Zur Komposition der Friese auf der Nord- und Ostseite des Heroons von
Trysa”, in: Adalya 14, 31–56.
Laum, Bernhard (1914), Stiftungen in der griechischen und römischen Antike. Ein Beitrag zur Antiken
Kulturgeschichte, vols. 1–2, Leipzig/Berlin.
Lauter, Hans (1985), Der Kultplatz auf dem Turkovuni (Attische Forschungen 1), Berlin.
Le Roy, Christian (1986), “Un règlement religieux au Létôon de Xanthos”, in: RA n.s. 2, 279–300.
Lewis, Norman N./Sartre-Fauriat, Annie/Sartre, Maurice (1996), “William John Bankes. Travaux en
Syrie d’un voyageur oublié”, in: Syria 73, 57–95.
Leypold, Christina (2008), Bankettgebäude in griechischen Heiligtümern, Wiesbaden.
Liddell, Henry George/Scott, Robert/Jones, Henry Stuart (1968), A Greek English Lexicon with
Supplement, Oxford.
Lohmann, Hans (1999), “Survey in der Chora von Milet. Vorbericht über die Kampagnen der Jahre
1996 und 1997”, in: AA 1999, 439–473.
Lupu, Eran (2005), Greek Sacred Law. A Collection of New Documents (Religions in the Graeco-Roman
World 152), Leiden/Boston/Cologne.
Maillot, Stéphanie (2013), “Les associations à Cos”, in: Pierre Fröhlich and Patrice Hamon (eds.),
Groupes et associations dans les cités grecques (IIIe siècle av. J.-C.– IIe siècle apr. J.-C.). Actes
de la table ronde Paris, 19.–20. Juin 2009 (Hautes études du monde gréco-romain 49), Geneva,
199–226.
Mannzmann, Anneliese (1962), Griechische Stiftungsurkunden. Studie zu Inhalt und Rechtsform
(Fontes et Commentationes 2), Münster.
Marchiandi, Daniela (2011), I periboli funerari nell’Attica classica: lo specchio di una ‘borghesia’
(Studi di Archeologia e Topografia di Atene e dell’Attica 3), Athens/Paestum.
Migeotte, Léopold (2006), “Téménè dèmosia” in: Pascale Brillet-Dubois and Edith Parmentier (eds.),
Φιλολογία. Mélanges offerts à Michel Casevitz (Collection de la Maison de l’Orient et de la
Méditerranée 35), Lyon, 187–195.
Migeotte, Léopold (2010), “La fondation d’Aristoménès et Psylla à Corcyre: dispositions adminis-
tratives et financières”, in: Biagio Virgilio (ed.), Studi ellenistici 24, Pisa, 63–69.
200 Sara Campanelli

Migeotte, Léopold (2012), “À propos de la fondation d’Eudèmos à Milet: questions administratives et

numismatiques”, in: Phoenix 66 (1–2), 1–10.
Mikalson, Jon D. (2005), Ancient Greek Religion (Blackwell Ancient Religions), Oxford.
Modrzejewski Mélèze, Joseph (1963), “À propos des fondations en droit grec”, in: Revue historique
de droit français et étranger 4e série 41, 82–92.
Modrzejewski Mélèze, Joseph (2011), Droit et justice dans le monde grec et hellénistique (Journal of
Juristic Papyrology, Supplement 10), Warsaw.
Naerebout, Frits G. (2009), “Territorialität und griechische Religion. Die aufgeteilte Landschaft”,
in: Eckart Olshausen and Vera Sauer (eds.), Die Landschaft und die Religion. Stuttgarter
Kolloquium zur historischen Geographie des Altertums 9 (Geographica Historica 26), Stuttgart,
191–213.
Nilsson, Martin Persson (1955–1961), Geschichte der griechischen Religion (Handbuch der
Altertumswissenschaft 5. 2. 1–2), vols. 1–2, Munich.
Oberleitner, Wolfgang (1994), Das Heroon von Trysa: ein lykisches Fürstengrab des 4. Jahrhunderts
v. Chr. (Antike Welt, Sondernummer 1994/1), Mainz.
Olshausen, Eckart/Sauer, Vera (eds.) (2009), Die Landschaft und die Religion. Stuttgarter
Kolloquium zur historischen Geographie des Altertums 9 (Geographica Historica 26), Stuttgart.
Papazarkadas, Nikolaos (2011), Sacred Land and Public Land in Ancient Athens (Oxford Classical
Monographs), Oxford.
Parker, Robert (1983), Miasma: Pollution and Purification in Early Greek Religion (Clarendon
Paperbacks), Oxford.
Parker, Robert (2005), Polytheism and Society at Athens, Oxford/New York.
Parker, Robert (2008), “πατρῷοι θεοί: The Cults of Sub-Groups and Identity in the Greek World”,
in: Anders Holm Rasmussen and Susanne William Rasmussen (eds.), Religion and Society:
Rituals, Resources and Identity in the Ancient Graeco-Roman World. The Bomos–Conferences
2002–2005 (Analecta Romana Instituti Danici, Supplementum 40), Rome, 201–214.
Parker, Robert (2010), “A Funerary Foundation from Hellenistic Lycia”, in: Chiron 40, 103–121.
Patera, Ioanna (2010), “Éspace et structures cultuels du sanctuaire grec: la construction du
vocabulaire”, in: RHR 227 (4), 535–551.
Paton, William Roger/Hicks, Edward Lee (1891), The Inscriptions of Cos, Oxford.
Paul, Stéphanie (2013), Cultes et sanctuaires de l’île de Cos (Kernos, Supplément 28), Liège.
Pedersen, Poul (2004), “Halikarnassos and the Ptolemies II. The Architecture of Hellenistic
Halikarnassos”, in: Signe Isager and Poul Pedersen (eds.), The Salmakis Inscription and
Hellenistic Halikarnassos (Halicarnassian Studies 4), Odense, 145–164.
Pernin, Isabelle (2007), “La question des baux dans la Grèce des cités”, in: Patrice Brun (ed.),
Economies et sociétés en Grèce classique et hellénistique. Actes du Colloque Bordeaux, 30.–31.
Mars 2007 (Pallas 74), Toulouse, 43–76.
Petrakos, Vasileios Ch. (1999), Ο δήμος του Ραμνούντος: σύνοψη των ανασκαφών και των ερευνών
1813–1998, vol. 2: Οι επιγραφές (Vivliothēkē tēs en Athēnais Archaiologikēs Hetaireias 182),
Athens.
Picard, Charles (1921), Exploration archéologique de Délos 6. L’établissement des Poseidoniastes de
Bérytos (Exploration archéologique de Délos 6), Paris.
Pippidi, Dionisie Mihail (1966), “Sur un décret des thiasites de Callatis”, in: StudClas 8, 87–96.
Poland, Franz (1909), Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens (Preisschriften gekrönt und
herausgegeben von der Fürstlich Jablonowskischen Gesellschaft zu Leipzig 38), Leipzig.
Polinskaya, Irene (2009), “Fifth-Century Horoi on Aigina: A Reevaluation”, in: Hesperia 78, 231–267.
Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1997), “Family Values: The Uses of the Past”, in: Per Bilde, Troels Engberg
Pedersen, Lise Hannestad and Jan Zahle (eds.), Conventional Values of the Hellenistic Greeks
(Studies in Hellenistic Civilization 8), Aarhus, 204–219.
 Family Cult Foundations in the Hellenistic Age 201

Pomeroy, Sarah B. (1997), Families in Classical and Hellenistic Greece. Representations and
Realities, Oxford.
Price, Simon (1999), Religions of the Ancient Greeks (Key Themes in Ancient History), Cambridge.
Pugliese Carratelli, Giovanni (1957), “Gli Asclepiadi e il sinecismo di Cos”, in: PP 12, 333–342.
Pugliese Carratelli, Giovanni (1963–1964), “Il damos coo di Isthmos”, in: ASAA 41/42, 147–202.
Pugliese Carratelli, Giovanni (1991), “La norma etica degli Asklapiadai di Cos”, in: PP 46, 81–94.
Pugliese Carratelli, Giovanni (1994), ΑΠΟΓΟΝΟΙ ΑΣΚΛΗΠΙΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΗΡΑΚΛΕΟΥΣ, in: Storia poesia e
pensiero nel mondo antico: studi in onore di Marcello Gigante (Saggi Bibliopolis 46), Naples,
543–547.
Purvis, Andrea (2003), Singular Dedications. Founders and Innovators of Private Cults in Classical
Greece (Studies in Classics 1), New York/London.
Robert, Louis (1937), Études Anatoliennes. Recherches sur les inscriptions grecques de l’Asie
Mineure (Études orientales 5), Paris.
Ross, Ludwig (1845), Inscriptiones Graecae Ineditae, vol. 3, Berlin.
Roux, Georges (1987), Fouilles de Delphes 2. Topographie et architecture. La terrasse d’Attale I,
Paris.
Rudhardt, Jean (1992), Notions fondamentales de la pensée religieuse et actes constitutifs du culte
dans la Grèce classique (Antiquité/Synthèses 3), Paris.
Sartre-Fauriat, Annie (2001), Des tombeaux et des morts. Monuments funéraires, société et culture
en Syrie du Sud du Ier s. av. J.-C. au VIIe s. apr. J.-C., vol. 2 (Bibliothèque archéologique et
historique 158), Beirut.
Schazmann, Paul (1934), “Das Charmyleion”, in: JDAI 49, 110–127.
Schmitt-Pantel, Pauline (1982), “Évergétisme et mémoire du mort. À propos des fondations de
banquets publics dans les cités grecques à l’époque hellénistique et romaine”, in: Gherardo
Gnoli and Jean-Pierre Vernant (eds.), La mort, les morts dans les sociétés anciennes,
Cambridge/Paris, 177–188.
Scholl, Andreas (1994), “ΠΟΛΥΤΑΛΑΝΤΑ ΜΝΗΜΕΙΑ. Zur literarischen und monumentalen
Überlieferung aufwendiger Grabmäler im spätklassischen Athen”, in: JDAI 109, 239–271.
Schuler, Christof (1998), Ländliche Siedlungen und Gemeinden im hellenistischen und römischen
Kleinasien (Vestigia 50), Munich.
Segre, Mario (1993), Iscrizioni di Cos, vol.1 (Monografie della Scuola Archeologica di Atene e delle
Missioni Italiane in Oriente 6), Rome.
Sherwin-White, Susan (1977), “Inscriptions from Cos”, in: ZPE 24, 205–217.
Sherwin-White, Susan (1978), Ancient Cos. An Historical Study from the Dorian Settlement to the
Imperial Period (Hypomnemata 51), Göttingen.
Sinn, Ulrich et al. (2005), “Kultorte”, in: Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum, vol. 4, 1–127.
Sosin, Joshua D. (2001), “Accounting and Endowments”, in: Tyche 16, 161–175.
Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane (1988), “Further Aspects of Polis Religion”, in: AION(archeol) 10,
259–274.
Sourvinou-Inwood, Christiane (1990), “What is Polis Religion?”, in: Oswyn Murray and Simon Price
(eds.), The Greek City from Homer to Alexander, Oxford, 295–322.
Stavrianopoulou, Eftychia (2006), ‘Gruppenbild mit Dame’. Untersuchungen zur rechtlichen und
sozialen Stellung der Frau auf den Kykladen im Hellenismus und in der römischen Kaiserzeit
(Heidelberger althistorische Beiträge und epigraphische Studien 42), Stuttgart.
Stowers, Stanley K. (1998), “A Cult from Philadelphia: Oikos Religion or Cultic Association?”, in:
Abraham J. Malherbe, Frederick W. Norris and James W. Thompson (eds.), The Early Church in Its
Context. Essays in Honor of Everett Ferguson (Supplements to Novum Testamentum 90), Leiden/
Boston/Cologne, 287–301.
Svenson-Evers, Hendrik (1997), “ΙΕΡΟΣ ΟΙΚΟΣ. Zum Ursprung des griechischen Tempels”, in:
Wolfram Hoepfner (ed.), Kult und Kultbauten auf der Akropolis. Internationales Symposion
202 Sara Campanelli

Berlin, 7.–9. Juli 1995 (Schriften des Seminars für Klassische Archäologie der Freien Universität
Berlin), Berlin, 132–151.
True, Marion et al. (2004), “Processions”, in: Thesaurus Cultus et Rituum Antiquorum, vol. 1, 1–20.
Trümper, Monika (2002), “Das Sanktuarium des ‘Établissement des Poseidoniastes de Bérytos’ in
Delos. Zur Baugeschichte eines griechischen Vereinsheiligtums”, in: BCH 126 (1), 265–330.
Vallarino, Giulio (2009), “I dedicanti di Cos in età ellenistica: il caso dei magistrati eponimi tra
polis e demi”, in: John Bodel and Mika Kajava (eds.), Dediche sacre nel mondo greco-romano.
Diffusione, funzioni, tipologie / Religious Dedications in the Greco-Roman World. Distribution,
Typology, Use, Roma, 19.–20. Aprile 2006 (Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae 35), Rome, 181–207.
van Bremen, Riet (1996), The Limits of Participation: Women and Civil Life in the Greek East in the
Hellenistic and Roman Periods (Dutch Monographs on Ancient History and Archeology 15),
Amsterdam.
van Bremen, Riet (2003), “Family Structures”, in: Andrew Erskine (ed.), A Companion to the
Hellenistic World (Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World), Malden (MA)/Oxford, 313–330.
van Straten, Folkert (2005), “Ancient Greek Animal Sacrifice: Gift, Ritual Slaughter, Communion,
Food Supply, or What? Some Thoughts on Simple Explanations of a Complex Ritual, in: Stella
Georgoudi, Renée Koch Piettre and Francis Schmidt (eds.), La cuisine et l’autel. Les sacrifices en
questions dans les sociétés de la Méditerranée ancienne (Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes
Études, Sciences Religieuses 124), Turnhout, 15–29.
Vatin, Claude (1974), “Jardins et vergers grecs”, in: Mélanges helléniques offerts à Georges Daux,
Paris, 345–357.
Velissaropoulos-Karakostas, Julie (2008), “Les nothoi hellénistiques”, in: Edward Harris and Gerhard
Thür (eds.), Symposion 2007. Vorträge zur griechischen und hellenistischen Rechtsgeschichte,
Durham, 2.–6. September 2007 (Akten der Gesellschaft für Griechische und Hellenistische
Rechtsgeschichte, 20), Vienna, 253–274.
Velissaropoulos-Karakostas, Julie (2011), Droit grec d’Alexandre à Auguste (323 av. J.-C. – 14 ap.
J.-C.). Personnes – Biens – Justice (Meletēmata 66), vols. 1–2, Athens/Paris.
Vérilhac, Anne-Marie/Vial, Claude (1998), Le mariage grec du VIe siècle av. J.-C. à l’époque
d’Auguste (Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique, Supplément 32), Athens.
Veyne, Paul (1976), Le pain et le cirque. Sociologie historique d’un pluralism politique (L’Univers
Historique), Paris.
Weber, Berthold F. (2004), Die römischen Heroa von Milet (Milet 1.10), Berlin/New York.
Weiß, Peter (1998), “Festgesandschaften, Städtisches Prestige und Homonoiaprägungen”, in:
Stadion 24 (1), 59–69.
Wittenburg, Andreas (1990), Il testamento di Epikteta (Pubblicazioni del Dipartimento di Scienze
dell’Antichità 4), Trieste.
Wittenburg, Andreas (1998), “Grandes familles et associations cultuelles à l’époque hellénistique”,
in: Ktema 23, 451–456.
Wörrle, Michael (1988), Stadt und Fest im kaiserzeitlichen Kleinasien. Studien zu einer agonistischen
Stiftung aus Oinoanda (Vestigia 39), Munich.
Wycherley, Richard Ernest (1960), “Neleion”, in: ABSA 55, 60–66.
Zelnick-Abramovitz, Rachel (2005), Not Wholly Free. The Concept of Manumission and the Status
of Manumitted Slaves in the Ancient Greek World (Mnemosyne, Supplementum 266), Leiden/
Boston.
Zuiderhoek, Arjan (2011), “Oligarchs and Benefactors. Elite Demography and Euergetism in the
Greek East of the Roman Empire”, in: Onno M. van Nijf and Alston Richard (eds.), Political
Culture in the Greek City after the Classical Age (Groningen-Royal Holloway Studies on the Greek
City after the Classical Age 2), Leuven/Paris/Walpole (MA), 185–195.
Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti
The Didyma Inscription: Between Legislation
and Palaeography
1 Research Aims
The Research aims to investigate the shift from a majuscule to a minuscule writing
system in the Roman world, which started in the 3rd century A.D. This change has
been extensively analysed within historiography, and it has been at the centre of an
intense debate.1 Recent discoveries allow a reinvestigation of this complex problem,
and this article will examine the survival of the majuscule writing, the so-called
Ancient Roman cursive, in its chancery results.
The article will focus in particular on the relationship between the chancery
writing system and a law issued in A.D. 3682 by the emperors Valentinian and Valens,
which was incorporated into the Theodosian Code as CTh. 9.19.3. Historiography rec-
ognises the crucial role of this law in the regulation and development of Late Empire
chancery scripts: for the first time, imperial power intervened directly in a matter of
writing, and imposed a clear prohibition on the use of a type of script.
The sources commonly used to chart the development of writing systems are
papyri. However, epigraphic sources have also recently been included in this analy-
sis, particularly thanks to the studies of Denis Feissel, who investigated an inscription
that is thus far the only epigraphic evidence relating to the problem of the shift from
the majuscule to the minuscule writing system.
This inscription was found in the small town of Didyma (Caria) in 1991, and it
contains a rescript of Justinian I dated to A.D. 533. The relevance of this source was
highlighted by Feissel’s analysis, which relied on a historic and epigraphic approach.

This article emerged from the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cultures.
Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies”. The CRC 933 is financed by the
German Research Foundation (DFG). The present study started some years ago at the University of
Bologna; it initially focused on papyri, but at a later stage extended to the analysis of epigraphic
witnesses. A benchmark of the research is the work of Lorenza Iannacci, Maddalena Modesti and
Annafelicia Zuffrano, published in 2012, where they analysed the matter in connection with papy-
rological sources (Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012). The article is divided into two parts: the first,
concerning the historical frame, was managed by Melania Mezzetti. The second part, concerning the
analysis of the Didyma inscription from a palaeographic viewpoint, and the conclusions were written
by Flavia Manservigi.

1 About this argument see in particular: Perrat 1955; Mallon/Marichal/Perrat 1939; Mallon 1948, 1952
and 1982; Marichal 1948; Cencetti 1950, 1956/57, 1961, 1993 and 1997; Tjäder 1955, 1977, 1979, 1982a and
1985; Innacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012.
2 About the issue date of the law see Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 96, fn. 21.

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-006, © 2016 Flavia Manservigi, Melania Mezzetti, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
204 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Nevertheless, it seems useful to analyse the inscription again, in particular from a

palaeographic perspective. Furthermore, the analysis will focus on lines 36 and 37,
which are written in a special enlarged cursive script directly copied from an original
papyrus model.

Therefore, the initial focus of this research will be the law CTh. 9.19.3. Subsequently,
the graphical context of the period will be briefly discussed, and the relationship
between this context and the law will be investigated. Then, the article will analyse
previous research on papyrological sources; finally, the problem will be analysed in
the light of the Didyma inscription.

1.1 The Law CTh. 9.19.3

During the Roman Empire, a few laws were issued which directly or incidentally con-
cerned the script and shape of documents, and they were incorporated into the most
important compilations of Roman Laws: the Theodosian Code, promulgated in A.D.
438, and the Corpus iuris civilis, issued between A.D. 528 and 534.3
These laws are very interesting as they regulate writing, predominantly of public
documents, in many different ways. They may regard both the type of writing and the
form of the documents or their preservation: all these regulations were functional in
assuring the necessary authenticity and reliability of official documents.
CTh. 9.19.3 is the most ancient of these laws, and it was issued by the emperors
Valentinian and Valens in Trier, where the court was held.
This is the text of the law:

Impp. Valentinianus et Valens AA. ad Festum proconsulem Africae. Serenitas nostra prospexit
inde caelestium litterarum coepisse imitationem, quod his apicibus tuae gravitatis officium con-
sultationes relationesque complectitur, quibus scrinia nostrae perennitatis utuntur. Quam ob
istius sanctionis auctoritate praecipimus, ut posthac magistra falsorum consuetudo tollatur et
communibus litteris universa mandentur, quae vel de provincia fuerint scribenda vel a iudice,
ut nemo stili huius exemplum aut privatim sumat aut publice. Dat. V id. iun. Treviri Lupicino et
Iovino conss.

Emperors Valentinian and Valens Augustuses to Festus, Proconsul of Africa. Our Serenity has
observed that the practice of imitating Our celestial imperial letters has arisen from the fact that
the office of Your Gravity, in composing references of cases to the Emperor and reports to Him,
uses the same kind of script as that which the bureaus of Our Eternity use. Wherefore, by the
authority of this sanction, We command that hereafter this custom, a teacher of forgery, shall be
abolished and that everything which must be written either from a province or by a judge shall be

3 The laws concerning the writing and shape of documents are: CTh. 9.19.3, CTh. 9.35.1, C. 23.3, C.
23.6, Nov. 47.
 The Didyma Inscription 205

entrusted to commonly used letters, so that no person shall have the right to appropriate a copy
of this style, either privately or publicly. Given on the fifth day before the ides of June at Trier in
the year of the consulship of Lupicinus an Jovinus.4

In A.D. 368 the imperial chancellery ordered the proconsul of Africa, Iulius Hymetius
Festus, to stop imitating the litterae caelestes in composing reports, since the emper-
ors had reserved that type of script for themselves. The stated purpose of this law
was to remove the risk of falsification. The emperors commanded that this particular
script had to be used only by the imperial chancery; the provincial chanceries, as well
as every administrative, bureaucratic and judiciary office, had to use another type of
script, the so-called litterae communes.

1.2 Litterae caelestes and litterae communes

In order to understand what distinguished these two types of writing, the wider
context of documentary writings of the period and their development should be taken
into account.
The terms litterae caelestes and litterae communes are used to refer to two types
of script, deriving from different graphic models, both commonly used in the Roman
Empire, but in different periods.
The first script (litterae caelestes) is the result of a writing system that, for con-
venience, we can consider to be of the majuscule type,5 the so-called Ancient Roman
cursive, which was normally used for documents from the 1st century A.D. until the
end of the 3rd century. The second (litterae communes) is the result of a new minus-
cule script, the so-called Later Roman cursive, which progressively circulated from
the 2nd century A.D. onwards.
After a period of coexistence in the sources (2nd and 3rd centuries), the Ancient
Roman cursive was gradually used only in some chanceries. From the end of the 3rd
century on, the Later Roman cursive had completely replaced the Ancient script, not
only for private documents, but also for those of the public bureaus, whereas the
majuscule script was restricted to a specific use: the documentary production of the
Imperial chancery.

