Stable URL: http://assocgr.saxo.sc.ku.dk/assoc/819Download as PDF
Last Updated on 02 Mar 2017

Author: Paschalis Paschidis

CAPInv. 819: hoi hypostoloi

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Macedonia
ii. Region Edonis
iii. Site Amphipolis

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ ὑπόστολοι (SEG 36: 583, l. 3)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi hypostoloi

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 68 / 67 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:ὑπόστολοι, hypostoloi
The members of the association, if indeed this was one, are identified as ὑπόστολοι, hypostoloi, officials (or initiates of a higher order) of the cult of the Egyptian Gods known from other parts of the Greek world (see RICIS 113/0908).

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) SEG 36: 583 (68/7 BC)
Note See also: RICIS 113/0908 (Note that the date is not 67/6 BC as in SEG and RICIS, but 68/7 BC).
Online Resources SEG 36: 583
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Greek honorific inscription
i.c. Physical format(s) Stele with relief of a crown

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership As is often the case in the cult of the Egyptian Gods, it is unclear whether the ἱερεύς, hiereus, was a priest of the whole sanctuary or simply of a particular cult (in this case presumably of Isis), and whether he should be seen as a member, and thus presumably leader, of the association, or not.
iii. Members The members are called ὑπόστολοι, hypostoloi; the meaning of the term and the exact status of the hypostoloi is unclear (see the sources, the bibliography and discussion in RICIS 113/0908).
iv. Officials It is unclear whether the τριήραρχος, trierarchos, honoured for conducting in proper manner the navigium Isidis (see RICIS 113/0908 for similar titles in the cult of Isis) should be seen as a member of the association (if indeed there was one) of the hypostoloi or not.

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Veligianni, C. (1986), ‘Hypostoloi und Trierarchos auf einer neuen Inschrift aus Amphipolis’, ZPE 62: 241-6.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note As is often the case in the organization of the cult of the Egyptian Gods, the structure of the cult, its possible associative character, how the liturgical personnel and / or the higher order of initiates operated, and the connection between the association (if there was one) and the civic structures are matters which remain unclear.