PHRC022 : Dedication to Attalos I, Pergamon - Mysia (200-150 BC) Dedication

This fragmentary rectangular altar of Attalos I was dedicated inside the precinct of Demeter on the southern slope of the Pergamon hill. It was probably used for libations and the burning of perfumes. The paleographic detail of A with bowed crossbar suggests a date of dedication between the end of Attalos’ reign and the beginning of Eumenes II’s.

Permanent ID http://s.phrc.it/phrc022

Images:
Photo 1: Drawing of the inscription, IvP I 45
Photo 2: Sanctuary of Demeter; via Wikimedia Commons

Current location

Archaeological Museum of Bergama

Support

Object Type: Altar

Fragment of a rectangular altar with cornices. The rough back shows that it was meant to stand againt a wall or in a niche.

Material: Andesite

Dimensions:
Height: 55 cm
Width: 41 cm

Layout

The text shows a quite irregular ductus. The three lines are of a progressively smaller size.

Irregular letters of the period between the reigns of Attalos I and Eumenes II, without apices. Σ with parallel horizontal bars; A has a slightly bowed crossbar, similar to that of IvP I 40 and PHRC024.

Letter height varying from line to line: c. 2,5 cm (line 1); c. 2,3 cm (line 2); c. 1,8 cm (line 3).

History

Original Place: Pergamon, Sanctuary of Demeter

Date: Between 200 and 150 BC, probably during the first quarter of the 2nd cent.

Justification: Lettering

Provenance: Found in the sanctuar of Demeter at Pergamon.

Bibliography

Text constituted from: IvP I 45.

Other editions: .

See also: Schwarzer 1999, p. 256; Suk Fong Jim 2017; Caneva 2020.

Images: IvP I 45 (drawing).

Further bibliography: On the sanctuary of Demeter, see Bohtz 1981; Ohlemutz 1968, p. 203-224; Radt 1999, 180-186; Agelidis 2011, p. 179-181; Steuernagel 2015, p. 368; Pirson 2017, 63.

Online record: PHI

Edition

Βασιλέως
Ἀττάλου
Σωτῆρος

Translation

(S. Caneva)
Of King Attalos Soter.

Traduzione

(S. Caneva)
Del re Attalo Soter.

Commentary

This rectangular altar of Attalos I Soter was found in the sanctuary of Demeter, one of the most prominent sanctuaries in the early Attalid period: it was already monumentalized under Philetairos and Eumenes I and was considerably enlarged under Attalos I (for the chronology, Bohtz 1981, p. 56-60; Steuernagel 2015, 368; Pirson 2017, 63). Even though the depth of the altar is not provided by the editor, most probably this specimen was similar to the other Attalid altars from Pergamon: their limited dimensions made them appropriate for libations and censing rituals, not for animal sacrifices (but see the possible exception of PHRC020, from Mamurt Kale).

The writing of A with a bowed crossbar may point to an intermediary period between the earliest specimens, probably dedicated in the years 230s-220s (cf. PHRC018), and the later ones which show a writing of A with broken crossbar, probably belong to the 2nd century BC (see commentary to PHRC021). Accordingly, this altar might belong to the end of the reign of Attalos I or testify to a posthumous cult in the early reign of Eumenes II (Caneva 2020).

Author:

Stefano Caneva, on 29.03.2019

Revisions:

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