4 The Theodosian Code, p. 241. For the bibliography on this law see Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012,
96.
5 Jean Mallon, as will be discussed below, was the first to question the current opinion, developed in
the 19th and 20th centuries, which hypothesized a gradual development of the Later Roman cursive
from the ancient script (see in particular Schiaparelli 1921, 118: “La maiuscola corsiva finisce grada-
tamente in minuscola corsiva”). He rejected the previous theories and identified a uniform common
script (écriture commune classique) that did not directly give rise to the Later Roman cursive (nouvelle
écriture commune), see Mallon 1952 passim.
206 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

For the purposes of the current study, the extensive debate over the reasons and
origins of this change, which involved many scholars in the last century, will not be
reviewed. Nevertheless, it should suffice to remember that nowadays, especially fol-
lowing Jean Mallon’s contributions to the field, scholars are unanimous in recognis-
ing that the shift from a majuscule to a minuscule system was a graphic caesura. As
it was pointed out, this change took place in the field of the “usual script”, according
to the definition of Giorgio Cencetti, or, in other words, in the one of the “common
script”;6 furthermore, it can be affirmed that this was a very complex phenome-
non, determined by different and concurrent causes and aspects7 that progressively
effected the change.
What is important to highlight is that in the 4th century, when CTh. 9.19.3 was
issued, the Later Roman cursive had already become the usual script for some time.
It was indeed the referential script commonly used to write every kind of public and
private document.
This is obviously only a short review of the complex graphic context in which
the imperial chancery issued CTh. 9.19.3. Scholars of Roman jurisprudence and legal
historians have not dealt with this law; studies of the 4th century have focused in
particular on the relationship between paganism and Christianity, rather than on the
history of writing. Those scholars who specialised in the legislation of Valentian and
Valens have also said nothing about CTh. 9.19.3. On the other hand, palaeographers
have often dealt with this law, always in relation to the problem of chancery writings,
because they connected the development and the chancery outcomes of the writing
to what CTh. 9.19.3 commanded.
Over the 19th and 20th centuries, great attention was given to new evidences that
could offer a better interpretation of the development of the Late Empire chancery
writings. After these discoveries and the studies of Brandi, Saint Martin, Champol-

6 “In ciascuna epoca e in ciascun luogo gli atteggiamenti delle scritture spontanee dei singoli indi-
vidui […] possono essere più o meno diversi: hanno, peraltro, tutte qualche cosa in comune, se non
altro il modello ideale, lo schema, lo stampo [… ] Questa comunità, questa costanza delle scritture
individuali, che in certo modo le comprende tutte epperciò non può essere costretta e configurata in
regole precise e inderogabili, ma pure ha caratteri suoi propri e uniformi” (Cencetti 1997, 53); see also
Cencetti 1967/69 (= rpt. 1993, 277). According to Cencetti, the script used in the 2nd and 3rd centuries
was the “official” branch of the cursive; there was also a branch for common use, though it is not
documented by any source. Cencetti states that the Later Roman cursive developed from the latter
branch: on this issue see in particular Cencetti 1948; Cencetti 1965, 18–24; Cencetti 1997, 60–66; Nico-
laj 1973, 18, fn. 46; for the development of the library script see Cencetti 1965, 25.
7 As Cencetti said, it was “[…] un fatto complesso, tecnico, estetico e culturale insieme, e sua sede
è l’intera scrittura ‘usuale’, non l’uno o l’altro dei rami (documentario e librario) nei quali è per lo
più divisa da coloro che non riconoscono la sostanziale unità e non la distinguono dalle scritture
canonizzate […] e il processo evolutivo consiste in una serie di mediazioni fra quei due parametri, ora
adattandosi al tracciato calligrafico forme nate dalla spontaneità corsiva, ora tracciandosi rapida-
mente e corsivamente segni di formazione calligrafica.” (Cencetti 1997, 65).
 The Didyma Inscription 207

lion-Figeac, Massmann, De Wailly and Mommsen, a fundamental work on this matter

was L’écriture de la chancellerie impériale romaine.8 Published in 1948 by Jean Mallon,
it was the first complete study of the writings of the Roman imperial chancery.
Mallon was the first scholar to associate the litterae caelestes with the Ancient
Roman cursive; as a consequence, all subsequent historiography connected the lit-
terae communes with the writing system of the Later Roman cursive.
Furthermore, Mallon recognised the script used in two papyri (one conserved in
Leiden and the other in Paris)9 as an evidence of the litterae caelestes mentioned in
the law, a type of script that he considered special not only for its external features
(for example, its exaggerated and forced calligraphic shape), but above all for its
anachronistic classicism.10
Those papyri, found in Egypt, contain two imperial rescripts of the 5th century.
They are very important sources, since they are the only surviving documents of the
Roman imperial bureau, whereas all the other documents are copies. Today they are
edited in the collection of the Chartae Latinae Antiquiores.
With the law of A.D. 368, the imperial chancery reserved for itself the exclusive
use of this script, characterised by a majuscule model no longer in common use.
According to Mallon, the litterae caelestes were the last surviving branch of a majus-
cule writing that had already disappeared from common use in the 4th century.
This scholar states that, once the law took effect, the litterae caelestes were used
only by the imperial chancery, and abandoned by all other offices, which adopted the
litterae communes, characterizing them with chancery artifices. This use was main-
tained until the Early Middle Ages.
The conclusions of Jean Mallon have generally been accepted by the historio-
graphical community, which, with a few exceptions, did not return to the issues of
the law CTh. 9.19.3 and the litterae caelestes.

8 Mallon 1948, in particular 22–23 (= rpt. 1982, 176) see also Mallon 1952, 116–117.
9 ChLA XVII 657: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 16915 + Paris, Louvre, P. 2404 + Leiden,
Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, P. 421. For other possible witnesses see Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano
2012, 97.
10 Mallon 1948, 15 (= rpt. 1982, 172): “En quoi consiste donc exactement, la ‘spécialité’, si mal dé-
gagée jusqu’ici, de l’écriture de Leyde-Paris? Du point de vue graphique, sa particularité extrêmement
superficielle: elle réside seulement en ceci que les lettres sont démesurément allongées et associées
en autant de ligatures qu’il est possible, qu’elles sont calligraphiées, de la sorte, sans aucun souci de
lisibilité, mais au contraire dans un esprit qui laisse percer des intentions décoratives et esthétiques,
tous caractères qui conviennent fort bien à une écriture fossilisée dans une chancellerie. Ceci dit, par
tout sa structure fondamentale, par tous ses ductus, cette écriture est, purement et simplement, de
l’ancienne cursive romaine, encore plus évoluée, et dans le même sens, que celle des derniers exem-
ples que nous en possédons antérieurement, et qui sont du IIIème siècle. Ce qui fait essentiellement
la ‘spécialité’ de l’écriture de Leyde-Paris, c’est qu’elle est du Vème siècle. Son classicisme anachronis-
tique et suranné, d’une part, et le fait qu’elle est employée pour des originaux de rescrits impériaux,
d’autre part, sont deux données qui se soutiennent mutuellement et s’expliquent l’une par l’autre”.
208 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

For this reason, every modern palaeography book states that this law sanctioned
the definitive appropriation of the Ancient Roman cursive by the imperial chancery;
consequently, this script, which had already fallen into disuse in common practice,
was also abandoned by the other chanceries and public offices. This, according to the
generally accepted view, entailed the end of its working life, and heralded its gradual
death.
At the same time, the smaller Roman chanceries, which were not allowed to use
the majuscule script, were forced to adopt the Later Roman cursive, the minuscule
model that, in this way, was transmitted to the Middle Ages. From that perspective, it
is due to CTh. 9.19.3 that the chancelleries of the Early Middle Ages adopted scripts of
the minuscule type; for example, the Merovingian one.
In fact, Giorgio Cencetti and, more recently, Otto Kresten, demonstrated that the
writing systems of the early medieval chanceries were a direct result of the chancery
writings of the Roman provinces.11
After Jean Mallon, other scholars investigated, more or less directly, the relation-
ship between CTh. 9.19.3 and the chancery writing system of the Later Roman Empire,
focusing their attention on new papyrus sources that had been discovered in the
meantime, or on already-known sources that were connected with this question. Some
of these sources cast new light on this complicated graphical issue. Some very inter-
esting work can be done, in particular, with regard to the studies of Robert Marichal,
Jan-Olof Tjäder and more recently some scholars at the University of Bologna.
Marichal’s research on reports of proceedings from Egypt, and Tjäder’s on the
“misteriosa scrittura grande”12 of Ravenna, though having different purposes, high-
lighted new aspects of the study of the Late Empire chancery scripts and the rela-
tionships between these and CTh. 9.19.3. These scholars found evidence of majuscule
scripts, which could be linked to the shape of the litterae caelestes, outside the impe-
rial chancery.
In particular, Marichal analysed some proceedings where the initial script,
marking the consular dating, presents elongated characters similar to the litterae cae-
lestes:13 it can be recalled, for example, in P.Sakaon 34, dated to A.D. 321,14 and P.Oxy.
XVI 187915 dated to A.D. 434, to which we will return later.

11 See also Cherubini/Pratesi 2010, 131ff.

12 That is “mysterious and big script”.
13 Marichal 1952.
14 P.Sakaon 34 = P.Thead. 13 = ChLA XLI 1204. Marichal affirmed that the characters of the script were
surely elongated, even though he could not see the reproduction that was available only a few years
later. See Marichal 1952, 348–349.
15 P.Oxy. XVI 1879 = ChLA XLVII 1409.
 The Didyma Inscription 209

An opening script similar to the one studied by Marichal on papyri from Egypt
can be found in a group of Ravenna papyri studied by Tjäder, and dated between the
6th and 7th centuries, containing gesta municipalia.16
In those documents, a particular script characterises only the beginning of the
first column of the papyrus, while the rest of the text is written in Later Roman cursive
and its final part (with the final statements of the magistrate) is written in a tightened
and elongated script, belonging, in turn, to the shapes of the Later Roman cursive.
The initial script analysed by Tjäder is characterised by an enlarged form and a
complex and overwritten shape that created several problems for the scholars who
tried to decipher it.17
The particular and complicated shape of the initial script of the Ravenna papyri
led Tjäder to call it “misteriosa scrittura grande”.18
The diplomatic analysis of this script, also based on a comparison with the
almost coeval initial script of the reports of proceedings from Egypt,19 allowed Tjäder
to understand that it contained merely the date and the place where the act was
issued.20
Therefore, the opening scripts of the documents from Egypt and Ravenna,
although not used for the entirety of the document, can be connected with the majus-
cule model used in the litterae caelestes.21
What this paper wants to emphasise, as some scholars of the University of Bologna
recently have,22 is that evidence of this special opening script can be found in sources
dated both before A.D. 368, when the law was promulgated, and after this date.
It is not unusual to find examples of this majuscule opening script before 368:
even though the majuscule script was no longer in use, it was still adopted by some
chanceries, without contravening any legislative ban.

16 P. Tjäder 29 (A.D. 504 = ChLA XLV 1332), 8 (A.D. 564 = ChLA XVII 652), 14–15 (A.D. 572 = ChLA XXIX
889) and 21 (A.D. 625 = ChLA XXII 720), see Tjäder 1982a.
17 See in particular Marini 1805, fn. 2; see also Tjäder 1952, 186ff.
18 Tjäder 1952.
19 “La corsiva iniziale dei papiri dell’Egitto è […] senza alcun dubbio uno svolgimento alquanto artifi-
ciale della corsiva antica, ed è altresì eguale, in sostanza, alla scrittura dei rescritti imperiali, definita,
da ultimo dal Mallon, appunto ‘L’écriture de la cancellerie impériale romaine’” (Tjäder 1952, 205).
These sources were analysed by Marichal in the same period, but for other purposes: see Marichal
1952, passim and Marichal 1950b. For a list of the Egyptian papyri analysed by Tjäder 1952, 201–203
and Feissel 2004, 331, fn. 219 (= rpt. 2010, 295, fn. 219), and see also Kresten 1965, Kresten 1966 and the
bibliography quoted in ChLA XLI 1188.
20 I.e. indication of the exact day of the month and the place where the act was issued, which were
repeated in Later Roman cursive in the following line (for this matter see below).
21 Marichal had come to the same conclusion in the same period through the analysis of the reports
of proceedings from Egypt, Marichal 1952, 348–349.
22 Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 104–105.
210 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Nonetheless, Marichal and Tjäder23 demonstrated that the use of an overstated

writing continued after that date. It is visible in the aforementioned reports of pro-
ceedings, but also in the opening lines of the Ravenna papyri. This is a very important
consideration, which recalls the question whether CTh. 9.19.3 had been effectively
applied. This is a matter that has not been sufficiently considered yet.
Only Marichal mentioned this issue, stating that the diffusion of the special
opening scripts in the proceedings confirms that the use of litterae caelestes was
legal, since it was limited to consular dating, and it represented a sign of respect to
high government offices.
For this reason, it is necessary to examine this matter again, and the research
will be based not only on papyri, but above all on an epigraphic source, the Didyma
inscription.
In this paper, this inscription will be analysed starting from the graphic data,
and great attention will be given to the analysis of how this source is connected to the
general theme of the relationships between CTh. 9.19.3 and the Late Empire chancery
scripts.
Furthermore, the analysis will concentrate in particular on lines 36 and 37, con-
taining the date and the place of issue of the gesta praefectoria, which were clearly
copied from an original model written on papyrus.24

2 The Didyma Inscription

The discovery of the Didyma inscription, which is currently kept in the Museum of
Miletus (Balat), occurred during archaeological surveys in the southwest area of the
‘sacred path’. The stone had been re-used as building material.
The inscription is divided into three texts: the upper half of the stone (lines 1–35)
bears an imperial rescript of Justinian I, qualified as a pragmatica sanctio. The lower
half is occupied by two complementary texts: an act of the prefect of the Orient (lines
36–56, gesta praefectoria) and an act of the governor of Caria (lines 57–64).
The rescript is written in Greek (except for the date, which is in Latin), while the
gesta praefectoria and the act of the governor are written in Greek and Latin (Latin
is used especially for the titulature). The alternation of the two alphabets does not

23 Marichal 1952; Tjäder 1952, 5–21.

24 Even if the object of the research is an inscription, SEG 54, 1178 (= AÉ 2004, 1410), the particular
script of lines 36–37 need a palaeographic approach. It must be stated, nevertheless, that often the
terminology and classifications used by palaeographers and epigraphists are not uniform and homo-
geneous. Concerning the development of the Latin script in the epigraphic field see Calabi Limentani
1974, 147 and Casamassima/Staraz 1977, 9.
 The Didyma Inscription 211

correspond to that of the languages: some Greek words are transcribed into the Latin
alphabet.25
In 2004, as already mentioned, Denis Feissel analysed this inscription from
an epigraphical, palaeographical and historical point of view.26 He highlighted the
importance of a document reporting the complete text of a Constitution of Justinian
that is, furthermore, anchored in its original context.27
Feissel states that the general features of the inscription (particularly the equi-
librium of the mise en page and the researched contrast between the alphabets and
the regularity of each stroke) makes this inscription “une sorte de chef d’œuvre de ce
qu’on peut appeler la renaissance épigraphique justinienne.”28
On the Didyma inscription are written three different texts, which can be differenti-
ated from each other by their original function and their date of issue.
In this area of Asia Minor it is not rare to find acts edited on the basis of this treble
scheme: another example is an inscription found at Miletus, a contemporary of the
Didyma inscription, which bears an act of Justinian I, a decree of a high officer, and
the act of issuance by the governor of Caria.29
In the inscription of Didyma, the three acts are in chronological order, which also
corresponds to the hierarchical succession of the offices that had promulgated the
acts themselves.
The emperor’s act was issued at Constantinople on 1st April 533; the gesta prae-
fectoria were promulgated in the same place the following day (2nd April 533); the
governor’s act was issued in the spring of the same year. In this case, the place of
issue is not indicated, but the act was probably promulgated in the provincial metrop-
olis of Aphrodisias of Caria.

Thanks to the Didyma inscription, Feissel retraced the complex procedure which led
to the issuing of the documents that, written originally on papyrus, were later copied
onto stone. In other words, the Didyma inscription represents the transposition onto
stone of an original papyrus text.

25 In the 6th century the practice of writing official documents both in Greek and Latin (also trans-
literating Greek characters into Latin), which developed in reports of proceedings, imperial constitu-
tions and officers’ seals, can be considered a mark of identity of the government apparatus; this prac-
tice was also followed by the notaries of Byzantine Egypt. The continuing use of the Latin alphabet in
Byzantine writing clearly attests the great regard in which this language was held in Late Antiquity;
see Cavallo 1970; Cavallo/Magistrale 1985; Cavallo 2008; Radiciotti 1998; Radiciotti 2008; Radiciotti
2009.
26 Feissel 2004.
27 See Feissel 2004, 287 (= rpt. 2010, 252).
28 Feissel 2004, 290 (= rpt. 2010, 255).
29 Feissel 2004, 235, fn. 7 (= rpt. 2010, 288, fn. 7). For other examples found in this area see Feissel
2004, 288 (= rpt. 2010, 253).
212 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Fig. 1: Didyma inscription (taken from Feissel 2004) © Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.
 The Didyma Inscription 213

The procedure which led to these different acts was as follows: after a request
made by the citizens of Justinianopolis to the prefect of the Orient (phase 1), the pre-
fect’s report was taken to Constantinople by an embassy (phase 2); a brief paraphrase
of this phase is reported in the emperor’s act.
This was followed by the emperor’s answer, the pragmatica sanctio (phase 3),
which was preserved in the archives of the prefecture of the Orient. The original of
this document was not copied onto the inscription, which contains only the copy of
the act edited by the prefect’s office.
The fourth phase consisted in the verbal process of the prefecture of the Orient
(2nd April 533; phase 4); on the stone is reproduced the verbal process (gesta praefec-
toria) that the city embassy had obtained in the form of an authentic abstract, pro-
vided by the prefect’s subscription (edantur).
The further phase was the ordinance of the prefect to the governor of Caria (phase
5), followed by the issue of the act of the governor himself (phase 6), which was pro-
vided (like the gesta praefectoria) by the official subscription (edantur).
This complex procedure was written on the inscription in the form given to the
document in the prefect’s curia (where the original version of the petition and of the
emperor’s act were also preserved30).
This document was owned by the city embassy that had requested it at the offices
of the gesta praefectoria; the governor had only the copy of the imperial act and of the
prefect’s letter.31
This means that the inscription was copied from the document owned by the
city embassy, and was not produced on the initiative of the local governor: the verbal
process reproduced on the inscription had been requested by the embassy in Con-
stantinople, and then carried out at Didyma. It represented, therefore, the statement
of the achievement of the citizenry’s request. This is the main reason for the great care
put into the reproduction of the original shape of the papyrus on the stone, as will be
discussed.
Even if these acts concern three different phases of the same procedure, they can
nevertheless be considered, from a diplomatic point of view, as two documents: from
line 1 to 56 there is the edictio actorum, which consists in the order to give a copy of
the pragmatica sanctio to the citizenry who had presented the petition; this part con-
cludes with the verb edantur.
The second document (lines 57–64) is the act of the governor of Caria, and it con-
cludes with a second edantur.

30 The prefect’s report was probably preserved in the imperial archives, while the original version of
the prefect’s letter had to be preserved in the provincial archives of Caria.
31 Feissel 2004, 306–307 (= rpt. 2010, 273–274).
214 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

The following section will briefly recall some technical data of the inscription,
already pointed out by Feissel.32
The inscription has been carved by a single hand.33 The stonecutter had to carve
the letters on a stone whose height was twice its width, so, in comparison with the
papyrus, he had to superimpose texts that, originally, were written from the left to the
right, filling more numerous columns: the lines of text on the papyrus were probably
longer than those on the stone.
According to Feissel, this is especially true for the titulature of the prefects’
college (lines 42–44), which, on the papyrus, were probably recorded on a single long
line. The most striking fact, however, is that the same happens for the date and place
of issue of the prefecture’s verbal process, which are developed in 61 letters extended
over almost two lines (36–37): on the original papyrus, they probably did not occupy
more than two lines and they had to finish with a vacat.34
As Feissel properly emphasised, the main characteristic of the inscription is a
great formal care, which appears in particular on the expedients used to make the
text more easily legible and in the mise en page, where the various parts of the text
are clearly separated.35
The internal structure of the text, although it does not show marked separation
signs like the whole mise en page,36 is also characterised by expedients that make
clearer the partitioning of the various documents. For example, the prefect’s act is
clearly articulated by the alternation of Greek and Latin alphabets, and the different
parts of the text are marked by a more-or-less large vacat (lines 37, 39, 44, 45, 52, 56).37

32 The inscription is 173.0 cm tall, 79.0 cm wide and 49.0 cm deep; the written face is surrounded by a
relief archetto of 2.0 cm width. The writing surface is developed on 64 lines, separated by an unwritten
space 11.0 cm tall. On the stone some thin horizontal lines are visible, separated by spaces of about 2.5
cm (while on lines 57–64 the space is 2.0 cm). The letters are about 2.0 cm tall on lines 1–35 and 38–65,
while on lines 36–37 they are about 3.7 cm; on lines 57–64 the letter height is 1.5 cm. The interlinear
space is 0.3 and 0.4 cm.
33 The original papyrus copy was written by different hands, Feissel 2004, 293, fn. 36 (= rpt. 2010,
257, fn. 36).
34 In light of these elements it can be inferred that the imperial rescript (1–35) was probably written
over two columns, while the prefect’s act (which occupies 21 lines, 36–56) could easily have been
written on seven or eight lines.
35 The emperor’s act is preceded by a cross (this cross was probably a draft, as can be seen from com-
parison between this stroke and the great Latin cross on line 36, and also from the fact that the first
letters of lines 1 and 2 are slightly backward in respect to the beginning words of the other lines). The
third part of the text starts with a leaf of ivy (line 57); the same sign also marks the end of the imperial
act (lines 33 and 35) and the two following parts of the text (lines 56 and 64).
36 For example, in the imperial act there are no spaces indicating the beginning or end of the ruling
(16–31); according to Feissel, the original text probably had a more articulated mise en page, Feissel
2004, 291, fn. 25 (= rpt. 2010, 256, fn. 25).
37 Furthermore, the prefect’s titulature always starts at the beginning of the line (lines 42 and 46); at the
end of each intervention of the prefect, the stonecutter left a space of two or three letters (lines 46, 52, 56).
 The Didyma Inscription 215

Furthermore, the stonecutter put great care into writing the various parts of the
text according to the hierarchy of the people involved: the words of the president of
the session are written in bigger letters than the ones of his interlocutor. Also the act
of the governor (lines 57–64) was written in letters which were smaller than those
used for the prefect, in order to emphasise the hierarchy of the administrative rulers.
The shortening system is composed of ligatures and abbreviations.38 The stone-
cutter used abbreviation signs to differentiate the Latin text from the Greek one, and,
according to Feissel, this expedient was probably present in the original manuscript.39
In the various parts of the text there are some variations in the number of letters,
which differentiate the single lines, but also the different acts and the two languag-
es.40 In particular, the Latin alphabet on lines 36 and 37 is enlarged, and is developed
over 36 characters.
With regard to orthography, the Greek part of the inscription shows a remarkable
linguistic level.41 Many graphic mistakes can be found, however, in the governor’s
act: Feissel states that the responsible for these oversights (at least as concerns the
Greek words) was not the stonecutter, but the writer of the original manuscript. It is
not surprising that linguistic accuracy can be found in the emperor’s act and in the
gesta praefectoria, which were edited in Constantinople, while many mistakes distin-
guish the governor’s act, whose original had been written by a minor official of the
Province.
The Greek alphabet is written in epigraphic capital letters, in a mixed squared
and rounded style.42

38 For the abbreviation system, over a total of 64 lines, 40 end with a complete word, 6 with a con-
tracted one and 18 with an abbreviated one. See Feissel 2004, 291 (= rpt. 2010, 256). Sometimes the
stonecutter extended the writing until the right moulding of the stone (lines 1–4, 44, 55), or used some
ligatures alternatively at the end of the words (lines 16, 17, 31, 40) or in different parts of them (lines
53, 60, 62, 63) and abbreviations at the end of the word (lines 8, 16, 19, 27, 55, 59, 62) or in other posi-
tions (lines 20, 27, 40, 47, 54bis, 59, 61). The abbreviations of the Greek part are all by suspension; the
others are all common use; the words in the Latin alphabet are all abbreviated (as are the Greek words
transcribed into Latin, lines 42–44, 46–47).
39 Feissel 2004, 292–293 (= rpt. 2010, 257).
40 The emperor’s act is composed of 45 letters on line 1, 37 on line 3 (where the term Ιουστινιανου-
πολιτῶν is enlarged); on lines 2 and 6 there is enlarged writing, which grows compact again on lines
9 and 10. The prefect’s act is composed of 39 letters on lines 40 and 41, 34 on lines 48 and 49. The
governor’s act, written in smaller characters, reaches a maximum of 53 letters only at line 59.
41 For an analysis of the orthography of the inscription, see Feissel 2004, 330ff. (= rpt. 2010, 266ff.).
The few orthographical mistakes of this part of the text can be ascribed to oversights of a phonetic
type.
42 For an analysis of the Greek alphabet of the inscription see Feissel 2004, 293–294 (= rpt. 2010, 258).
216 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

The Latin text43 (apart from lines 36–37, which Feissel considers “un alphabet à
part”44, as will be discussed) is written in semi-uncial style (which is also used for the
Greek terms transcribed into Latin45), and shows stylistic uniformity;46 sometimes it
takes on features that are similar to those of the literary minuscule used in the Orient.
The contrast between the two alphabets is highlighted by the alternation of the
angular forms of the Greek words and the rounded forms of the Latin text. Never-
theless, this does not lead to a lack of equilibrium in the general composition: apart
from lines 36–37, the size of the Latin words is the same as the size of the Greek ones.
The governor’s act (which, as already mentioned, is written in smaller letters), is also
composed of Greek and Latin letters of the same size.
Above all, the inscription of Didyma represents a document of the greatest impor-
tance for the special alphabet shown on lines 36–37, which, although written on a
stonen epigraph, cannot be analysed using epigraphic standards of research, since
this is a faithful copy of a papyrus writing. As has been observed, Feissel considered
it as a distinct alphabet from the Greek and the Latin ones, because of the enlarged
and very complicated shape of the strokes, which probably made it almost illegible
for most of people who lived in the 5th century.47
As has already been pointed out, after the 368 A.D. issuance of CTh. 9.19.3, the
Ancient Roman cursive also survived outside imperial chancery uses, for example, in
the Ravenna papyri and in the reports of proceedings studied by Tjäder and Marichal.
Lines 36 and 37 of the Didyma inscription illustrate another feature of the survival
of this script. Feissel was able to decipher those lines, which correspond to the consu-
lar dating and place of issue in reports of proceedings. These elements recall the data
that emerged from Marichal’s studies of proceedings and Tjäder’s investigation of the
papyri of Ravenna.48

43 For an analysis of the Latin text see Feissel 2004, 294–295 (= rpt. 2010, 259).
44 Feissel 2004, 292–293 (= rpt. 2010, 257).
45 For the problem of the transcription of Greek names into Latin see Feissel 2004, 295ff. (= rpt. 2010,
259ff.). According to Feissel, the names transcribed into Latin were based entirely on the Greek model.
46 Feissel states that in the original manuscript the Latin text was not so uniform as the one on the
stone; in particular, the prefect’s act probably showed a variety of styles similar to the one of the con-
temporary reports of proceedings, which graphically underscored the importance of the president of
the session (Feissel 2004, 294 [= rpt. 2010, 259]). On the use of different kinds of scripts to distinguish
the hierarchy of a session’s participant, see also Tjäder 1982b, 124–128.
47 Feissel 2004, 330 (= rpt. 2010, 294).
48 According to Feissel 2004, 331 (= rpt. 2010, 295f.): “Preuve que la majuscule, surchargée de fiorit-
ures, des documents de 564 et de 625 représentait en fait l’ultime développement de la cursive latine
ancienne, Tjäder reconnut dans les gesta ravennates les éléments constitutifs d’un en-tête de procès
verbal, à savoir la date et le lieu de la séance—qui dans ce cas ne pouvait être que Ravenne. Une
hypothèse analogue permet de déchiffrer de même la ‘grande écriture’ de l’inscription de Didymes”.
 The Didyma Inscription 217

Some documents will be considered as terms for comparison in the analysis of

this script:49

Fig. 2: London, British Library P. 730 = ChLA III 204; 7 October, A.D. 167 (Table 1, Col. II).50 © The
British Library Board, P.730.

49 The documents are considered in chronological order, to provide a general framework of the de-
velopment of Latin script from the 2nd to the 6th century.
50 Receipt for goods in Ancient Roman cursive, provenance unknown. Picture taken from ChLA III
204.
218 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Fig. 3: Oxford, Ashmolean Museum P.Oxy. XX 2269r = ChLA IV 262; 30 April–14 July, A.D. 269 (Table
1, Col. III).51 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society and Imaging Papyri Project, Oxford).

51 Register of sales by auction, found at Oxyrhynchus; the first line is written in an “elongated” Greek
hand, while the rest of the document is written in Ancient Roman cursive.
 The Didyma Inscription 219

Fig. 4: Manchester, John Rylands Library P.Ryl. IV 653 = P.Sakaon 33 = ChLA IV 254 Ptolemais Euerge-
tis; 3 June, A.D. 318–320 (Table 1, Col. IV).52

Fig. 5: University of Leuven, P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 = P. Worp 11, first half of the 5th century A.D.
(alphabet B: Table 1, Col. V; alphabet A: Table 2, Col. IV), now lost.53

52 A report of proceedings held at Arsinoë before the praeses of Herculia, written in Greek and Latin.
Picture from ChLA IV 254.
53 This papyrus was studied by Feissel (Feissel 2008 = P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 = P. Worp 11), who pro-
220 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Fig. 6: Oxford, Ashmolean Museum P.Oxy. XVI 1879 = ChLA XLVII 1409; 8 Sept.–31 Dec., A.D. 43454
(Table 1, Col. VI).55 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society and Imaging Papyri Project, Oxford).

posed a new edition starting from that of Willy Clarysse and Bruno Rochette (Clarysse/Rochette 2005).
The document, which had been preserved at the University of Leuven, was lost in a fire in 1940, and
was analysed on microfilm reproductions. This papyrus bears two alphabets, called A and B by Feissel
and written by a single hand, which represented the transliteration of the Greek alphabet in Latin
characters; the first alphabet “représente la cursive récente, devenue l’écriture commune à partir du
IIIe s.”; the second is “une forme évoluée de l’ancienne cursive latine, dont l’archaïsme contraste
délibérément avec l’écriture commune” (Feissel 2008, 53 [= rpt. 2010, 541]). Feissel explains this dou-
ble alphabet as a kind of instrument for those who could no longer read the forms of the Ancient
Roman cursive: “Un document comme le nôtre pouvait leur fournir une aide au déchiffrement. En
particulier, la maîtrise de l’alphabet B étant sûrement plus rare que celle de l’alphabet A, ce double
modèle pouvait rendre service à quiconque savait lire l’écriture commune, mais peinait à décrypter
une date de procès-verbal d’ancien style” (Feissel 2008, 61–62 [= rpt. 2010, 549]). Picture from Feissel
2008, 54 (= rpt. 2010, 542) and available online at http://lhpc.arts.kuleuven.be/img/pleuven/descr/
alphabet.html (last accessed: 2015/03/04).
54 P.Oxy. XVI 1878 and P.Oxy. XVI 1879 are two examples of the initial script analysed by Tjäder.
55 Report of proceeding from Egypt written in Greek and Latin, with the initial script in Ancient
Roman cursive. It was analysed by Tjäder in his research into the “misteriosa scrittura grande”, see
Tjäder 1952 passim.
 The Didyma Inscription 221

Fig. 7: Paris, Louvre, P. 2404 = ChLA XVII 657, A.D. 436–450 (Table 1, Col. VII).56

Fig. 8: Oxford, Ashmolean Museum P.Oxy. XVI 1878 = ChLA XLVII 1408, Heracleopolis; 1 Sept., A.D. 46157
(Table 1, Col. VIII).58 (Courtesy of the Egypt Exploration Society and Imaging Papyri Project, Oxford).

56 Litterae caelestes; this is the only preserved example of this script besides the papyri in Leiden and
Paris, see fn. 10. Picture from Steffens 1910, pl. 16.
57 These papyri can be considered examples of Ancient Roman cursive, while those that follow are
cases of Later Roman cursive.
58 Report of proceeding from Egypt written in Greek and Latin, with the initial script written in An-
222 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Fig. 9: Florence, Biblioteca Laurenziana PSI I 111 = ChLA XXV 780, A.D. 287–304 (Table 2, Col. II).59
(Reproduced with permission of MiBACT. Further reproduction by any means is prohibited).

Fig. 10: London, British Library P. Lond. 731 = ChLA III 205, A.D. 293 (Table 2, Col. III).60 © The British
Library Board, P.731.

cient Roman cursive. It was analysed by Tjäder in his research on the “misteriosa scrittura grande”,
see Tjäder 1952, passim.
59 Private copy of an imperial rescript; although this alphabet can be identified with an example of
the Later Roman cursive, it is still characterised by the presence of a few elements belonging to the
system of the Ancient Roman cursive, Casamassima/Staraz 1977, 71.
60 Military receipt written in Later Roman cursive; exact provenance unknown. Picture taken from
ChLA III 205.
 The Didyma Inscription 223

Fig. 11: Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 4568 A (col. III:3) = P.Ital. I 8 = ChLA XVII 652, 17
July, A.D. 564 (Table 2, Col. V).61 (Courtesy of the Bibliothèque nationale de France).

61 Registration protocol of a charta plenariae securitatis of the gesta municipalia of Ravenna; this
document bears an initial script in the shape of the “misteriosa scrittura grande”, while the rest of the
document is written in Later Roman cursive. Picture taken from ChLA XVII 653.
224 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

We propose the following edition of lines 36–37:

Fig. 12: Lines 36–37 in the inscription of Didyma (taken from Feissel 2008, 56) (Table 1, Col. I; Table
2, Col. II).

Although Feissel has already carried out a close examination of this special script, it
seems useful to return to it, in order to highlight some further data.
This is, first of all, the edition of the text:

36 + D(OMINO) N(OSTRO) IUSTI<NI>ANO PERPETUO AUG(USTO) IIII CONS(ULE) DIE III

37 NON(AS) APRILES CONSTANTINOPOLI

A: formed by a vertical stroke similar to an S, and from a second slanted stroke, some-
times separated from the top of the letter (IUSTI<NI>ANO), or joined to it and elon-
gated towards the left (see AUGU(USTO); here the slanted sign is wavy and extended
over the previous letter, while in CONSTANTINOPOLI it is short and truly horizontal).
In the first case, it is very similar to ChLA III 204, P.Oxy. XX 226962 and P.Oxy. XVI 1878,
both related to the Ancient Roman cursive model.63 Tjäder also states that “l’esecuz-
ione della a e la r in due tratti, l’uno in sostanza verticale e l’altro più o meno oriz-
zontale, sono due delle più tipiche lettere della corsiva antica”64; the clear proximity
of this letter to the as of the litterae caelestes of ChLA XVII 65765 can be effectively
observed.

62 Tjäder 1985, 91, states that the script of this papyrus, where the as take on different forms, can be
considered “a stage of transition”.
63 Feissel 2008, 56 (= rpt. 2010, 544).
64 Tjäder 1952, 197; on the shape of a in the Ancient Roman cursive, see also Tjäder 1979, 57–59
(P.Mich III 164 = ChLA V 281): “più tardi delle altre lettere dell’alfabeto latino la a arrivò alla forma che
avrebbe avuto nella corsiva nuova romana. Fino al II sec d.C. incluso, si trovano di fatto soltanto forme
‘antiche’, o quella, che non sembra andare oltre il I sec. d.C., che ha la traversa attaccata alla fine del
secondo tratto, o quella nota a due tratti che fu normale nella scrittura ufficiale, o, infine, altre forme
meno corsive, che in generale avevano conservato, in un modo o nell’altro, la traversa […] La nuova
a […] appare per la prima volta nel P.Mich. III, 164, datato all’anno 242 o non molto dopo, poi nel P.
Dura 81 del 250 circa e nel P. Dura 95, dell’anno 250 o 251[…] Paleograficamente, questa nuova forma
potrebbe benissimo essere la trasformazione della antica a in due tratti, ma è oramai chiaro che man-
cavano le premesse per tale trasformazione. Insieme alle prime a del nuovo tipo che si sono rinvenute
infatti non si trova la a in due tratti ma invece quella ‘onciale arcaica’”; see also Tjäder 1979, 52, fn. 54.
65 See in particular the fragment P. Louvre 2404 that is a part of the same roll.
 The Didyma Inscription 225

C66: formed by a unique curved stroke; it is not clear whether, in the word CONS(ULE),
the sign similar to a Ω written above c is part of this letter (the equivalent of the
“boucle” on P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 = P.Worp. 11, which, according to Feissel, “fait […]
partie intégrante du caractère”67; this is a typical sign of the Ancient Roman cursive,68
also clearly visible in the litterae caelestes of ChLA XVII 657) or an extension of the
horizontal stroke of n. Although the other cs of the inscription lack this particular
sign, this stroke is probably part of the letter c, since in all of the other occurrences the
horizontal stroke of n ends with a bow only on the left part of the letter (see the second
n of NON(AS) and the second n of CONSTANTINOPOLI). Feissel highlights the risk of
confusion between c and i at this stage of evolution of the writing.69

D: formed by two strokes, a curved one and a vertical one slightly slanted at the top.
The downward curve is joined to the bar in the lower part. There is a wavy abbrevia-
tion stroke above the letter. Tjäder states that the form of ancient d was fully recovered
in the Later Roman cursive:

There can be no doubt that ancient d was an official letter in the period of the Later Roman
Cursive. There are a few instances from Egypt; there are several from Italy, including about 100
in the […] record of gesta […] It is clear that this ancient d […] could have had a future even after
the 6th century.70

E: formed by two curved, overlapping strokes, not totally joined in the word APRILES,
and totally disjointed in the word DIE (see below). Although the difference between
this shape and the litterae caelestes of ChLA XVII 657 (P. Louvre 2404) is evident,
the letter is not very far from the Ancient Roman cursive shapes of P.Oxy. XX 2269,
P.Sakaon 33, P.Oxy. XVI 1878 and P.Oxy. XVI 1879. Nevertheless, there is also a strong
resemblance to PSI I 111, which is related to the Later Roman cursive. E for this reason
can be considered a “mixed shape” between the Ancient and the Later Roman cursive.

G: this letter has a smaller module than the others, and it is formed by a short,
rounded stroke completed at the top with a very small sign similar to a comma. This
shape resembles that of the Later Roman cursive (see in particular PSI I 111), as stated

66 Tjäder considers c as one of those signs that are not very meaningful for the comprehension of
the development of writing because, in the cursive script, they maintain more or less the same shape,
Tjäder 1952, 198–199; c, h, i, l, o and t are also considered less meaningful in the comparison of the two
systems in Casamassima/Staraz 1977, 26, fn. 27.
67 Feissel 2008, 58 (= rpt. 2010, 546).
68 See above fn. 66.
69 Feissel 2004, 333 (= rpt. 2010, 297).
70 Tjäder 1982a, 16.
226 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

also by Feissel,71 and represents one of the most meaningful attestations of the fact
that this script is not a closed system, but is open to the influences of the litterae
communes.

I: formed by a unique stroke, similar to a complete c. Feissel states that “la forme
incurvée du I caractéristique de ce type de cursive contraste avec la haste droit de
l’alphabet A”,72 which, as we have seen, was an example of a Later Roman cursive
alphabet. The shape of this letter is very similar to that of P.Oxy. XVI 1879, even if it is
slightly less curved in the papyrus. As in the case of c, it is not clear whether the small
sign above the first i of IUSTI<NI>ANO73 is the equivalent of the “boucle” of P.Lugd.
Bat. XXXIII 11 = P.Worp. 1174 or the prosecution of the horizontal stroke of n.

L: formed by a vertical, slightly wavy stroke. Not meaningful.

N: formed by two vertical strokes (similar to S) and by a third horizontal, wavy stroke
extending horizontally on the bars and dominating with its greater length. On three
occurrences (CONS(ULE), second n of NON(AS), first n of CONSTANTINOPOLI) the
horizontal stroke ends, on the left, with a sign similar to a Ω, or a bow. The horizontal
stroke of the n of N(OSTRO) has a particularly undulating form: it may be the result of
the stonecutter’s attempt to reproduce the abbreviation sign that was surely present
on the original text. In the second n of CONSTANTINOPOLI, the horizontal stroke is
elongated above o. The superior stroke of the letter is often separated from the vertical
bars (see in particular N(OSTRO) and the second n of NON(AS)); Feissel states that
this development of the letter “se traduit par une croissance progressive de la partie
droite de la lettre, tendant à la symétrie avec sa partie gauche”.75 For this reason,
Feissel considers this letter as “le plus obstacle à la lisibilité”, because, when the
horizontal stroke is separated from the vertical one, there is a risk of reading this sign
as if it were two letters.76 The stonecutter put great care into reproducing the n of the

71 Feissel 2008, 57 (= rpt. 2010, 545); the derivation of this type of g, which can also be found in the
Ravenna papyrus from the Later Roman cursive system, has been noticed also by Tjäder 1952, 214, fn. 50.
72 Feissel 2008, 58 (= rpt. 2010, 546).
73 Feissel states that the omission of NI is due to the fact that, in this particular alphabet, the group
of letters NI and STI had a very similar shape: “Pareille confusion semble s’être produite dès la lecture
de l’original, quand le lapicide a copié IUSTIANO en omettant les lettres NI. De fait, le groupe STI est
si semblable au groupe NI que l’on a affaire ce cas à une quasi-haplographie” (Feissel 2004, 333, fn.
231 [= rpt. 2010, 297, fn. 231]).
74 Feissel observes that in the litterae caelestes “cette boucle est commune à c, f et s” (Feissel 2008,
58 [= rpt. 2010, 546]).
75 Feissel 2008, 58 (= rpt. 2010, 546).
76 Feissel 2004, 333 (= rpt. 2010, 297): “Un N ainsi désarticulé peut se confondre avec le group RT ou
ST”; see also Tjäder 1979, fn. 33, and 56.
 The Didyma Inscription 227

papyrus on the inscription: the marked wavy shape of the horizontal stroke, ending
with a bow, seems to be a faithful copy of the n of P.Oxy. XVI 1878 and 1879 (see figs. 8
and 6). According to Tjäder, the shape of this letter originates from the Ancient Roman
cursive.77

O: oval in shape (see in particular the first o of CONSTANTINOPOLI), slightly slanted

towards the right, but there are some differences in proportion of width and height
among the several os of the inscription. According to Tjäder, the ancient way of writing
this letter, “which implied disarticulated writing, survived in the period of the Later
cursive, alongside the current way of writing, which was the Later Roman cursive”.78
This letter can be considered “as common to the two stages of handwriting”.79 Feissel
connects this letter with the alphabet A of Feissel 2008 (= P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 = P.
Worp 11).80

P: very similar to a; formed by a first vertical stroke similar to an S, and a second

slanted stroke, sometimes separated from the top of the letter (first p of PERPETUO and
CONSTANTINOPOLI; in this case the letter is very similar to the a of IUSTI<NI>ANO),
or joined to the top and elongated towards the left (APRILES). The second p of PER-
PETUO takes on a stylized shape, with the slanted stroke truly straight, and length-
ened upwards. It can be stated without doubt that the shape of p originates from the
Ancient Roman cursive: a similar form can be observed in ChLA III 204, P.Lugd. Bat.
XXXIII 11 = P.Worp 11 (alphabet B) and P.Oxy. XVI 1878. Feissel also states that this
letter is typical of the Ancient Roman cursive alphabet.81

R: See the interpretation of PERPETUO below. The form of the letter certainly comes
from the Ancient Roman cursive (see the observation of Tjäder about r and a and the
strong resemblance between this letter and that of the litterae caelestes of ChLA XVII
657).

S: formed by a wavy, vertical stroke and a superior bow. The bow is an attempt to
reproduce the “boucle” characterising this letter in the papyrus (P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII
11 = P.Worp 11 and P.Oxy XVI 1879, first s of conss.), and it allows s to join the Ancient
Roman cursive alphabet,82 since this is a typical element of the litterae caelestes

77 Tjäder 1952, 195–196.

78 Tjäder 1982a, 12; see also Tjäder 1982a, 13: “In certain cases […] the choice of the disarticulated
way of writing could have been determined by the large size, but in other cases, there is no technical
basis for the choice and it must […] have been a question of conservative adherence to an older form”.
79 Tjäder 1985, 189.
80 Feissel 2008, 59 (= rpt. 2010, 546).
81 Feissel 2008, 59 (= rpt. 2010, 547).
82 According to Feissel, the S of P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 (= P.Worp 11), which is very similar to that of
228 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

(ChLA XVII 657). According to Feissel, this sign “fait partie intégrante de la lettre”.83
In the abbreviation CONS(ULE) the s is barred.

T: in CONSTANTINOPOLI, the letter is formed by two strokes, a curved one (similar to

a complete c) and a short, horizontal one. For the t of PERPETUO see below.

U: formed by two joined strokes, one curved and one vertical, slightly elongated in
the lower line. This letter is not indicative of much; here it is more curved than in the
Ancient Roman cursive shapes of the alphabet B in P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 = P.Worp 11
(Feissel states that the form of u in this papyrus can be reconnected to the alphabet
A), rather similar to the Later Roman cursive shapes of PSI I 111.84

It seems appropriate to make some observations about Feissel’s interpretation of the

script. In the word PERPETUO, there are three strokes after PE, two of a vertical shape,
similar to an S, and a short horizontal one, written above the first vertical stroke. Here
the shape of r is different from the r of APRILES, where it is composed by only two
strokes, a vertical one similar to an S and a superior, horizontal one (a shape that is
similar to those of ChLA III 204 and P.Lugd. Bat. XXXIII 11 = P.Worp 11, alphabet B).
It seems possible that in the case of PERPETUO the stonecutter saw on the papyrus a
form of r similar to that of P.Oxy. XVI 1879, where the letter takes on a shape similar to
an n, because its superior stroke is extended downwards on the right. On the stone,
the stonecutter reproduced the latter sign with three strokes, a first, vertical one, cor-
responding to the vertical bar of r, and two separated ones, the first horizontal and
the second vertical (see Tab. 4).
A similar interpretation also seems to be possible for the t in the same word: after
the second e a curved sign can be observed, similar to a c; it can be supposed that this
is truly a c (in this case, the word should be read as PERPECTUO, but it would be an
evident mistake), but the stroke is less curved than the other cs, and more squared.
It could be supposed that this is the continuation of the superior stroke of t, inter-
preted by the stonecutter as a stroke aside. Maybe he saw, on the papyrus, a shape
similar to the second t of P.Ital. I 8 where the horizontal stroke is slanted downwards
(see Tab. 5; Feissel defines this stroke as a “boucle”, which “se détache du corps de la
lettre”85), and he reproduced it on the stone with two separated signs, as in the case
of the r.

Didyma, is “en réalité indépendant de l’alphabet A” (Feissel 2008, 59 [= rpt. 2010, 547]).
83 Feissel 2008, 59 (= rpt. 2010, 547).
84 On the form of this letter in the Ancient and Later Roman cursives see Tjäder 1979, 48, fn. 43;
Tjäder 1982a, 13–14; Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 99.
85 Feissel 2008, 59 (= rpt. 2010, 547).
 The Didyma Inscription 229

It also seems possible to propose an interpretation of the word die that differs
from Feissel’s: the scholar states that this word is conveyed only by a d (D<IE>), but
this would not explain the presence of the three signs after d itself.

Fig. 13: The word DIE in the Didyma inscription (taken from Feissel 2008, 56 [= rpt. 2010, 544]).

It can be argued that the sign similar to an e after the d is actually an i (in the form of
a complete c, very curved), followed by an e formed by two disjointed curved strokes.
In other words, it is possible that the superior stroke of e is set before its normal place.
Feissel himself, analysing the shape of the e of F (alphabet B), points out the
strong disarticulation of this letter in the Didyma epigraph: “l’évolution de cet alpha-
bet tend à désarticuler le haut et le bas de la lettre, nettement séparés dans les acta
de 533”.86
One might also suppose that the stonecutter confused the i with the base of e, and
so he relocated the superior part of the latter to the i.
The global shape of the alphabet raises some interesting remarks, which recall
some observations made by Tjäder on the Ravenna papyri containing the “misteriosa
scrittura grande”.
The analysis of the special alphabet of the Didyma inscription highlights the pres-
ence of a remarkable number of letters that can be connected with the Ancient Roman
cursive alphabet, similar to the opening script of Ravenna’s gesta praefectoria: it can
be stated without a doubt for a, n, p and r, as we have already noted in the analysis of
the single letters.
There are also some letters that, at a first sight, seem to be insufficiently distinct
for assigment to one alphabet or another (like i and s), but actually show elements
of connection with the Ancient Roman cursive: in particular, this can be stated for s,
characterised by a superior sign similar to the “boucle” typical of the Ancient Roman
cursive and clearly visible also in the litterae caelestes.
The Didyma inscription thus represents an epigraphic statement of the preser-
vation of the Ancient Roman cursive alphabet beyond its use in the imperial writing.
Nevertheless, the alphabet in lines 36 and 37 cannot be completely ascribed to
the influence of Ancient Roman cursive: some letters appear connected to the writing
system of the Later Roman cursive. This is especially true for d, e, g and o.

86 Feissel 2008, 57 (= rpt. 2010, 545).

230 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

The alphabet found in the Didyma inscription, therefore, is not a pure writing
form, but the result of a complex graphical situation, and it testifies to the complex
writing panorama developed after the 4th century.
It is interesting to recall the observations made by Iannacci, Modesti and Zuf-
frano87 on the “misteriosa scrittura grande” analysed by Tjäder: the shape of the
initial script of the Ravenna papyri and those from Egypt papyri88 was not the pure
shape of the Ancient Roman cursive, and some letters could also be connected to the
Later Roman cursive shapes.89
In those scripts, there is not “una situazione di contrapposizione netta e radicale
tra due sistemi grafici opposti (corsiva antica e corsiva nuova)”, but they are the mirror
of a “condizione più sfumata di quanto non possa sembrare in prima istanza”.90
The system of a special initial script in the papyri from Ravenna, like that of lines
36 and 37 in the Didyma inscription, is not, therefore, a closed one, unlike the litterae
caelestes,91 but is in part open to the influences of the litterae communes, and it shows
the complexity of the graphic panorama of this period.92
The script of lines 36–37 of the Didyma inscription seems to represent an interme-
diate step between those in the papyri from Ravenna and Egypt.
A closer comparison of these writing systems shows that the differences are not
substantial: Feissel states that the script of the inscription shows a “caractère relative-
ment conservateur”.93
Feissel does not consider the lack of ligatures characterising the inscription to
be the biggest dissimilarity between this script and the one of the papyri. The biggest
difference is due not only to the writing material, but also to a phenomenon already
highlighted by Tjäder:

87 Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012.
88 For the Later Roman cursive elements in the papyri from Egypt see Marichal 1952, 349, fn. 1,
Kresten 1966, 8ff.; Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 100.
89 Innacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 99–100. Also Tjäder reached this conclusion in 1982a, 8, where he
states that “[…] the Ancient Roman cursive […] remained in a pure form, presumably until about A.D.
600, as a monopoly script in the Imperial chancery, and, in a sometimes slightly mixed form, it was
in use in the first half of the 7th century […] for the opening line […] in records of regesta and acta”.
90 Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 100.
91 Innacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 110: “Intorno alla metà del V secolo le litterae caelestes
testimoniate nei due rescritti imperiali si presentano in forme ancora sostanzialmente incontaminate
e vicine a quelle dei papiri del III secolo”.
92 On this matter, it is also worth recalling the words of Casamassima and Staraz: “nel III secolo
il sistema della scrittura romana nel trasformarsi […] è divenuto straordinariamente più ricco e
complesso nella morfologia dei segni e nella struttura, appare articolato in una varia e vivace
dialettica di tipi grafici” (Casamassima/Staraz 1977, 11).
93 Feissel 2004, 332 (= rpt. 2010, 296).
 The Didyma Inscription 231

L’évolution de la cursive d’en-tête du Ve au VIe s., respectivement en Égypte et en Italie, affecte

non seulement la forme individuelle des lettres, mais tend à passer d’une écriture liée a une
quasi-capitale aux caractères distincts. La ’grande écriture‘ de l’inscription de 533, proche encore
du ductus des deux siècles précédents, paraît amorcer déjà la tendance à en séparer les carac-
tères.94

Furthermore, this characteristic can be considered one of the strongest elements

attesting to the derivation of the epigraphic script from the ancient writing system:
in the litterae caelestes, a system of ligatures did not develop.95 Although the letters
did overlap,96 the only joining system was represented by narrowing the distance
between small groups of letters, or segments of single letters, in correspondence to
the final stroke of the letters themselves. This did not lead to a modification of the
features of the characters.97
It is most likely that the stonecutter saw, on the papyrus, strokes that were
not ligated (even though they probably overlapped, as in the “misteriosa scrittura
grande”), and he reproduced them on the stone as separate and unconnected letters.
Feissel states that the main difference between the letters on the Didyma inscrip-
tion and those in papyri is the great space that sometimes separates different parts of
the same letter on the inscription.98
It is certainly true in the cases of r and t (but only in the word PERPETUO, as
discussed), but it can not be stated in the case of n, which Feissel conversely con-
siders “le cas plus net de ce défaut”.99 The left bar of n is clearly separated from the
horizontal bar in P.Oxy. XVI 1878 (cons.) and P.Oxy. XVI 1879 (Areobindo), and it seems
possible that the stonecutter intentionally reproduced this feature of the letter on the
stone, in order to approach the original shape that he saw on the manuscript.

94 Feissel 2004, 332f. (= rpt. 2010, 297); the lack of ligatures also characterises the “misteriosa scrittu-
ra grande” of Ravenna, where “vi è una visibile distinzione generale tra la maggior parte delle lettere,
tanto che si ha in qualche punto l’impressione di vedere piuttosto una iscrizione” (Tjäder 1952, 206);
see also Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 101f., which states that in the Later Roman cursive “la strut-
tura essenziale della singola lettera rimane invariata senza quei cedimenti tipici invece della corsiva
nuova, dove le lettere, pur di adeguarsi alle legature, modificano anche di molto la propria struttura
fino ad assumere tre o quattro forme diverse.”
95 Unlike the Later Roman cursive system, where the letters modify their structure according to the
ligatures and take on different shapes.
96 This is an element that can give the impression of a woven script: Marini effectively defined those
letters as “intralciate fra se” (Marini 1805, 267, fn. 2).
97 Mallon 1948, 9ff. (= rpt. 1982, 169ff.); Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 101, fn. 43.
98 “La déformation la plus sensible entre le manuscrit et la pierre ne consiste pas dans la séparation
des caractères entre eux, mais dans l’espace exagéré qui tend à disloquer les éléments d’une même
lettre” (Feissel 2004, 333 [= rpt. 2010, 297]).
99 Feissel 2004, 333 (= rpt. 2010, 297).
232 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

This observation raises the question introduced by Feissel, who discussed

whether the reproduction of the manuscript on the stone can be considered a faithful
one.
It seems possible to state that the stonecutter not only reproduced the form of the
single letters, but also some particular features typical of their shape on a papyrus
support.
It is particularly evident in the case of n, which is provided with a sign similar to a
Ω or a bow at the end of the horizontal stroke: it seems to be an attempt to reproduce
faithfully the bows concluding the left part of the n in, e.g., P.Oxy. XVI 1879 and P.Oxy.
XVI 1878 (see figs. 6 and 8).

But for what reason did the stonecutter put such great care into faithfully reproducing
the script that he saw on the papyrus?
The craftsman should not have had any difficulty in transposing onto stone the
Latin and Greek alphabets, written in the classic epigraphic capital shapes; there
must have been greater difficulties in copying the opening lines of the gesta praefec-
toria, written in a complicated cursive and totally unrelated to all epigraphic forms.
The reproduction of those signs on a stone went against all epigraphic uses: the
stonecutter had to adapt to a hard material a kind of script that was complicated even
on papyrus, since it was full of curved and sinuous strokes that were technically dif-
ficult to reproduce.
Certainly the precision of the single strokes is a sign of the stonecutter’s great
craftsmanship.
Furthermore, the faithful reproduction of the papyrus shapes also seems to
assume an important meaning for the function of this inscription: as has already been
pointed out, the citizens of Didyma had obtained the original text of the gesta prae-
fectoria, provided with the subscription of the prefect, and it was reproduced on the
stone “sans copie intermédiaire”.100
The effort made by the stonecutter in reproducing the original letter of the prefect
on the stone can be attributed to the will to demonstrate the authenticity of this docu-
ment, which represented the original attestation of the achievement of the citizenry’s
request to the emperor.
This could explain the great care which the stonecutter put into the reproduction
of these two lines, and which represents a certification of guarantee for the whole
document,101 as Feissel has also observed: “Le soin scrupuleux mis par lapicide à
calquer un en-tête en cursive archaïsante traduit l’intention de mettre en évidence

100 Feissel 2008, 332 (= rpt. 2010, 296).

101 This was also the function of the special scripts of the papyri from Ravenna and Egypt. On this
see in particular Tjäder 1952, 212, Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 108–110.
 The Didyma Inscription 233

l’authenticité de l’acte, reconnaissable à cette calligraphie particulière et difficile-

ment imitable”.102
It is also possible to quote other examples similar to the Didyma inscription,
where a special script was carved in stone in order to affirm the authenticity of the
written document.
This is the case, for example, of two stone fragments found in Kairouan (Tunisia),
which were studied by Charles Diehl in 1894.
In this case, the special script was limited to two words (sancimus and [con]fir-
mamus), indicating the attestation of guarantee given by the emperor to the act.
Even if those words are not written in characters of a majuscule type, but in
a minuscule cursive, in this case as at Didyma the stonecutter reproduced strokes
that were totally unnatural for stone writing, and put great care into reproducing a
papyrus script on a hard surface, with the clear purpose of giving a mark of authen-
ticity to the document:

au lieu de les transcrire dans le même caractère que le reste de l’inscription, il a voulu faire
éclater aux yeux la différence, jadis exprimée d’une manière en quelque sorte abstraite par la
mention: et alia manu. Il s’est appliqué à reproduire sur la pierre, en un véritable fac-similé, les
notes impériales inscrites dans l’original; et ainsi l’inscription de Kairouan nous conserve, dans
le Sancimus et le Confirmamus, écrits en cursive, une copie, plus ou moins imparfaite sans doute,
mais incontestable, de la souscription émanant du basileus byzantin.103

Fig. 14: Detail: [Con]firmamus (taken from Diehl 1894, pl. III).

102 Feissel 2008, 332 (= rpt. 2010, 296).

103 Diehl 1894, 392f. A similar artifice can also be found in a fragment discovered at Salamis, and
also studied by Denis Feissel, where the word recognovi presents some letters in cursive forms: Feissel
2001b, 192ff. (= rpt. 2010, 88ff.).
234 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Fig. 15: Detail of Sancimus (taken from Diehl 1894, pl. II).

3 Conclusions
What emerged from this palaeographical analysis is that the opening lines of the
gesta praefectoria of the Didyma inscription can be considered a missing link between
the opening script of the reports of proceedings from Egypt and those of the Ravenna
papyri, and this is not only for chronological reasons, as Feissel has also pointed out:

Le document constitue […] un nouveau jalon dans les dernières phases d’évolution de la cursive
latine ancienne. Entre les procès-verbaux égyptiens précisément datés, qui ne descendent pas
au-delà de 461 ou peut-être 483, et ceux de Ravenne en 564 et 625, l’inscription de Didymes
apporte à l’histoire de cet alphabet une sorte de chainon manquant.104

The epigraphic script is close to the script in the Ravenna papyri because of the mixed
shapes of its alphabet, which shows a remarkable number of letters originating from
the Ancient Roman cursive system but, at the same time, shows some strokes clearly
derived from the Later Roman cursive alphabet.
Nevertheless, a careful examination of the letters of the Didyma inscription
reveals a closer proximity to the alphabet of the papyri from Egypt, in particular
P.Oxy. XVI 1878 and P.Oxy. XVI 1879.
Therefore, if we try to reconstruct the shape of the script of the original papyrus
that represented the model of the inscription, we can suppose, with a good degree of
certainty, that the letters had probably assumed an intermediate shape between those

104 Feissel 2004, 332 (= rpt. 2010, 296).

 The Didyma Inscription 235

of the papyri from Egypt and Ravenna, which is a script based on a majuscule type,
but with a marked degree of elaboration.105
Although this script was of a majuscule type, it was also open to the influence of
a minuscule model alphabet, and this is an element that clearly shows a situation of
graphical complexity. Furthermore, this is proof of the fact that the minuscule model
had penetrated common writing practices at such a high level that it also influenced
conservative scripts, like those of the administrative and bureaucratic offices.
A further observation that emerged from this research is that the case of the
Didyma inscription, where a special and complicated script is carved in stone in order
to highlight the authenticity of the document, is not an isolated one. The inscription
of Kairouan is a further example of a script formed by curvy and wavy strokes that are
hard to reproduce in stone. This demonstrates that inscriptions were used not only
to communicate a message, to give public evidence to a text, to represent the power
of kings or emperors, or to represent examples of a scrittura esposta (exhibited writ-
ing):106 they were also legal documents indeed, provided with a specific legitimacy.
Furthermore, in the case of the Didyma inscription we can observe not only the
stonecutter’s effort to reproduce difficult strokes on a hard material, but also the will
to write in a script that must have been almost illegible for the majority of the people
who lived at that time.
In this way, the main function of the inscription, that is, to show a public message
to the people, failed, and the writing was the bearer of another function, which was to
grant authenticity to a document.
In this sense, the Didyma inscription represents an exemplary case, since, from a
palaeographical point of view, it is a witness to what Cencetti defined as the general
unit of the graphic phenomenon in the Roman Era,107 a phenomenon that today is
often forgotten by historiography. Beyond the different material supports, we find a
unique graphic phenomenon adapted to different variations and contexts and the
Didyma inscription is a clear statement of this fundamental unit.

105 The exaggerated grade of elaboration of this script was probably one of the results of CTh. 9.19.3,
which probably hastened a process of exaggeration of the graphic artifice that had already started
with the scripts of the majuscule type and was due to the fact that they were falling into disuse. This
involution was proportional to the diminishing legibility of this script (see Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano
2012, 105–106).
106 Petrucci 1985.
107 “[…] a parte la prevalenza dell’un materiale scrittorio sull’altro nelle varie epoche e nei diversi
luoghi, per l’uso quotidiano la scrittura a inchiostro e quella scalfita dovevano essere adoperate con-
temporaneamente, o quasi, dalle medesime mani […] Pur tenendo conto delle differenze reciproche,
dobbiamo dunque non dimenticare che i due tipi di scrittura non solo sono interdipendenti e s’influ-
enzano reciprocamente, ma costituiscono in realtà semplicemente due varietà di atteggiamento di
una medesima scrittura usuale” (Cencetti 1950, 7 [= rpt. 1993, 55]).
236 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

From the standpoint of the function of writing, the Didyma inscription shows how
going beyond disciplinary barriers and drawing on a more interdisciplinary approach
leads to a deeper and better understanding of this phenomenon, because only a com-
parison of all the existing sources (palaeographic, papyrological, epigraphic and also
diplomatic), from an interdisciplinary perspective, can explain the presence of such a
peculiar script on the inscription of Didyma.

Returning to the theme of CTh. 9.19.3 and to the problem of the effective application
of this law, we agree with Iannacci, Modesti and Zuffrano that the presence of the
opening script in the cases of the papyri from Egypt and Ravenna (and to these we can
now add the Didyma inscription) did not represent violations of the law of Valentian
and Valens.108
Nevertheless, it appears very difficult to reach a definitive conclusion on this
matter, since it would imply a deep exegesis of the law and of the graphic context
where it was issued.
What can be pointed out in this debate is that the Didyma inscription demon-
strates further that a script similar to the litterae caelestes survived not only in places
of the Empire where the conservative tradition was very strong, like Ravenna or Egypt,
but also in other areas, in the West and in the Orient as well.
This shows that the use of this script was not fortuitous or isolated, but was gen-
eralised, and this is an important consideration that will have to be taken into account
in future studies of CTh. 9.19.3.
The Didyma inscription is thus a source of greatest importance, which illumi-
nates a complex phenomenon not only from a graphic point of view, but also in the
context of the relationship between legislation and writing.

108 Iannacci/Modesti/Zuffrano 2012, 104.

 The Didyma Inscription 237

Tab. 1: Comparison between lines 36–37 of the Didyma inscription and some alphabets of the
Ancient Roman cursive.
238 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Tab. 2: Comparison between lines 36–37 of the Didyma inscription and some alphabets of the Later
Roman cursive.
 The Didyma Inscription 239

Tab. 3: Comparison between the superior part of N in lines 36–37 of the Didyma inscription and in
P.Oxy. XVI 1878.

Tab. 4: Comparison between the shape of R in lines 36–37 of the Didyma inscription and P.Oxy. XVI
1879.

Tab. 5: Comparison between the shape of T in lines 36–37 of the Didyma inscription and P.Ital. I 8 =
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, lat. 4568 A = ChLA XVII 652.
Abbreviations
AÉ L’Année épigraphique
ChLA Bruckner, Albert/Marichal, Robert (eds.) (1954 –…), Chartae Latinae
Antiquiores. Facsimile-edition of Latin Charters, 1st series, Zurich.
C. Codex Iustinianus: Krueger Paulus (ed.) (1967), Corpus iuris civilis, vol. 2:
Codex Iustinianus, Berlin.
CTh. Codex Theodosianus: Mommsen Theodor (ed.) (1971), Theodosiani libri XVI
cum constitutionibus, Berlin.
Nov. Novellae: Schoell Rudolfus/Kroll Guilelmus (1972), Corpus iuris civilis,
vol. 3: Novellae, Berlin.
SEG Supplementum epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden 1923–…
The Theodosian Code Pharr, Clyde (ed.) (1952) The Theodosian Code and Novels and Sirmondian
Constitutions. A Translation with Commentary, Glossary and Bibliography
(The Corpus of Roman Law), Princeton.

Papyrological texts are quoted in accordance with the Checklist of Papyri, http://library.duke.edu/
rubenstein/scriptorium/papyrus/texts/clist.html

Bibliography
Calabi Limentani, Ida (1974³), Epigrafia latina, con un’appendice bibliografica di Attilio Degrassi,
Milan.
Casamassima, Emanuele/Staraz, Elena (1977), “Varianti e cambio grafico nella scrittura dei papiri
latini”, in: Scrittura e civiltà 1, 9–110.
Cavallo, Guglielmo (1970), La koinè scrittoria greco-romana nella prassi documentale di età
bizantina, in: Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinistik 19, 1–31.
Cavallo, Guglielmo/Magistrale, Francesco (1985), “Libri e scritture del diritto nell’età di Giustiniano”,
in: Gian Gualberto Archi and Mario Amelotti (eds.), Il mondo del diritto nell’epoca giustinianea.
Caratteri e problematiche. Atti del Convegno tenuto a Ravenna nel 1983 (Biblioteca di ‘Felix
Ravenna’ 2), Ravenna, 43–58.
Cavallo, Guglielmo (2008), La scrittura greca e latina dei papiri. Una introduzione (Studia erudita 8),
Pisa.
Cencetti, Giorgio (1948), “Vecchi e nuovi orientamenti nello studio della paleografia”, in: La
Bibliografia 50, 4–23.
Cencetti, Giorgio (1950), “Note paleografiche sulla scrittura dei papiri latini dal I al III secolo d.C.”,
Bologna (= Cencetti, Giorgio (1993), “Note paleografiche sulla scrittura dei papiri latini dal I al
III secolo d.C.”, in: Giovanna Nicolaj (ed.), Scritti di paleografia, Zurich, 47–108).
Cencetti, Giorgio (1956–1957), “Ricerche sulla scrittura latina nell’età arcaica”, in: Bullettino
dell’Archivio Paleografico Italiano, Nuova Serie 2–3 (1), 173–207 (= Cencetti, Giorgio
(1993), “Ricerche sulla scrittura latina nell’età arcaica”, in: Giovanna Nicolaj (ed.), Scritti di
paleografia, Zurich, 135–169).
Cencetti, Giorgio (1961), “Dall’unità al particolarismo grafico. Le scritture cancelleresche romane e
quelle dell’alto medioevo”, in: Il passaggio dall’Antichità al Medioevo in Occidente, Spoleto
6–12 Aprile 1961 (Settimane di Studio del Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo 9),
237–273 (= Cencetti, Giorgio (1993), “Dall’unità al particolarismo grafico. Le scritture cancel-
 The Didyma Inscription 241

leresche romane e quelle dell’alto medioevo”, in: Giovanna Nicolaj (ed.), Scritti di paleografia,
Zurich, 225–272).
Cencetti, Giorgio (1965), Compendio di paleografia latina per le scuole universitarie e archivistiche,
Naples.
Cencetti, Giorgio (1967–1969), “La paleografia del bibliotecario. Lezione tenuta il 15 aprile 1967 e il
5 novembre 1969 ai corsi di aggiornamento per Bibliotecari di I classe (Università degli Studi di
Roma, Scuola Speciale per Archivisti e Bibliotecari)” (= Cencetti, Giorgio (1993), “La paleografia
del bibliotecario. Lezione tenuta il 15 aprile 1967 e il 5 novembre 1969 ai corsi di aggiornamento
per Bibliotecari di I classe (Università degli Studi di Roma, Scuola Speciale per Archivisti e
Bibliotecari)”, in: Giovanna Nicolaj (ed.), Scritti di paleografia, Zurich, 273–278)
Cencetti, Giorgio (1993), Scritti di paleografia, a cura di Giovanna Nicolaj, Zurich.
Cencetti, Giorgio (1997²), Lineamenti di storia della scrittura latina, Bologna.
Cherubini, Paolo/Pratesi, Alessandro (2010), Paleografia latina. L’avventura grafica del mondo
occidentale (Littera Antiqua 16), Vatican City.
Clarysse, Willy/Rochette, Bruno (2005), “Un alphabet grec en caractères latins”, in: Archiv für
Papyrusforschung und verwandte Gebiete 51 (1), 67–75.
Diehl, Charles (1894), “Une charte lapidaire du VIe siècle”, in: Comptes rendus des séances de
l’Académie des inscriptions et Belles-Lettres 38 (5), 383–393.
Feissel, Denis (2001b), “Un rescrit impérial et une consécration d’après une inscription du gymnase
de Salamine”, in: Cahiers du Centre d’Études Chypriotes 31, 189–207 (= Feissel, Denis (2010),
“Un rescript imperial et une consecration d’après une inscription du gymnase de Salamie”, in:
Denis Feissel, Documents, droit, diplomatique de l’Empire romain tardif (Bilans de recherche 7)
Paris, 85–100).
Feissel, Denis (2004), “Un rescrit de Justinien découvert à Didymes (1er avril 533)”, in: Chiron
34, 285–365 (= Feissel, Denis (2010), “Un rescrit de Justinien découvert à Didymes (1er avril
533)”, in: Denis Feissel, Documents, droit, diplomatique de l’Empire romain tardif (Bilans de
recherche 7) Paris 2010, 251–324).
Feissel, Denis (2008), “Deux modèles de cursive latine dans l’ordre alphabétique grec”, in:
Hoogendijk, Francisca A. J. (ed.), Sixty-five Papyrological Texts presented to Klaas A. Worp on
the Occasion of His 65th Birthday (Papyrologica Lugduno-Batava 33), Leiden, 53–64 (= Feissel,
Denis (2010), “Deux modèles de cursive latine dans l’ordre alphabétique grec”, in: Denis
Feissel, Documents, droit, diplomatique de l’Empire romain tardif (Bilans de recherche 7) Paris
2010, 541–552).
Feissel, Denis (2010), Documents, droit, diplomatique de l’Empire romain tardif (Bilans de recherche
7), Paris.
Gordon, Joice S./Gordon, Arthur E. (1957), Contributions to the Palaeography of Latin Inscriptions
(University of California Publications in Classical Archaeology 3.3), Los Angeles.
Iannacci, Lorenza/Modesti, Maddalena/Zuffrano, Annafelicia (2012), “La misteriosa scrittura grande
dei papiri ravennati, tra prassi documentaria e pubblica legislazione”, in: Legal Roots. The
International Journal of Roman Law, Legal History and Comparative Law 1, 89–120.
Kresten, Otto (1965), “Zur Frage der ‘Litterae Caelestes’”, in: Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzanti-
nischen Gesellschaft 14, 13–20.
Kresten, Otto (1966), “Diplomatische Auszeichnungsschriften in Spätantike und Frühmittelalter”, in:
Mitteilungen des Instituts für Österreichische Geschichtsforschung 74, 1–50.
Mallon, Jean/Marichal, Robert/Perrat, Charles (1939), L’écriture latine de la capitale romaine la
minuscule, Paris.
Mallon, Jean (1948), “L’écriture de la chancellerie impériale romaine”, in: Acta Salamanticensia,
filologia y letras 4 (2), 5–43. (= Mallon, Jean (1982), “L’écriture de la chancellerie impériale
romaine”, in: Jean Mallon, De l’écriture. Recueil d’études publiées de 1937 à 1981, Paris,
167–189).
242 Flavia Manservigi and Melania Mezzetti

Mallon, Jean (1952), Paléographie romaine (Scripturae 3), Madrid.

Mallon, Jean (1982), De l’écriture. Recueil d’études publiées de 1937 à 1981, Paris.
Marichal, Robert (1948), “De la capitale romaine à la minuscule”, in: Marius Audin, Somme
typographique, Paris, 63–111.
Marichal, Robert (1950), “Paléographie précaroline et Papyrologie. II: l’écriture latine du Ier au VIIe
siècle: les sources”, in: Scriptorium 4 (1), 116–142.
Marichal, Robert (1952), “L’écriture latine de la chancellerie impériale”, in: Aegyptus 32, 336–350.
Marini, Gaetano (1805), I papiri diplomatici raccolti e illustrati, Rome.
Nicolaj, Giovanna (1973), “Osservazioni sul canone della capitale libraria romana fra I e III secolo”,
in: Miscellanea in memoria di Giorgio Cencetti, Turin, 3–27.
Perrat, Charles (1955), “Paléographie romaine”, in: Relazioni del X Congresso internazionale di
scienze storiche, vol. 3, Florence, 345–384.
Petrucci, Armando (1985), “Potere, spazi urbani, scritture esposte: proposte ed esempi”, in: Culture
et idéologie dans la genèse de l’état moderne. Actes de la table ronde organisée par le Centre
national de la recherche scientifique et l’École française de Rome (Rome, 15–17 ottobre 1984),
(Collection de l’École Française de Rome 82), Rome, 85–97.
Radiciotti, Paolo (1998), “Manoscritti digrafici grecolatini e latinogreci nell’antichità”, in:
Papyrologica Lupiensia 6, 107–146.
Radiciotti, Paolo (2008), “Il problema del digrafismo nei rapporti fra scrittura latina e greca nel
medioevo”, in: Otto Kresten and FranzLackner (eds.), Régionalisme et internationalisme.
Problèmes de paléographie et de codicologie du Moyen Âge. Actes du XVe colloque du comité
international de paléographie latine (Vienne, 13–17 septembre 2005) (Österreichische
Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse, Denkschriften 364), Vienna,
19–33.
Radiciotti, Paolo (2009), “I papiri e le scritture greca e Latina”, in: Atene e Roma, seconda nuova
serie 3 (1/2), 97–119.
Sandys, John Edwin (1969), Latin Epigraphy. An Introduction to the Study of Latin Inscriptions,
Groningen.
Schiaparelli, Luigi (1921), La scrittura latina nell’età romana. Note paleografiche (Auxilia ad res
italicas medii aevi exquirendas in usum scholarum instructa et collecta 1), Como.
Steffens, Franz (1910), Paléographie latine, Paris.
Tjäder Jean-Olof (1952), “La misteriosa ‘scrittura grande’ di alcuni papiri ravennati e il suo posto
nella storia della corsiva latina nella diplomatica romana e bizantina dall’Egitto a Ravenna”, in:
Studi Romagnoli 3, 173–221.
Tjäder, Jan-Olof (1955), Die nichtliterarischen lateinischen Papyri Italiens aus der Zeit 445–700, vol.
1: Papyri 1–28 (Skrifter utgivna av Svenska institutet i Rom, Serie in 4° 19.1), Lund.
Tjäder, Jean-Olof (1977), “Latin Palaeography, 1975–77”, in: Eranos, Acta philologica Suecana 75,
131–161.
Tjäder, Jean-Olof (1979), “Considerazioni e proposte sulla scrittura latina nell’età romana”, in:
Palaeographica, Diplomatica et Archivistica. Studi in onore di Giulio Battelli, Rome, 31–62.
Tjäder, Jean-Olof (1982a), “Some Ancient Letter-forms in the Later Roman Cursive and Early Medieval
Script of the Notarii”, in: Scrittura e Civiltà 6, 5–21.
Tjäder Jean-Olof (1982b), Die nichtliterarischen lateinischen Papyri Italiens aus der Zeit 445–700,
vol. 2: Papyri 29–59 (Skrifter utgivna av Svenska institutet i Rom, Serie in 4° 19.1), Stockholm.
Tjäder Jean-Olof (1985), “Later Roman (Common) Script. A Tentative Definition in Anticipation of a
Forthcoming Monograph”, in: Jacques Lemaire and Emile van Balberghe (eds.), Calames et
cahiers. Mélanges de codicologie et de paléographie offerts à Léon Gilissen, Brussels.
Anastasia Grib
The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board
in Islamic Africa
Abstract

The Qur’anic board is a central object in the material culture of the Qur’an in the local
Islamic centres of Africa. The board features ornaments and calligraphy, a symbolic
language which one needs to learn and interpret. This article provides a transcription
of the symbolic code of the Qur’anic board based on the study of 124 samples from the
Brooklyn Museum, the Gallery of Sam Fogg, the Musée du quai Branly, and other col-
lections. The boards are dated to the end of the 13th and 14th centuries Hijri/19th and
20th centuries CE and represent several regional groups: Mali, Morocco, Mauritania,
Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia, Somalia and Senegal. A functional typology of the boards is
discussed, i.e., festive, training, magical, and healing boards; to this a classification
is added that proceeds from the consideration of material, form, ornamentation, and
script. Four different types of ornamentation are identified: architectural, geometric
(cosmic symbols), carpet, and figurative. Some ornamental motifs can be described
as an ex libris connecting the board to an important local centre or shrine; among
such motifs are those with pre-Islamic origin. Two boards are localized to the Cere-
mony Mountains in Northern Nigeria; they feature anthropomorphic and zoomorphic
images and their iconography traces back to Neolithic rock graffiti. Playing a crucial
role in initiation, the Qur’anic board is a symbol of masculinity, as exemplified by
the wedding ceremony mba and the Qur’anic school graduation fest saukar fari in
Nigeria.

1 Qur’anic Board as an Emblem of the Material

Culture of the Qur’an
The Material Culture of the Qur’an (MCQ) refers to artefacts and their associated prac-
tices focused on the Holy Qur’an and its representations. I distinguish between three
domains of the MCQ. The domain of primary objects includes Qur’anic boards (QBs)
and manuscripts. The domain of secondary objects includes architectural surfaces,
wooden objects, pottery, calabashes, textiles, and rock graffiti featuring a pictorial

This article emerged from the Heidelberg Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cultures.
Materiality and Presence of Writing in Non-Typographic Societies”. The CRC 933 is financed by the
German Research Foundation (DFG).

DOI 10.1515/9783110417845-007, © 2016 Anastasia Grib, Published by De Gruyter.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.
244 Anastasia Grib

image of the QB. The domain of ritual refers to the reified existence of the sacred text:
primary objects participate in this domain directly, whereas secondary objects point
to a ritual function. The third domain involves the use of the Qur’anic text and of its
symbolic representations (in the form of ‘false calligraphy’), as well as the participa-
tion of the QB in the following ritual activities and objects: magic, sorcery, talismans,
and various protections against the evil eye.

In this paper I attempt a decoding of the symbolic language of the MCQ in the local
Islamic centres of West and North Africa, where the most striking example of the MCQ
is the Qur’anic board allo (pl., alluna, from Arabic al-lawḥ). The board is used exten-
sively: it is the major emblem of the malam’s profession and is used by students in
Qur’anic schools in learning Arabic grammar, the holy text of the Qur’an, and the art
of calligraphy.

The background of the Qur’an board is the transhistorical concept of the Hidden
Tablet (al-Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ), the Mother of the Book (‘Umm al-Kitab), or proto-Qur’an.
Islamic tradition holds that Allah had inscribed upon this tablet the totality of His
decrees concerning creation.1
Until recently, the board was the main writing material for teaching the Qur’an,
Arabic literacy, and calligraphy in Qur’anic schools (khalwa, muhadra, makarantar
allo, etc.) and madrasa (madrasah, pl. madāris) throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The
majority of such local traditions in Pakistan, Malaysia, Iran, and various regions of
Central Asia were lost in the course of the 15th century Hijri/20th century CE after the
introduction of modern schooling systems, but in Africa use of the board has per-
sisted in Islamic learning and can still be observed in, e.g., Mali (Timbuktu), Sudan
(Umdurman), Nigeria (Kano, Sokoto, Marghi, Zaria, Bauchi), Mauritania (Tichit,
Oualata, Ouadan, Chinguetti), Algeria, Morocco (Rabat, Fes), Guinea, Somalia, Ethi-
opia (Harar), the Comoro Islands, and Senegal. Below I classify the boards in accord-
ance with their regional variations.

1.1 Local Traditions

Islamic learning and writing centres exist all over North and West Africa, so I did
not limit my investigation to one particular locality. The geographical scope has been

1 On the Hidden Tablet Allah has written all the destinies of His creatures: “For every term there is
a book prescribed; Allah erases out whatever He pleases and writes (whatever He pleases); and with
Him is the Mother of the Book” (13:39); “Nay, it is the glorious Qur’an, in the Guarded/Hidden Tablet”
(85:22). In the Qur’an, the plural form of the word “tablet”, alwah, refers to the Tablets of Moses.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 245

deliberately broadened to allow a comparative examination of the objects under dis-

cussion.
Being a synthetic cultural product, a QB displays characteristics of regional
Islam found in a variety of local practices—in contrast to the so-called ‘normative
Islam’ of the Central Islamic Lands. In Nigeria, Mauritania, Mali and Sudan, there
are multi-religious, multicultural communities that have preserved the tradition of
copying the Qur’an. Here one finds permanent and itinerant schools known variously
as makarantar allo (in Nigeria), muhadra (in Mauritania) and khalwa (in Sudan). The
schools are established and run by local or itinerant scholars through whom the tra-
dition of sacred text copying is largely preserved and disseminated. Students write
the assigned Qur’anic verses on a flat surface of a wooden board; at the end of the
exercise they wash the text off upon receiving their malam’s (teacher’s) permission.
The water is often collected and used for ritual purposes and is therefore treated with
care and piety. At the same time, the Qur’anic board is an integral element in indige-
nous initiation (male initiation and wedding) ceremonies—in parallel to the board’s
use in Qur’anic schooling, where it functions to initiate a child into the Muslim faith.
One of the most intriguing traditions is found among the Hausa. The common
occupation of a Hausa malam is that of a craftsman, artist, and scribe simultaneously,
which influences their unique school of writing. The calligraphic tradition of Hausa in
Northern Nigeria represents a distinctive version of the Sūdānī Kūfī.
In Mauritania, there are two scripts for copying the Qur’an, one traditional and
one modern. The Sūdānī script is widespread, but the most developed and perfected
script today is the Andalusī (of the Maghribian branch, see below).
In Sudan, Qur’anic schools are commonly called khalwa and the boards are
known as loah. Such schools are usually ruled by sufi sheikhs. For example, khalwa
in Omdawanban is a

religious institution that today welcomes more than 1250 students from Sudan, Chad, Cameroon,
and Nigeria. It takes from three to six years to acquire a perfect knowledge of the Qur’an and to
master written Arabic […]. The children learn to write Arabic for the first time on the wooden
tablet using a tube of sugar cane filled with an ink made of charcoal or soot.2

Wooden boards are used for writing lessons and copies of the Qur’an are used for
reading.3 In Sudan, as in some other regions, one also finds khalwa for girls.4

2 Cifuentes 2008, 50–59, esp. 58.

3 Cifuentes 2008, 56.
4 “In addition to the learning and practicing of religion, the women are trained in health care, nutri-
tion, cooking, sewing, and handicrafts in order to help a living” (Cifuentes 2008, 56).
246 Anastasia Grib

1.2 The Script and the Ornament

The Qur’anic boards and the manuscripts share similar types of calligraphy. The
majority of the boards discussed in this article exhibit several variations of the Sūdānī
hand (the most prominent is the Hausa ductus); most of the rest feature the Andalusī
hand, and a few are in the ‘Ifrīqī hand.
With regard to the genealogy of the script, the West-African tradition is an off-
shoot of the Kūfī school.5 The very term Kūfī thus pertains to the shape of letters and
the diacritical marks that are representative of the Maghribī system of writing. These
diacritics differ from those of the Middle-Eastern system by: (1) letter ‫( ﻑ‬fā’), which
is marked by a single dot in the underscript; (2) letter ‫( ﻕ‬qāf), which has only one
dot in the superscript; and (3) letter ‫ ﺺ‬/‫( ﺾ‬ṣāḍ/ḍād), which doesn’t have a final
tooth. While remaining the principle Qur’anic script, the Maghribian branch of sacred
Kūfī has been modified into a cursive hand, and beyond that, into a false calligraphy
(observed as an architectural decoration). The ‘Demonumentalised Kūfī’ is the result
of this evolution; it is still practiced today as the script of the Qur’anic board.

There is a whole set of distinctions between the Maghribī styles (in the concrete geo-
graphic application of the term, the hands of North Africa and Spain) and the West
African school. Such differences can be observed both in the graphic features of the
script and in the iconography of the ornament. West African styles are characterized
by sharp angularity and geometrical shape, whereas the Maghribī ones have ligatures
and plasticity. This difference is very much apparent in the decoration of the Qur’anic
boards. In terms of ornamentation the distinguishing characteristic of the Maghrib-
ian Qur’anic tradition is the predominance of the Islamic and Arabic features. On the
other hand, in the remote parts of Africa where indigenous cultures prevail, the board
and the manuscript have switched roles: compared with the manuscript, the board is
a more potent object, both semantically and ritually.
‘Ifrīqī (fig. 1) is an early and more simple version of the Maghribī style; it has been
used on QBs in the past, but very randomly. The script is characterized by angularity
and flatness, and the proportions are also random. Different modifications of ‘Ifrīqī
have assimilated with the Spanish Andalusī.
Andalusī (fig. 2) is an elegant cursive type of Maghribī. It is commonly used on
Qur’anic boards in North Africa, especially in Morocco, Mauritania, and Algeria. The
script has the following characteristics:
1. final letters ‫ ﺺ‬/‫( ﺾ‬ṣāḍ/ḍād) and ‫( ﺱ‬sīn) sometimes have an extended shape
2. lines are not sharp but rather waved and curled

5 Cf. Bivar 1959, 324–349; Hassan 1992; Blair 2008, 59–75; and Mohameden Ould Ahmad Salem, cal-
ligrapher from Mauritania, with whom I corresponded by e-mail.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 247

Fig. 1: Fragment of the Mukhtalitah of Sahnun from Qairawan, 11th century CE (MSS303 fol.
8b–9a) © Nasser D. Khalili Collection.

Fig. 2: Fragment of a Qur’anic manuscript from Morocco, 18th century CE (Qur. 149, part I, fol.
157b–158a) © Nasser D. Khalili Collection.
248 Anastasia Grib

Fig. 3: Fragment of a Qur’anic manuscript, end of the 19th century CE (Qur.109 fol. 2b) © Nasser D.
Khalili Collection.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 249

3. final forms of the letters ‫ﻯ‬، ‫ ﻥ‬،‫ ﻑ‬،‫( ﻕ‬yā’, nūn, fā’,
qāf) frequently have no diacritics.
The text is visually divided into groups of verses: every
five āyāt are stamped with the pattern known as khamisa
(or khamsa); every ten āyāt are marked with the ‘ashira
(‘ashra). Sūdānī style (fig. 3) is widespread in the area of
Western Sudan; one of the most spectacular variations
is the Hausa ductus which is also the style of the Hausa
malams (s. malam, pl. malamai) in Northern Nigeria.
The Qur’anic text is written in dark brown or black
ink (usually made from charcoal), illuminations are
polychromatic. Malams use natural colours such as
red, yellow, blue, and green. Diacritics are executed
in a different colour, whereas vocalization is done by
means of short horizontal strokes. The majority of the
manuscripts and a number of boards contain colourful
round medallions (fig. 4) as well as sajjāda (a prayer rug
ornament, which stands symbolically for sajda, prostra-
tion); these are painted on the margins with the help of
compasses.
At the beginning of each new section of a manu-
script there is an ‘unwān (or ‘carpet page’) called zayyana
(figs. 5–6). A typical zayyana consists of a rectangular
textile ornamental panel featuring colourful geometri-
cal patterns. Zayyana is also a characteristic feature of
the festive QB. In the Sudanic tradition the same type of
ornament is called charafa.6 Sūra headings are written
in a different colour, usually red, and are marked off by
a frame.

Among marginal signs one finds ḥizb—division into

sixty sections, as well as further subdivisions: nisf (1/2
of ḥizb) (fig. 6), rub‘ (1/4), and thumn (1/8), following the
numerical meaning of the letters nūn, bā’, and thā’ (fig.
8). Each verse is marked off by a pattern of three dots Fig. 4: Fragment of a
forming a trefoil (red or yellow with a red outline) with a Qur’anic manuscript from
short ‘antenna’ on the top. Every five verses are divided Western Sudan, end of the
19th century CE (Qur.109
fol. 3a) © Nasser D. Khalili
Collection.
6 Thus, in Sudan, in the khalwa Qur’anic schools, “to complete their education, students must write
a passage from the Qur’an in their best script and draw a holy illustration on the wooden tablet. This
charafa is presented to the master during the last few days of schooling” (Cifuentes 2008, 59).
250 Anastasia Grib

Fig. 5: Fragment of a Qur’anic manuscript from Western Sudan, end of the 19th century CE (Qur.109
fol.10) © Nasser D. Kahlili Collection.

Fig. 6: Fragment of a Qur’anic manuscript from Western Sudan, end of the 19th century CE (Qur.110
fol.1b-2a) © Nasser D. Kahlili Collection.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 251

by letter hā’ modified into a tear-shaped loop. Every ten verses

are divided by a double round medallion with three or four dots
or strokes inscribed within the text, or sometimes with a small
wheel-shaped medallion on the margin.

There are variations within the Hausa tradition: some scripts

are more cursive, whereas other scripts are more monumen-
tal and can be described as heavy and colourful. The common
script of Kano is almost square; the text is a lot denser than in
the Maghribī Qur’ans of North Africa; letters are compact and
much higher and heavier; lines are fat-faced and steady. One
may regard this style as a version of Hausa ductus.7
There are notable differences between boards and manu-
scripts as regards illumination. Qur’anic boards have no mar-
ginal markers. Along with the strong tradition of zayyana in
Nigeria and of ‘unwān in other areas, there is a greater variety of
ornamentation on the Maghribian and West-African boards. For
example, festive boards from Morocco feature a whole series of
ornaments: colourful solar ornaments with geometric patterns,
architectural ornaments portraying a mosque, various kinds
of floral ‘unwāns. Such decorations usually cover the entire
surface of the board on one side; on the other side the calligra-
Fig. 7: Fragment of a pher inscribes a text from the Qur’an, or some other ornamen-
Qur’anic manuscript tal composition. Since Qur’anic boards differ from one African
(Qur.0110 fol. 65b) region to another, the type of this decoration may also provide
© Nasser D. Khalili
clues for attribution.
Collection.

2 Analysing the Symbolic Repertoire of the QB

2.1 The Dialect Approach

In my study, ornament and calligraphy have been analysed by applying the ‘Dialect
Approach’ to Islamic art. Just like the Arabic language, one may talk about the clas-
sical, or ‘standard’, language of Islamic art and about its regional ‘dialects’ related

7 Ductus is “a visually recognizable aspect of a concrete graphic tradition […]. In the domain of the
Arabic script, there are clearly several graphic modifications that do not always coincide with the
‘script’ in the traditional classification.” (Dobronravin 1999, 8;the translation of the quote from Rus-
sian is mine).
252 Anastasia Grib

primarily to ethnic background. I choose to call the calligraphic traditions of West

and North Africa the West- and North-African interpretations of Kūfī (including in
the term Kūfī both the script and the ornament). I also replace the two commonly
used academic terms arabesque and geometric ornament with the term ‘motif-chain’.8
The classification goes by genre: architectural motif-chain, textile motif-chain, cal-
ligraphic motif-chain, etc. Motif-chain has a composite nature: it is organized around
a particular pictogram such as tree, column, tent, etc.; it also features a subject line,
e.g., zoomorphic, cosmogonic, vegetative, etc. An additional element of classifica-
tion proceeds from the consideration of individual artistic elements such as straight
or curved line, zigzag, triangle, circle, dot, grid, leaf, fruit, etc. The character of the
ornaments is determined by the object’s purpose, usage, and ownership. Ornaments
may speak of the board’s provenance in a certain place; it may relate to the owner’s
personal need such as healing; or it may be part of a training board used in a Qur’anic
school. The depictive canon of the board can be symbolically transcribed assuming
one reads the object from the perspective of the time and the place of its (1) creation,
(2) editing, (3) storing, and (4) interpretation/use.

2.2 Typology of the QB

The functional typology of the Qur’anic board distinguishes between festive, training,
magical, and healing boards. The function determines the format of the board and the
presence or absence of ornamentation.
Festive boards usually contain the first Sūra al-Fātiha and a short excerpt from
the second Sūra al-Baqara. This symbolises the completion of the program of study
of the Qur’an, from the first Sūra to the final one. The student starts with Fātiha; after
that he/she moves to the very last Sūra, gradually working his/her way back toward
the beginning.

Boards are vertical or square-shaped, with or without a handle.

There are several types of ornament:
–– carpet type (geometrical, textile)—zayyana (Hausa type);
–– architectural type—architectural motifs or the image of a mosque: the so called
reduced Temple image;
–– cosmogonic type (geometrical);
–– floral type;
–– figurative type, characterized by zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images.

8 I have borrowed the two terms, ‘motif-chain’ and ‘chronotope’ (below), from Mikhail Bakhtin’s dis-
cussion of the cultural roots of the Western European novel, see Bakhtin 1984; Emerson/Holquist
1981.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 253

Certain ornamental motifs can be described as an ex libris connecting the board to

an important local centre or shrine; among such motifs are those with pre-Islamic
(indigenous) origin.

Fig. 8: Hand writing copy of the Marks from a Nigerian Qur’an C-1689 (Institute of Oriental Manu-
scripts, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg).

The most striking Qur’anic board tradition is that of the Hausa in Northern Nigeria.
There are several types of Hausa allo, including:
–– a draft allo for practice (pl. alluna, study boards): the board allows corrections of
both the text and the ornament
254 Anastasia Grib

–– allo zayyana: this board is of particular importance as it becomes the graduation

certificate from the Qur’anic school (during the saukar fari festival), and is also
used as a symbol of male initiation.

2.2.1 Imago Templi

Among the ornamentations of the Qur’anic boards especially from Nigeria and
Morocco, there are versions of Imago Templi, the image of the sacred space/place.
Imago Templi appears in the MCQ in different stages of Islamic history and in various
localities. The tradition goes back to early Kufic manuscripts with the ‘reduced Temple
image’, or the genizah (place of storage) image; in a number of instances it functions
as a colophon, a symbolic place-tag marking the location of the manuscript.9
On the Moroccan boards, the most common elements of the Imago Templi are
the following: column, lamp, niche, tree (the tree of life in Paradise), and arcade.
There are also schematic depictions of the mosque drawn as an architectural profile
or a plan. On the Nigerian boards (Hausa and Fulani), the Imago Templi appears in
the form of zayyana or a mosque plan; on the boards from Marghi it reproduces the
graffiti from the sacred caves (such as scorpions, snakes, hunters), or symbolizes a
wedding tent.
Because the Qur’anic board plays an important role in initiation (e.g., in mba and
saukar fari ceremonies), this ritual function is always marked by an ornament; for
example, zayyana stands symbolically for Imago Templi. Salah Hassan has provided
a description of the saukar Qur’ani (or saukar fari), the graduation ceremony popular
among the Hausa.10 During this ceremony, a group of students parades bearing a
happy graduate of the makarantar allo school on their shoulders. The new gradu-
ate is awarded a decorated festive board (allo zayyana), which his family has pre-or-
dered from a professional malam. Other students are carrying their own boards: these
alluna have no ornamentation or any other decoration since they are used in everyday
study and practice. In this festival there are plenty of participants, but only one boy is
celebrated. The tradition of Qur’anic school graduation festivals originated in North
Africa and occurs all over West Africa. Such festivals are essentially male initiations,
as is the case in Gambia (the nau mini ceremony) or Sierra Leone.11 These ceremonies
are of comparable meaning and symbolism even as they may differ in details.

9 Grib 2009b, 110–125.

10 Salah Hassan 1992, 95.
11 Hassan 1992, 99.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 255

The genizah image is featured on the ‘Brooklyn Board’ (see below). The decorations
on this board allow its place of origin to be identified: the sacred caves in Marghi.12
In these caves, the wedding/engagement ceremony mba takes place, during which
various objects of male prestige are paraded.

2.3 Surface, Body, and Iconic Symbolism

The symbolic repertoire of the QB accumulates the artistic language of African Islam;
in particular, it consists of 1) images and symbols common for the decoration of the
boards; 2) the board itself and its features when the board is used as a symbol; and 3)
the functioning of the board.

I identify three symbolic aspects of the Qur’anic board:

–– surface symbolism: the symbols on the surface of the board, such as the various
ornamental motifs and script;
–– body symbolism: the overall shape of the board, which often has anthropomor-
phic features;
–– iconic symbolism: the use of the Qur’anic board as a pictorial icon in a different
material context; particularly, all the instances when the pictorial image of the
board appears on other surfaces (such as stone, textile, calabashes, etc.).
The first aspect of the symbolic repertoire of the QB emerges from a consideration of
the board’s surface (surface symbolism). There is a semantic unity between Qur’anic
manuscripts and boards in this particular aspect. Both use similar sets of ornaments,
though the board exhibits a much wider spectrum. For example, the zayyana orna-
ment, which is common to the manuscripts and the boards, is a modification of the
famous ‘unwān, or ‘carpet page’.

Surface symbolism is built from the following artistic elements:

1. basic motif-chains: architectural, textile, calligraphic;
2. alternative motif-chains: floral/vegetative, animal, cosmological, ritual and the
Temple;
3. motifs: arch, column, niche, palmette, etc.;
4. units: direct line, waving line, zigzag, circle, square, triangle, point, vase, spiral
flower, net, border, etc.
The second aspect of the symbolic repertoire of the board relates to its body sym-
bolism. There are various ‘bodily’ features and functions of the Qur’anic board. The
board is often shaped anthropomorphically: it consists of a head, a neck, two shoul-
ders, a body, and two feet (fig. 10). This is everything but the hands, since the board

12 Grib 2009a, 23.

256 Anastasia Grib

and the copyist (malam) have but a single pair of hands between them. Moreover, one
is not allowed to flip the board over, making it even more ‘human’. Also in the Hausa
tradition, one finds a special type of ‘legless’ board, the gurgun allo.13

Fig. 9: Qur’anic board from Western Sudan N° 9568 © Sam Fogg.

13 See Hassan 1992, 157. I am grateful to Dr. Abubakar Sule (University of East Anglia), a Hausa native
and a graduate of a Nigerian makarantar allo, for the following personal communication: “‘Gurgu’
refers to disable disabled?? as in without leg. A lot of boards with sharp convex arches and elongated
legs end up that way”.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 257

Fig. 10: Mosque in Zaria, decorated by Musa Yola (taken from Moughtin 1985, 130).

Fig. 11: a–c. Wedding textiles (taken from http://www.adireafricantextiles.com).

258 Anastasia Grib

In addition to the body, the ‘skin’ of the board is very important, which is to say its
ornamented surface. Various symbols used in the ornamentation (e.g., ‘the Hand of
Fatima’, the ‘leper hand’) are bodily allegories full of magical meaning. Being an ini-
tiation object, the board communicates important changes in the life of the body. One
can also include in this aspect the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic figures that may
be inscribed on the board—given the fact that such figures carry distinct gender char-
acteristics.

In sum, body symbolism is built from:

1. body-shaped parts of the board;
2. gurgun allo;
3. allo zayyana/charafa: a special board for the graduation ceremony (saukar fari/
walīma khatmil-Qur’an) at the end of the student’s time at the Qur’anic school.
This board functions as a graduation certificate.
The third aspect of the symbolic repertoire of the Qur’anic board is iconic symbolism.
The pictorial image of the Qur’anic board can be seen on an architectural surface, e.g.,
above the portal of a mosque (fig. 10).14 In wedding textiles (fig. 11a–c), the image of
the QB stands symbolically for ‘man’. On the other hand, among the Fulani, the cala-
bashes featuring images of festive objects and, in some cases, engraved zodiac tablets
(including four Qur’anic boards), relate the idea of ‘femaleness’ (fig. 12).15

Fig. 12: Engraved zodiac tablet (taken from Blackmun Visona 2001).

14 As described by Kirk-Green 1963, 18: “Hausa walls may show the Koranic emblems of the slate
(allo) […] and the satchel for carrying the Holy Koran (gafaka).”
15 Blackmun Visonа 2001, 102.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 259

Fig. 13: Pictorial representation of the Qur’anic board (taken from Le Quellec 2004).

Fig. 14: Cave close to Songo village, Mali © Kirill Prokhorov.

260 Anastasia Grib

Finally, one can find the pictorial representation of the QB (fig. 13) or of a Qur’anic
satchel among the cave graffiti in Nigeria and Mali (fig. 14).16 Studies of such caves
take note of a special engagement ceremony celebrated there. During the ceremony
various images are painted upon the walls and various sacred objects (usually signi-
fiers of male prestige) are brought inside. The ceremony is known by the name mba.
The boys (who are 14–17 years old) ‘draw on the walls simple figures of weapons,
shields, and pectiniform animals, especially mounted horses’.17 As I have proposed
elsewhere,18 along with the weapons and the musical instruments, boys may bring
other valuable objects such as Qur’anic boards into the caves.

3 Review of the Collections

The classification that follows is based on my analysis of Qur’anic boards from the fol-
lowing collections: Brooklyn Museum (New York); the Gallery of Sam Fogg (London),
and the Musée du quai Branly (Paris). The total number of boards is 124. In addition,
I have examined a number of boards from the Smithsonian Institute (Washington,
D.C.), a private collection in Boston, the Nasser D. Khalili collection (London) and
the photo-archive of Salah M. Hassan (Cornell University), as well as boards from the
Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (The Kunstkamera of St.
Petersburg). All the boards were manufactured in the first half of the 14th century
Hijri/late 19th and early 20th century CE, and represent various regions of West Africa
and the Maghrib.
Each board has been analysed based on the following characteristics: script,
decoration, form, colour, and ink. The resulting classification is presented by region,
collection, and type of ornament used. In my typology, the boards can be grouped
as follows: decorated and non-decorated (those containing only a text or individual
letters); training and festive boards (the latter are used as certificates of graduation
from the Qur’anic school).
Qur’anic manuscripts and ritual objects with ‘magic’ ornaments have provided
additional information and were used as supporting material.
The largest collection of boards belongs to the Musée du quai Branly; it includes
114 samples. Another important collection was exhibited in 2007 at the Sam Fogg
Gallery in London.19 Consisting of only nine boards, the collection featured clearly
distinguishable regional types, which has helped me to arrive at my own classifica-

16 See Grib 2009a, 22–34.

17 Le Quellec 2004, 74.
18 See Grib 2009, 22–34.
19 Islam in Africa, An Exhibition on View: 9–26 October 2007 (London: Sam Fogg).
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 261

tion of the Qur’anic boards. For the present article, I have made a selection of the most
representative samples of the regional types.
While Sam Fogg has exhibited four regional types of Qur’anic boards, the Mau-
ritanian and Malian samples from the collection of the Musée du quai Branly look
different; one board from Mali (at the Musée du quai Branly) has the same shape as
the boards from Southern Morocco and Mauritania in Sam Fogg’s collection, but it is
turned upside down.

The most common ornaments painted on the boards I have studied belong to cos-
mogonic and textile motif-chains: this is the palmette as well as other solar symbols
such as Nigerian ‘Northern knot’. The same is true for Qur’anic manuscripts: African
Qur’ans also feature a palmette, but here the design carries a somewhat different
meaning, being known as the ‘leper hand’, or ‘the Hand of Fatima’, the sign of pro-
tection from evil.

Two objects present a special case as they do not fit into my main regional classifica-
tion of Qur’anic boards. The first board is from the Brooklyn Museum in New York;
the second is from the Musée du quai Branly in Paris. Both boards feature zoomor-
phic and anthropologic images of similar provenance. I discuss these two boards in a
special section below.

3.1 Boards from the Collection of Sam Fogg (fig. 9; figs. 15–19)

The Sam Fogg Gallery has exhibited nine Qur’anic boards, the images and the descrip-
tion of which have been published in a catalogue.20 These boards are examples of four
regional types:
–– Western Sudan (or Nigeria): N° 95682, N° 12303—two boards from the thirteenth
century Hijri/nineteenth century CE
–– Southern Morocco and Mauritania: N° 11987001, N° 9305—two boards from the
first half of the fourteenth century Hijri/early twentieth century CE
–– Somalia: N° 9306, N° 12304, N° 1770—three boards from the first half of the four-
teenth century Hijri/early twentieth century CE
–– Ethiopia: N°12301, N° 9569—two boards from the first half of the fourteenth
century Hijri/early twentieth century CE

Type 1 (fig. 9): The board has a wider surface, which makes it more convenient to write
the Qur’anic text. The base features two legs; in a number of instances it is concave.
The handle has a horn- or a crescent-like top; in a number of instances the top rep-

20 Ibid.
262 Anastasia Grib

licates the curve of the base. The top is fashioned from a different material such as
leather, wood, or ivory; it attaches to the handle or directly to the board. The shape
of the board is square-like and symmetrical. There are no holes in the handle, but it
is nicely made, with a high degree of accuracy. The first type is representative of the
boards from Western Sudan, and is also known as Nigerian.

In Nigeria and Sudan, festive boards are very popular. These boards are rather elegant
and may be used during initiation ceremonies. Among the distinguishing characteris-
tics of the festive board is the polished surface of the wood, use of dark black/brown-
ish ink, text written in Western Sūdānī script, and the zayyana ornament.

Type 2 (figs. 15–16): The board is more narrow and elongated in shape; occasionally,
the shape is symmetrical. The base is smoothly curved. The handle is long, thin, and
jagged-edged, and has a hole for hanging. This type is representative of Southern
Morocco and Mauritania.

Fig. 15: Qur’anic board from Mauritania Fig. 16: Qur’anic board from Southern Morroco
N° 9305 © Sam Fogg. N° 11987001 © Sam Fogg.

Types 3 and 4: These two types include study boards from Ethiopia and Somalia. Both
sets feature a handle with a hole.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 263

Type 3 (figs. 17–18): Study boards from Somalia. The shape of the board is narrow
and greatly elongated along the vertical axis. There can be single- and double-legged
boards, as well as single- and double-headed boards. The script is relatively large,
clear, and primitive on all of the boards examined; it betrays the non-professional
hand of a pupil. It is apparent that the ink has been washed off repeatedly: one can
see through to the bottom layer, plus there is a black tincture on the surface of the
board which usually results from ink. The board is not straight but tilted. This is prob-
ably because wood is rather expensive and they use any wooden tablet available no
matter what its quality. The single leg allows the rotation of the board during the class
exercise. The student pushes the leg firmly into the ground: it is much easier to work
it this way than to hold it horizontally on one’s knees; also, the ink dries much faster
and the hands do not get dirty as it is possible to reverse the board at any time. On
the other hand, double-legged boards require repositioning, but they are better suited
for practicing calligraphy. The boards from Somalia are the simplest ones among all
the local groups examined; their sole purpose is to serve as training material in the
Qur’anic school.

Fig. 17: Qur’anic board from Somalia N° Fig. 18: Qur’anic board from Somalia N°
12304 © Sam Fogg. 1770 © Sam Fogg.

Type 4 (fig. 19): Study boards from Ethiopia. The shape of the board is more ‘tradi-
tional’: a wide rectangle with a single handle on top. These boards can have one or
two legs. The proportions are similar to the boards from Nigeria and Western Sudan,
1:1.8.
264 Anastasia Grib

Fig. 19: Qur’anic board from Ethiopia N° 9569 © Sam Fogg.

All four types (1–4) of the Qur’anic board have a vertical format.

Proportions (width:height):
–– Somalia: 1:5, 1:8, 1:4.5
–– Ethiopia: 1:1.8
–– Western Sudan (or Nigerian type): 1:1.8
–– Sothern Morocco and Mauritania: 1:5, 1:3

3.2 Further Observations

The proportions of the Ethiopian boards are identical: the size varies by 5 cm at most,
while maintaining the same width-to-height ratio. The height of Somalian boards
varies from 80 to 130 cm, and these boards are greatly elongated.

The number and size of the letters differ from one study board to another. This means
that there is no universal manufacturing canon, in contrast with the festive board
allo zanyyana. On some boards the handwriting is large, like in copy-books, whereas
on other boards it is small. Excepting the boards from Nigeria (the so-called Western
Sudanic or Nigerian type—Type 1), almost all the samples are the non-ornamented
boards used for study. On the Western Sudanic board, the zayyana ornament and the
text have been washed away.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 265

Ethiopian boards all have the proportions 1:1.8; the height is almost twice the width.
One possible conclusion is that there may be a formal rule behind this. In Northern
Nigeria, the requirements for format, size, ornamentation, and script are fairly strict,
whereas in Ethiopia and Somalia the rather primitive style indicates the hand of an
unprofessional crafter.

The two boards from Nigeria/Western Sudan fall exactly into the type described by
Hassan in his study; one can argue therefore that these two boards (N° 2 and N° 4) are
typical alluna. The only difference is in the type of script used: it is another version
of the Maghribī rather than Hausa hand; this script is not as geometrical and angular
and has no sharp diagonals in the loops.

3.3 Boards from the Musée du quai Branly (figs. 20–24)

The collection consists of 114 Qur’anic boards from West Africa and the Maghrib.

For this article, five examples of the local types have been selected:

(1) (2)

Fig. 20: Board from Mauritania, Musée du quai Fig. 21: Board from Morroco, Musée du quai
Branly Inv. N° 74.1962.0.158 © Musée du quai Branly Inv. N° 74.1962.0.148 © Musée du quai
Branly. Branly.
266 Anastasia Grib

(3)

Fig. 22: Board from Morroco, Musée du quai Branly Inv. N° 74.1962.0.127 © Musée du quai Branly.

(4)

Fig. 23: a–b. Board from Timbuktu, Musée du quai Branly Inv. N° 74.1962.0.1049 © Musée du quai
Branly.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 267

(5)

Fig. 24: a–b. Board from Hausa/Nigeria, Musée du quai Branly Inv. N° 73.1963.0.268 © Musée du
quai Branly.

The most interesting board is N° 73.1963.0.268 from Hausa, Nigeria (fig. 24a–b). It is
catalogued as a ‘Planchette pyrogravée’ rather than a ‘Qur’anic board,’ most likely
because its distinct ritual character goes beyond Islamic usage.
The majority of the boards in this museum collection are localized to North
Africa/Maghrib. Most were manufactured in Morocco and Algeria, but there are also a
number of specimens from Mali, Nigeria, Sudan, Guinea, Somalia, Senegal, Madagas-
car and the Comoro Islands. All of the boards have a vertical format.
The prevailing ornamental motifs on these boards are the following: geomet-
ric (cosmogonic ornaments with solar characteristics—rectangle and circle-centred
compositions), vegetative (floral motifs), architectural and carpet motifs. Among the
architectural motifs, ornaments of a stylized arch/prayer niche (miḥrāb) are present.
One of the most common decorative patterns on the Moroccan boards is the solar
palmette and the reverse swastika. Some boards feature no ornaments (e.g., from
Mauritania). A number of boards feature no text from the Holy Qur’an, for example
those labeled ‘mystical’ or ‘ritual’ boards. In Nigeria and Sudan, the most popular
ornaments belong to the carpet type (allo zayyan/charafa).

After carefully examining the collection from the Musée du quai Branly, I have arrived
at the following regional classification: boards from Western Sudan and Nigeria;
Moroccan boards; boards from Mauritania; boards from Ethiopia; boards from
Somalia, and boards from Mali. Within each type, one can identify further subtypes.
All the boards come from the period of the 1st half of the 14th century Hijri/late 19 th
and early 20th century CE.

The specific characteristics of these groups are as follows:

–– Moroccan boards are easily identifiable by the white couch and the vertical rec-
tangular or almost square-like shape. These boards are richly decorated. They are
mostly festive boards with ornamentation similar to the manuscripts, including
the ‘unwān.
268 Anastasia Grib

–– There are different subtypes of Moroccan boards, based on ornamentation: (а)

architectural boards, (b) vegetative-cosmogonic boards (featuring bright, local
colours in oil paint), (c) boards resembling bookbinding and lacquers, and (d)
boards decorated predominantly with text.
–– Boards without a couch represent the traditions of Somalia, Guinea (Futa-Djalon),
and Djibuti. These boards are also typical for the Fulani tradition.
–– Narrow, vertically elongated boards come from Mali, Mauritania, Algeria, the
Comoro Islands, Madagascar, and Guinea.
–– Malian boards (from Timbuktu) can be distinguished by (1) shape: these are
small-size boards with a single leg in the middle of the base; (2) decoration: the
board drawings are in monochrome and consist of cosmogonic symbols (the sun,
crescent, and stars) as well as vegetative elements—in addition to the Qur’anic
text; on some boards ornaments are painted in colour; (3) the script is non-cal-
ligraphic.

Furthermore, non-decorated boards are always study boards rather than festive
boards. Some boards feature a special ‘plaiting’ ornamental motif.

Board N° 74.1962.0.127 features a remarkable Temple Image (fig. 22) that deserves
special discussion. The board comes from Fes in Morocco, and it combines all the
ornamental types discussed earlier: architectural, geometric (cosmogonic symbols),
vegetative, and calligraphic. While the composition on the board is pictorial in nature,
it still follows the ‘carpet’ type. The board was made in the first half of the 14th century
Hijri/early 20th century CE. The wood is covered with white couch. The text is written
in brown ink. The illumination has been done in natural blue and red but the colours
have faded. The board has a vertical format, and its size is 28.5 x 40.6 x 1.12 cm. There
is no handle; on the top of the board there is a hole for hanging.
The board is decorated with a Temple Image of a common type: an arch between
two columns marks off a complex composition representing an inner court of a
mosque. The composition consists of three levels: (1) upper level: a minaret and roofs;
(2) lower level: a pool for ritual washing in the centre of a court; (3) central level:
connecting the previous two, shown in perspective. The two columns have ornaments
and are painted in colour. The background within the composition is completely filled
with text. The composition has a square-like rectangular frame filled with ornaments.
More specifically, the frame is crowned by eight six-pointed stars, and above the frame
there is a double Basmala inscription filling the empty space. On the reverse side of
the board there are Qur’anic verses.
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 269

3.4 Exceptions from the Main Typology

3.4.1 The ‘Brooklyn Board’ (fig. 25a–e)

The collection of the Brooklyn Museum in New York City contains a rather unique
Qur’anic board with zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images. The museum has
listed the board’s place of origin as Sudan, probably based on its place of purchase
rather than the type of script, format, or decoration. As I have argued elsewhere,21
the board belongs rather to the sacred caves in Marghi, Nigeria. I base my conclusion
on a consideration of the text and ornaments, as well as the similarities between the
images on the board and in rock graffiti in that particular area. As I have suggested,
ornament can function as an ex libris of the sacred place where the object was manu-
factured and/or stored. I call this a genizah symbol (see above).

On the front of the board there are images of scorpions, one snake, and five tents. The
tents may refer to a wedding camp, which would be further indicated by the flagpoles;
on the other hand, the five triangles could be a schematic depiction of the ‘leper hand’
motif. The front of the board (fig. 25a) contains a fragment of the 97th Sūra al-Qadr,
‘the Night of Power’ (fig. 25c).22 The textile ornament zayyana also occurs on the front
of the board, framing the Sūra.

On the reverse side of the board (fig. 25b; fig. 25d), there are images of hunters as
well as zoomorphic images including scorpions. Horsemen pursue an antelope and
a giraffe (or it may be an ostrich). In West Africa, scorpions and snakes (fig. 25e) are
frequently used as protective symbols against the evil eye.

The Brooklyn board exemplifies the phenomenon of the Islamic ‘intrusion’ into the
field of indigenous ritual, and vice versa, thus forming a syncretic artistic language.
Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images circumvent the traditional Islamic ban on
images within the domain of the sacred, including the Qur’anic text. This prohibition
does not seem to apply to African Qur’anic boards, probably because they are not
deemed to be exclusively Islamic objects.

21 See Grib 2009a, 22–34.

22 Sūra al-Qadr is commonly used for protection, which includes marriage and engagement cere-
monies. This also points to the Marghi region, because of the mba wedding ceremony. Since students
would never write this particular Sūra in a zayyana-like fashion, the board does not have an educa-
tional function. Furthermore, students are not allowed to put images on a training allo so as to distin-
guish them from a true master-healer. Apart from this, there are ‘Ya Fattah, Ya ‘Alim,’ the names of God
(’asmā’ al-ḥusnā) written on the top, which also speaks of a ritual purpose for this particular board.
270 Anastasia Grib

Fig. 25: a–e. The ‘Brooklyn Board’, Brooklyn Museum Inv. N° 22.231 (a–b © Brooklyn Museum;
c–e © Anastasia Grib).
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 271

The ornamentation on the board falls into three types:

1. the traditional ‘carpet page’ ornament, which is a version of the zayyana orna-
ment;
2. the ‘Temple Image’ in the shape of a wedding camp (the second protective
meaning here is ‘leper hand’ or a modified khamsa);
3. zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images like the ones on the rock graffiti:
according to Le Quellec, their iconography dates back to the Neolithic period.
The Qur’anic text does not seem to belong in this particular decorative context. It was
difficult to provide an accurate point of origin for the board, probably because the
elements are painted chaotically and seem to be following their own internal logic.
Yet one may argue, as I did, that the images from both sides of the board belong to the
‘Nigerian graphic repertoire’. I have also noticed that these images are akin to those
found among rock graffiti in the Marghi region of Nigeria, namely:
–– the hunting scene,
–– snakes and scorpions,
–– the man with a spear (modified to a man with a flagpole).23
While the area with the graffiti covers over 400 sq. km, the Brooklyn board may have
been manufactured near the villages of Uvu and Wondi, where there is a record of an
mba ceremony from the year 1962.24 As described by Le Quellec, there were a total
of about ten caves with images belonging to the ‘Nigerian graphic repertoire’; these
images were directly involved in the mba ceremony, being drawn on the walls of the
cave after the procession. Similar caves exist in Birnin Kudu. Two of the depictions
from the caves of Rumfar Kurosha in Marghi have been interpreted by Le Quellec as
boards from Qur’anic schools.25

3.4.2 Planchette Pyrogravée from the Musée du Quai Branly, Inv. N° 73.1963.0.268
(fig. 24a–b).

In the collection of the Musée du quai Branly there is only one board attributed to the
Hausa region in Nigeria, yet the format and the decoration of the board are not typical
for this particular region.

The board has a markedly ritual, non-Qur’anic character. The text is absent, but there
is a series of nicely done images consisting of animals, scorpions, and human beings.
All of these come as couples with their apparent gender features, both male and
female.

23 Grib 2009a, 32.

24 Vaughan 1962, 49–52.
25 Le Quellec 2004, 77.
272 Anastasia Grib

Fig. 26: Nigerian board from the collection of the Musée du quai Branly N° 71.1963.2.265 © Anasta-
sia Grib (Courtesy: Musée du quai Branly).
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 273

One may see a connection with the ‘Nigerian graphic repertoire’, as one does on the
board from the Brooklyn museum. I therefore believe this board to have originated in
the Ceremony Mountains in the Marghi region.

The zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images are similar to the ones on the Brook-
lyn board, but the character of these images is different, including their silhouettes,
proportions, technique (etched drawing on the board from the Musée du quai Branly
vs. ink on the Brooklyn board), arrangement of figures (ordered procession with all
the creatures presented as couples on the board from the Musée du quai Branly vs.
chaotic composition and a Qur’anic text on the Brooklyn board). In other words, the
depictions on the board from the Musée du quai Branly point to its ritual purpose and
use.

The two boards reproduce the images that occur frequently in Nigerian (Yoruba and
Hausa) wedding textiles, images of animals, insects, and human beings. On the other
hand, wedding cloth can also feature images of the boards. This cross-use demon-
strates the direct involvement of the board in wedding ceremonies.
To support my theory that both the Brooklyn board and the Planchette pyro-
gravée come from the Marghi region one can refer to yet another Nigerian board from
the collection of the Musée du quai Branly (fig. 26). The board features the brownish
Nigerian ink, a typical Nigerian zayyana decoration, and iconography similar to that
of the Brooklyn board: a hunter, a snake and a tent.

4 Qur’anic Boards from West and North Africa:

A Summarized Classification of Major Types

Table 1: Boards from Morocco

Local Type Format Material/ Handle Decoration/illumination

treatment
boards from vertical white couch most have rich in decoration; decora-
Morocco format, almost no handle, tion matches illumination
square in size but there is a of the Qur’anic manuscripts
special hole from the same region; use of
for hanging ‘unwān
in the upper
section of the
board
274 Anastasia Grib

Subtypes
boards differ
by the style
of decoration
and by orna-
mental motifs
(а) architec- the reduced Temple Image
tural
(b) vegeta- bright, local
tive-cosmog- colours, oil
onic
(c) similar to background decoration resembles
the binding with the orna- laquer bindings (with a
cover mental filling diamond-shape in the centre
of the ornamental field)
(d) training monochrome less decorated than other
colours prevail subtypes; the main back-
ground is filled with the text

Table 2: Boards from Mali

Local type Format Material/ Handle/base Decoration/illumination

treatment in the shape
of supportive
legs
boards from small format no couch; a comfort- monochrome cosmogonic
Mali in a number able long symbols (solar symbols,
of boards conic handle crescent, and stars) and
ornaments extending vegetative elements side
are filled from the by side with Qur’anic text;
with coloured centre of the non-calligraphic script (used
pigments base; rounded in training); motifs: ‘plaiting’
top is frequent (frequently)
Subtypes
boards differ
by format only
(a) narrow, verti-
cal, elongated
(b) small format
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 275

Table 3: Boards from Mauritania

Local type Format Material/ Handle/base Decoration/

treatment in the shape illumination
of supportive
legs
boards from narrow, no couch smoothly no decoration
Mauritania vertically rounded
elongated; base; long
the shape is thin handle
not always with a hole
symmetrical for hanging;
no additional
festive deco-
rations on the
handle

Table 4: Boards from Nigeria

Local type Format Material/ Handle Decoration/illumination

treatment
boards from vertical additional there is a fine work
Nigeria (also symmetrical decorative handle; the
identified as format, rec- elements are base has
the Western tangular; pro- attached to legs; there is
Sūdānī type) portions 1:1.8 the handle; no hole for
(width:height) such elements hanging
are manufac-
tured from
a different
material, e.g.,
leather, wood,
or bone; the
wood is pol-
ished
Subtypes
boards differ
by decoration,
shape and
ornamental
motifs
Hausa boards:
276 Anastasia Grib

(а) festive bright, local always topped zayyana in the form of a

boards allo colours, by the saukar carpet ornament; the text
zayyana natural pig- fari decoration is the first Sūra al-Fātiha
ments (feast marking and/or an excerpt from the
the comple- second Sūra al-Baqara
tion of study
at a Qur’anic
school)
(b) draft, train- simple handle no decoration, only quotes
ing boards allo with no decor from the Qur’an including
and no addi- drafts
tional top
Ritual boards vertical and natural zoomorphic and anthropo-
(Marghi) horizontal colours, brown morphic images
boards ink

Table 5: Boards from Somalia

Local type Format Material/ Handle/base Decoration/illumination

treatment in the shape
of supportive
legs
boards from narrow, no couch handle has study boards without orna-
Somalia vertically a hole for mentation; the most basic
elongated hanging type of QB
Subtypes
boards differ
by the number
of legs and
handles
(a) two legs and
two handles
(b) single leg and
single handle
 The Symbolic Repertoire of the Qur’anic Board in Islamic Africa 277

Table 6: Boards from Ethiopia

Local type Format Material/ Handle/base Decoration/illumination

treatment in the shape
of supportive
legs
boards from ‘traditional’ no couch; handle with study boards without orna-
Ethiopia shape (vertical darkened due hole for mentation
and wide), to washing off hanging
proportions the ink
1:1.8 (w:h)
Subtypes
boards differ
by the quantity
of legs
(a) two legs
(b) single leg

Conclusions
–– In West and North Africa, one finds a semantic unity between two main types of
objects belonging to the Material culture of the Qur’an: the Qur’anic manuscripts
and the Qur’anic boards.
–– The shape of QB is determined by its function.
–– The QB is the material symbol of the Temple and the material image of the Text/
the Word.
–– There are several types of ornamentation: architectural, geometric, carpet, figu-
rative. An additional type of ornament is floral/vegetative.
–– Motifs on both Qur’anic manuscripts and Qur’anic boards can be linked to local
religious practices.
–– The function of the cave is as a genizah, a repository of sacred objects including
the QB. The place-tag is ‘attached’ to the manuscript and board by means of an
ornament, which serves as the functional analogue of an ex libris in a book.
–– Anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images on Hausa Qur’anic boards belong to
the ‘Nigerian graphic repertoire’.
278 Anastasia Grib

Bibliography
Bakhtin, Mikhail M. (1984), Rabelais and His World, Bloomington.
Bivar, A. D. H. (1959), “Arabic Documents of Northern Nigeria”, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental
and African Studies, University of London 22 (1/3), 324–349.
Blackmun Visonа, Monika (2001), A History of Art in Africa, London.
Blair, Sheila S. (2008), “Arabic Calligraphy in West Africa”, in: Shamil Jeppie and Souleymane Bachir
Diagne (eds.), The Meanings of Timbuktu, 59–75.
Cifuentes, Frédérique (2008), “Sufi Sheikhs, Sheikhas, and Saints of the Sudan”, in: African Arts 41
(2), 50–59.
Dobronravin, Nikolai (1999), Arabograficheskaia pis’mennaia traditsiia Zapadnoi Afriki, St.
Petersburg.
Emerson, Caryl/Holquist, Michael (eds.) (1981), The Dialogic Imagination. Four Essays by M.M.
Bakhtin, Austin.
Grib, Anastasia S. (2009a), “In-Between the ‘Elite’ and the ‘Pagan’. Qur’anic Boards from West
Africa”, in: Manuscripta Orientalia 15 (1), 22–34.
Grib, Anastasia S. (2009b), Problema lokalizatsii i geneologiia ornamentov koranicheskoi doski
iz sobraniia Bruklinskogo muzeia (New York) (St. Petersburg Museum of Anthropology
and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences), St. Petersburg https://www.academia.
edu/6606378/The_Qur_anic_Board_from_the_Collection_of_the_Brooklyn_Museum_New_
York_City_Localization_and_the_Genealogy_of_the_Ornaments (last accessed: 13.06.2016).
Hassan, Salah M. (1992), Art and Islamic Literacy Among the Hausa of Northern Nigeria, Lewiston.
Kirk-Greene, Anthony Hamilton Millard (1963), Decorated Houses in a Northern City, Kaduna.
Le Quellec, Jean-Loїc (2004), Rock Art in Africa. Mythology and Legend, Paris.
Moughtin, James Cliff (1985), Hausa Architecture (Ethnographic Arts and Culture Series 6), London.
Vaughan, James H. (1962), “Rock Paintings and Rock Gongs Among the Marghi of Nigeria”, in: Man.
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 62 (4), 49–52.
Notes on Contributors
Sara Campanelli
(Dr.) Sara Campanelli graduated in Classics and specialized in Greek Epigraphy at
‘Sapienza’ – University of Rome, where she was also awarded her PhD in Ancient
History. Since the Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Collaborative Research Center 933
– ‘Material Text Cultures’ at Heidelberg University, she has collaborated on EDR –
Epigraphic Database Rome for the digital edition of the Jewish inscriptions in the city
of Rome.
Her main field of research is Greek religion of Hellenistic and Roman periods. The
epigraphic perspective allows her to focus on the material aspects of the religious
phenomena, paying particular attention to ritual norms and practices, social dynam-
ics, structure and organization of the cult groups, architectural layout and spatial
arrangement of the cult places. For this reason, she has undertaken research on cult
associations and cult foundations meant as structured religious expressions, which
show the complex interaction of ritual, juridical, financial and social factors at the
base of ancient religion.
Her geographic areas of interest are the Dodecanese (in particular the island of
Cos) and Asia Minor, but she also deals with Greek inscriptions in the city of Rome.

Agnès Garcia-Ventura
(Dr.) Agnès Garcia-Ventura pursued a Degree in Humanities at the University Autònoma
of Barcelona (Spain) with honours. After that, she specialized in Ancient Near Eastern
Studies and Assyriology with two Master’s Degrees at the University Pompeu Fabra
and at the University of Barcelona (both in Barcelona, Spain), respectively. Novem-
ber 2012 she was awarded her PhD in History at the University Pompeu Fabra for her
Dissertation entitled “Work and textile production during the Third Dynasty of Ur”.
As Post-Doc she was awarded with a ‘Material Text Cultures Research Fellow’ at
the Collaborative Research Center 933 – ‘Material Text Cultures’ at Heidelberg Uni-
versity, Germany (November 2012–May 2013). She also worked for one academic year
as Assistant Professor at the University Autònoma of Barcelona, Spain (2013–2014).
Since October 2014 she is Post-doctoral Researcher (with a Beatriu de Pinós fellow-
ship, awarded by the Government of Catalonia, Spain) at the Sapienza, Università
degli Studi di Roma, Italy.
Her main areas of interest are gender studies (especially their application to
Assyriology), historiography of Ancient Near Eastern studies, ancient musical perfor-
mance (in both Mesopotamia and the Phoenician and Punic contexts) and the organ-
isation of work in Mesopotamia.

Anastasia Grib
(Dr.) Anastasia Grib is General Editor of A Guide to Islamic Calligraphy, a joint project
with the Hermitage Museum. Her research career began in 2001 at the Metropolitan
280 Notes on Contributors

Museum of Art in New York City where she analysed the collection of early Kufic
manuscripts from the archive of Ernst Herzfeld. Shortly after, Anastasia entered the
PhD program in Islamic Art at the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia,
under Prof. Dr. Mikhail Piotrovsky. In 2012, she had a viva voce of her dissertation at
the Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences
(Kunstkamera); the title is “Local Traditions of the Material Culture of the Qur’an
in the Islamic Centers of West and North Africa: Calligraphy and Ornaments of the
Qur’anic Manuscripts and Boards, 19–20 c.” She held a Post-doctoral Fellowship at
the Sainsbury Research Unit of the University of East Anglia. Dr. Grib has produced
a special issue of the Hermitage Magazine featuring the art and culture of Islam and,
most recently, a catalogue on Qur’anic boards from the Galerie Frank Van Craen
(Brussels). Her current project is a book about the Qur’anic board tradition in the
larger Islamic world.

Flavia Manservigi
(Dr.) Flavia Manservigi graduated in Archaeology at the University of Bologna in
2008, and holds a PhD in ‘Culture Letterarie, Filologiche, Storiche’ from the same
University; her thesis was about the 12th century Bolognese notary. She works for
‘Genus Bononiae. Musei nella Città’, where she coordinates the Secretary Office of the
‘Festival della Scienza Medica’, and where she coordinates the activity of the ‘Centro
Studi Sara Valesio’. She is an ‘Expert’ in Latin Palaeography, and she is an active
member of the RAM (Ricerche e Analisi Manoscritti) Study Center at the University
of Bologna. She has been a member of the Scientific Committee of the International
Center of Sindonology of Turin since April 2016.

Melania Mezzetti
(Dr.) Melania Mezzetti got a degree in ‘Arts and humanities’, and holds a PhD in
‘Romance philology and medieval culture’ from the University of Bologna. She has
been an ‘Expert’ in Latin Palaeography since 2010. She got a degree in ‘Archival
science, Palaeography and Diplomatics’ at the State Archive of Bologna. She worked
as an archivist for the project ‘Una città per gli archivi’ in two archives of Bologna.
In 2013 she held a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Collaborative Research Center 933
‘Material Text Cultures’ at Heidelberg University. She is currently a Tutor at the School
of ‘Arts, Humanities, and Cultural Heritage’ of the University of Bologna.

Antonio J. Morales
(Dr.) Antonio J. Morales is University Lecturer in the ‘Ägyptologisches Seminar’ at Freie
Universität Berlin and a Research Associate in the project A02 ‘Altägyptische Philol-
ogie’ of the SFB 980 in the same institution. He is the director of the Freie Universität
Berlin Mission to Deir el-Bahari, which aims at the documentation, study, and publi-
cation of Middle Kingdom tombs in Thebes (Luxor). His research focuses on religious
literature and language in ancient Egypt, especially concerning the construction and
 Notes on Contributors 281

transmission of mortuary compositions such as the Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts,
and the history, society, and literature of the Middle Kingdom. Recent publications:
The Pyramid Texts of Nut in the Old and Middle Kingdoms (Hamburg 2016); “Unrav-
eling a thread: textual programs with Pyramid Texts in the Late Period tombs”, in
Studies in Ancient Egyptian Funerary Literature, ed. by L. Díaz-Iglesias and S. Bickel
(Fribourg 2016); “Text-building and transmission of Pyramid Texts in the third mil-
lennium BCE: iteration, objectification, and change”, Journal of Ancient Near Eastern
Religions (2016); “Iteration, Innovation und Dekorum in Opferlisten des Alten Reichs.
Zur Vorgeschichte der Pyramidentexte”, Zeitschrift für Ägyptische Sprache und Alter-
tumskunde 142.1 (2015); and Experiencing Power, Generating Authority: Cosmos, Pol-
itics and the Ideology of Kingship in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, co-edited with
J. Hill and Ph. Jones (Philadelphia 2013).

Nathan Morello
(Dr.) Nathan Morello graduated in Semitic Philology at the University of Turin (Italy).
He has received his PhD in Assyriology and History of the Ancient Near East at the Uni-
versity of Udine, with a dissertation on the frontiers of the Assyrian Empire, focused
on the role of fortified settlements.
After a Post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Leipzig and since the
Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Collaborative Research Center 933 “Material Text Cul-
tures” at Heidelberg University, he has been working at LMU University of Munich, at
the Reallexikon der Assyriologie und Vorderasiatischen Archäologie, and as part of the
research staff of the Alexander von Humboldt-Professorship for the Ancient History of
the Near and Middle East, as member of the Munich Open-Access Cuneiform Corpus
Initiative (MOCCI). Since 2013, he is part of the research team of the Archaeological
Excavation Project of Ashdod-Yam (Israel), as architecture analyst.
His main field of research gravitates around the history of the Assyrian Empire,
with particular interests for the dynamics of its frontiers, for the study of the Assyrian
Royal Inscriptions corpus, and for the analysis of the Assyrian monuments and their
perception.
Index

1 Subjects and Names

Administrative texts/records 2, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 Collectives 2, 5ff., 92, 94 fn. 110, 95, 142, 185,
with fn. 46, 16, 17, 25 186
Advanced noun 100 Consecration 56, 144 with fn. 47, 146, 154, 156,
Agros see Land 157, 158, 163, 164 with fn. 134, 165, 166,
Aide-mémoire 74, 76 fn. 40 170, 187, 188, 191, 193
Akh 71, 72, 106, 107, 109, 120 Copying 74, 96, 232, 245
Alliteration 102, 105, 106 fn. 156, 107 Cosmogonic 252, 261, 267, 268, 274
Ancient Roman cursive 203ff. Countryside 166, 177 with fn. 187, 193
Ancient textile production 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, esp. Debeheni 85 fn. 69, 87, 89 with fn. 86, 90, 112
16ff. Decontextualization 70 fn. 6, 73, 74, 119
Apotropaic 92, 93 with fn. 100, 94, 95, 96, 108 Decorum 78 with fn. 47, 109 fn. 165, 113, 119
Arcana 3, 120 Dedication 109 fn. 169, 131 fn. 2, 133 fn. 11, 137,
Artemis 141, 143 with fn. 46, 165 139 fn. 25, 142 fn. 37, 144, 149 with fn. 65
Aššurnasirpal II 31, 33 fn. 5, 36, 39 fn. 11, 41ff. and fn. 67, 156, 159, 160, 161, 162, 168,
Assyrian Sacred Tree 36, 39, 40, 64 170, 174, 190, 191 (see also Consecration)
Auferstehungsritual 71 Deictic reference 72 fn. 18, 101 fn. 138
Aule 176 Demiurgic 113
Autonomisation 76 fn. 39 Dialect variation (diglossia) 98, 101
Ba 112 Diomedonteios 139, 141, 146, 158 fn. 114, 167,
Bankfield stela 86 168, 178, 190, 192, 193
Banquet 43, 46, 131, 146 fn. 53, 150, 152 fn. 80, Disagreement, exemplar 94, 99
156 fn. 100, 158 fn. 114, 160 with fn. 122, Dislocation 103, 106 with fn. 157
161, 168, 180, 182, 191, 192 Djedkare Izezi 75 fn. 36, 98
Barley (and emmer) 107, 113, 114 Doppelung (parallel phrasing) 105, 103, 105, 107
Bas-relief 32, 46, 52, 58 Editing 74, 75, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 252
Bildfassung (pictorial version) 79 Edictio actorum 213
Bitte 95 fn. 116 Enerosion see Land
Blueprints 97 Entextualization 70, 73 with fn. 21, 74 with
Boat jousting 118 fn. 25, 75, 95, 96, 97, 119
Boundary, boundary stone 139, 140, 162, 163, Epimenioi 147 with fn. 55, 151, 153, 171, 179, 186
165, 166, 172 with fn. 174, 173 with fn. 177, Epithet 32 fn. 4, 45, 46, 58 fn. 62, 103, 107 with
187, 189, 191, 192, 193 fn. 159, 139, 141, 142, 143 with fn. 46, 190
Bread offering 86, 105 Esarhaddon 33, 36, 55 fn. 53, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62,
Canaanite 102 63
Canonization 85, 87, 89, 90 Esoteric 102
Carrying-chair (sedan chair) 112, 113 Family
Censing 86, 95 – Ancestry 3, 132 fn. 10, 136, 137 with fn. 23,
Chancery script 203, 208, 210 139, 140, 141, 142, 143 with fn. 43, 144 with
Charmyleion 162 with fn. 131, 164 with fn. 136, fn. 48, 145, 146 fn. 53, 166, 185, 190, 193
165 fn. 136, 166, 173, 174, 178, 193 – Assets/Estates 3, 133, 139, 150, 155, 156, 159,
Chiasmus 103 with fn. 151, 106 161, 165, 166 with fn. 143, 172, 177, 178,
Chorion, choros see Land 183, 186, 188, 190, 191, 192, 193, 194
Christianity 206 – Deities/Gods 131, 134, 136, 137 fn. 23, 139,
141, 142 with fn. 32, 143 with fn. 46, 144
284 Index

with fn. 47, 146 with fn. 53, 158, 159 with Heroon 162 fn. 131, 177 fn. 185, 180 with fn. 209,
fn. 115, 163, 167, 168, 172, 173, 188, 189, 181, 182
190, 191 Herrschaftswissen 57
– Descendant, descent 136, 139, 145, 146, 147, Hiera, hieros 149 with fn. 64 and fn. 69, 150, 154
149 fn. 69, 150, 153, 154 with fn. 90, 160, fn. 93, 159, 161 fn. 129, 165, 172 fn. 174,
161, 178, 183, 184, 186, 187, 190 178, 185, 186
– Funerary cult 136, 141, 145, 151, 165, 174, 188 Hieron 159, 167, 168 with fn. 150, 169 with
– Funerary monument 133, 162 with fn. 131, fn. 157, 170, 175, 184, 191
163, 165, 172 fn. 176, 173, 174, 176 with Homosociality 8, 10ff.
fn. 184 and fn. 187, 177, 180 with fn. 209, Horos see Boundary, boundary stone
181, 182 with fn. 212, 187, 192, 193 Hypotheke 170 with fn. 165, 171, 172
– Sanctuary 133 with fn. 11, 134, 135, 139 fn. 25, Ibi, king 69, 117 fn. 204
141 fn. 31, 144, 146, 149, 150, 152, 154 with Imperial chancery 205, 206, 207, 208, 216, 230
fn. 93, 155 with fn. 94, 156, 157, 158 with fn. 89
fn. 114, 159, 160, 161, 163, 165 with fn. 136, Income (source of) 3, 131, 133, 148, 149, 153,
166 with fn. 144, 167, 168, 169 with fn. 157, 156, 157, 158, 160, 163, 164 fn. 134, 165,
170, 174, 175, 178, 183, 184 with fn. 220, 167, 168, 170 with fn. 163, 171, 172 fn. 176,
185, 186, 187, 191, 192, 193 173, 178, 179, 183, 184, 187, 188, 190, 191,
– Self-preservation, self-representation 144, 194
145, 148, 189, 193 Inheritance 3, 47, 145, 146, 148, 153, 155, 166,
Female workers 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 20, 23, 25 171, 178 with fn. 191, 179, 190, 193
Feminist epistemologies 2, 6, esp. 8ff. Inverted parallelism 106
Ferryman texts 116 with fn. 200, 117, 118 with Iteti 92
fn. 209 Iulius Hymetius Festus 205
Formulae 95 fn. 116, 103 Iymery 91, 92
G 2135, tomb 88 Justinian I, emperor 3, 203, 210, 211
Ga see Land Kaiemankh 117,
Garden 149, 156, 157 with fn. 104, 160 with Kanefer 90
fn. 121, 162, 163 with fn. 132, 164, 166, 167, Kaninesu I 89, 90, 91
170 fn. 163, 172 fn. 176, 174, 177 fn. 184, Kapos/kepos see Garden
192, 193 Khabausokar, stela of 86 with fn. 75, 87
Gender studies 2, 6, 16 fn. 44, 25 Khafkhufu I 87, 88
gesta municipalia 209, 223 fn. 61 Khafkhufu II 92
gesta praefectoria 3, 210, 211, 213, 215, 229, Khasekhemuy 102 fn. 143
232, 234 Khentika 111 fn. 178, 113, 114
Governor of Caria 210, 211, 213, 215, 216 Khufu 87
Grabinventar 71 King (nsw) 76 fn. 41, 81, 83
Graffiti 243, 254, 260, 269, 271 Kinship 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17, 25, 26, 78
Harageh 3, papyrus 117 fn. 205 fn. 125, 144 fn. 48, 145 fn. 52, 146, 147
Harem 10ff. fn. 58, 150, 151 fn. 73, 153, 155, 182
Heir see Inheritance Koinon, koinonountes, koinos 179, 183, 185,
Heracles 137, 139, 141 with fn. 31, 142 fn. 32, 144 186, 187 fn. 226
with fn. 48, 146 with fn. 53, 147, 149 with Land 131, 134 with fn. 16, 135 with fn. 18, 142,
fn. 64, 156, 157, 158 with fn. 114, 159 fn. 115, 145, 149, 157, 158, 163, 164 with fn. 134,
160, 161 with fn. 127, 166 fn. 144, 167, 168, 165 with fn. 136, 166 with fn. 141, 167, 168
178, 190, 192, 193 with fn. 154, 170 with fn. 163, 171, 172 with
Hero, heroization 137 with fn. 23, 139, 140, 141, fn. 174 and fn. 176, 173 with fn. 177, 174,
150 fn. 72, 152, 153, 154, 159, 160, 163, 165, 176 fn. 184, 177 fn. 187, 178, 183, 188, 190,
166 with fn. 141, 174, 180 with fn. 209, 189, 191, 192, 193
190, 191, 193 Landscape (religious) see Religious Landscape
Index 285

Later Roman cursive 205 with fn. 5, 206 with Organisation of work 5ff.
fn. 6, 207, 208, 209 with fn. 20, 221 fn. 57, Osiris 76 with fn. 42, 104, 107, 114, 115, 118
222 fn. 59 and fn. 60, 223 fn. 61, 225, 226 Padihor, tomb of 98 fn. 125
with fn. 71, 227, 228 with fn. 84, 229, 230 Paganism 206
with fn. 88, 231 fn. 94, 234, 238 Papyrus scroll 73 with fn. 22, 74, 76, 77 fn. 46,
Lesche 167, 168, 184, 191 119
Libation 42, 86, 109 fn. 168, 162 fn. 131, 188 Paratext 78 with fn. 48
fn. 232 Paronomasia 107
Library 97, 98, 206 fn. 6 Patroa, patroos 139, 141, 142 with fn. 35 and
Litterae Caelestes 205ff. fn. 37, 143 with fn. 43, 144 with fn. 50, 174,
Litterae communes 205ff. 190, 191
Maat 113 Pepi I 69 with fn. 1, 76 fn. 40, 78
MafS T2147, papyrus 76 fn. 40, 78 Pepi II 69 fn. 1, 80 fn. 58, 85 with fn. 67, 97
Maspero, Gaston 69 fn. 120
Male workers 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 25 Performance 12, 56, 70 with fn. 4, 71, 72, 74
Marriage see Wedding fn. 24, 75, 76, 80 fn. 58, 83 fn. 64, 84,
Master copies 76, 77 with fn. 43, 97, 98 85, 86, 89, 96 fn. 119, 109, 110, 112 with
Media 72, 74, 75, 76, 78, 97, 119 fn. 181, 119, 131 with fn. 2, 146, 149 fn. 69,
Menkaure, king 102 fn. 143 157 fn. 107, 169
Merenre 69 fn. 1, 106 Personal structure 98
Mereruka 111 fn. 178, 113, 114 Plan (sxr) 96
Meresankh 116 Postfeminism 2, 6, 8ff.
Meri, stela of see Bankfield stela pragmatica sanctio 210, 213
Merovingian script 208 Prefect of the Orient 210, 213
Metatextual 93 fn. 102, 100 fn. 137 Priest(ess), priesthood 72 with fn. 11 and fn. 17,
Metjen 86, 87 74 fn. 27, 77 with fn. 46, 78 fn. 47, 96, 98
Military receipt 222 fn. 60 with fn. 125, 102 with fn. 143, 108, 112
Misteriosa scrittura grande 208, 209, 220 fn. 55, fn. 180, 119, 120, 139 fn. 25, 140, 141 fn. 31,
222 fn. 58, 223 fn. 61, 229, 230, 231 with 147, 150 fn. 69, 151, 153 with fn. 89, 154,
fn. 94 158 fn. 114, 162, 168, 183, 184 fn. 220, 190
Mnemeion see Family, funerary monuments – Lector priest 73 fn. 22, 77 with fn. 46, 109
Monumentalization 2, 69, 70 with fn. 6, 71, 73, fn. 168
74 with fn. 25, 75, 76, 77 fn. 44, 85, 86, 91, Puns 107
94, 96, 100, 119 Qar 109, 110 fn. 169
Mouseion, Muses 139, 152, 153, 174, 179 with Rahotep 86, 87
fn. 202, 180, 183 with fn. 215, 190, 192 Ramesseum E (papyrus) 77 fn. 46, 78
Nefer 87, 88 Re (sun-god) 107, 114, 115 fn. 198, 116
Neferbauptah 91, 93 Recontextualization 70 fn. 6, 72, 73, 74, 94
Neferirkare Kakai 82, 83 Relatives see Kinship
Nensedjerkai 90 with fn. 90 Religious landscape 133 with fn. 13, 135, 193
Net texts 118 with fn. 209 Rent 153 fn. 88, 156, 157, 158 with fn. 111, 159,
Niankh-Pepy 94 with fn. 105 160, 163 with fn. 132, 164 fn. 134, 173, 180
Niuserre 82, 84, 85, 86 fn. 75, 91, 111 fn. 178 fn. 206, 188, 193
Offering list 79ff. Repetition 49, 60, 103, 105, 106 fn. 156, 107
Oikia 158, 159 with fn. 115, 160, 161 with fn. 129, Repository 76, 77 fn. 45, 97, 277
162, 163 with fn. 132, 164 with fn. 134, 166, Revenues see Income (source of)
167, 169 fn. 157, 174, 175, 184, 188, 191, Ritualist 75, 76, 77 with fn. 46, 78, 80, 84 with
192, 193 fn. 66, 89, 92, 94, 99, 100, 102, 103, 108
Opening script 3, 209, 210, 229, 234, 236 Sacerdotal structure 98, 99 with fn. 131, 101
Orality 70, 72 with fn. 16, 77 fn. 47, 107 fn. 138
286 Index

Sacrifice 131 fn. 2, 139, 141 fn. 31, 143, 146 with „Tearing papyrus“ 115
fn. 53, 150 with fn. 72, 154, 155 with fn. 94, Temene, temenos 157, 158 with fn. 109, fn. 111
156, 157, 160 fn. 122, 161, 165, 169, 170, and fn. 114, 159, 161 fn. 129, 166, 167, 168
174, 187, 188, 190 with fn. 150, 169, 170 with fn. 163, 171,
Sahure 80, 81, 82, 85, 102 fn. 143 172, 173, 174 with fn. 179, 180, 181, 182,
Sakhu, rites 95 fn. 115, 109, 110 fn. 169, 115 183 with fn. 215, 184, 185, 188 fn. 230, 191,
Sargon II, Assyrian King 56 192, 193
Seasons of the year 111 fn. 178, 112, 113, 114, 115 Teti 101 fn. 138, 103, 105
Sekhemankhptah 114 Textualization 70, 73, 74, 75, 97
Semitic 98, 102 with fn. 147 and fn. 148, 103 Theodosian Code 203ff.
Senedjemib 77 fn. 43, 97, 98 with fn. 126 Theoi Patrooi see Patroos
Sennacherib 40, 47, 52 fn. 46, 55 fn. 53 Throne 32, 36, 43ff., 113
Sequence 18, 70, 79, 87, 90, 112, 172 Tjetu 109
Seshatsekhentiu 88 Topicalization 106
Sekhemka 92 Transcript 74
Shalmaneser 43ff. Twelve Gods 140, 142 with fn. 32, 154, 163
Sitz im Leben 102 Usernetjer 92
Sisi, stela of 86 Usual script 206
Scriptio continua 73, 119 Vacillation 99
Sketch 72, 77 fn. 43, 98 Valens 203, 204, 206, 236
Slab stelae 85, 86 fn. 71 and fn. 75 Valentinian 203, 204
Songs 95, 110, 111, 112 Verschriftung 69ff. (see also entextualization)
Spruchfolge see sequence Verschriftlichung 69ff. (see also textualization)
Standard Inscription (SI) 32 with fn. 4, 33 fn. 5, Wahkhare Khety 69
36, 39, 43, 45, 48, 49, 50, 51, 63 Water-songs (sHsy-m-mw) 95
Stilmischung 78 Wedding 146, 160, 161 with fn. 123, 167, 183,
Stoa 180 with fn. 205, 182, 183 184 with fn. 220, 243, 245, 254, 255, 257,
Storage, papyrus 77, 96 258, 269 with fn. 22, 271, 273
Syggeneis 188 Xenismos 159 fn. 115, 161, 167
Syntax, ritual 71, 72, 95, 98 Xenon, Xenones 157 with fn. 104, 158, 160 with
Synthyontes, synthysia see Sacrifice fn. 121, 163, 167, 184, 191, 192
Tabular form 92, 95 Zeitgeist 96

2 Places
Abusir 80, 82, 116 fn. 201 Chalcis (Euboea) 160 fn. 121
Aegina 173 fn. 177 Chios 142 fn. 35, 185
Africa 2, 3, 204, 205, 243ff. Constantinople 211, 213, 215
Aigosthena (Megaris) 170 fn. 163 Cos 133 fn. 10, 134 with fn. 15, 135, 137, 139
Anaphe (Cyclades) 187 with fn. 25, 140, 141 with fn. 31, 142 with
Andania 152 fn. 81 fn. 32, 143 with fn. 46, 144 with fn. 48, 145,
Aphrodisias (Caria) 211 148 with fn. 61 and fn. 62, 152 fn. 82, 161
Arkesine (Amorgos) 158 fn. 11 fn. 129, 162, 163, 169, 174, 183, 188, 189
Arsinoë 219 fn. 52 Delos 163 fn. 132, 175 with fn. 181, 176
Asia Minor 176 fn. 184, 211 Didyma 203ff.
Athens 147 fn. 58, 159, 172 fn. 174 Giza 86, 89, 92, 95, 116 with fn. 201, 117
Balat see Miletus Gölbaşɪ Trysa (Lycia) 180, 181, 182
Bulgaria 177 fn. 187 Halasarna see Cos
Byblos 102, 108
Index 287

Halicarnassus 135, 137, 145, 148 with fn. 61, 153 Olympia 180
with fn. 88, 171, 177 with fn. 184, 183, 187, Olympos (Lycia) 188 fn. 232
188, 189 Oropos 169
Hauran (Syria) 177 fn. 184 Philadelphia (Lydia) 152 fn. 81
Heliopolis 2, 71, 74 fn. 27, 105 Pyli see Cos
Helwan 86 Rhamnous (Attica) 158
Heracleopolis 221 Ravenna 3, 208, 209, 210, 216 with fn. 48, 223
Herculia 219 fn. 61, 226 fn. 71, 229, 230, 231 fn. 94, 232
Hierapolis (Phrygia) 154 fn. 90, 172 fn. 176, 183 fn. 101, 234, 235, 236
fn. 218, 188 fn. 230 Salamis 233 fn. 103
Isthmos see Cos Sam’al/Zincirli (Turkey) 33, 58, 59, 60
Justinianopolis 213 Saqqara 69, 76 fn. 40, 78, 86, 92, 94 fn. 104,
Kalhu see Nimrud 95, 114
Kalydon (Aitolia) 177 fn. 184 Scillous (Elis) 165
Kos see Cos Stagira 160 fn. 121
Megara 172 fn. 174 Tenos (Cyclades) 150
Meidum 86 Thasos 180 fn. 206
Memphis 74, 75, 77, 94 fn. 104, 96 Thera 132 fn. 6, 133 fn. 11, 135, 137, 145, 148,
Miletus 131 fn. 2, 177 fn. 185, 210, 211 153, 165, 174, 180, 183, 187, 188, 189
Mylasa (Caria) 163 fn. 132, 170 fn. 163 Thespiae 179 fn. 202
Nimrud 31, 32 fn. 4, 46, 47, 48
– North-West Palace 31, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, 44,
45, 51, 54, 55

3 Periods
Fifth Dynasty 69, 71, 72, 74, 79, 80, 85, 87, 89, Neo-Assyrian 31ff.
90, 91, 92, 93, 95, 101 fn. 142, 102 fn. 143, Old Kingdom 69ff.
108, 110, 120 Roman Period 203ff.
First Intermediate Period 69, 75, 79, 94, 95 Second Dynasty 86, 95, 102 fn. 143,
fn. 116, 109 fn. 165 Sixth Dynasty 69, 74, 75 fn. 30, 94, 99 fn. 129,
Fourth Dynasty 80, 86, 87, 88, 95 108, 109, 113, 118 fn. 209,
Hellenistic Age 131ff. Third Dynasty 70 fn. 4, 86, 102 fn. 143, 110
Middle Ages 207, 208 Ur III 5ff.
Middle Kingdom 75, 76 fn. 40, 77 fn. 46, 79, 93
fn. 102, 94, 109 fn. 161, 112 fn. 183, 114
fn. 193, 117 fn. 204, 118 with fn. 209