TITLE: |
Trilingual decree of the priests gathered in Canopus in honour of Ptolemy III Euergetes and Berenice (1st version) |
DATE: |
March 7th, 238 BC |
ACTUAL LOCATION: |
The Cairo Museum (place of discovery: Memphis, Egypt) |
LINK: |
(1) |
TEXT: |
BAGNALL, R. S.; P. Derow (1981): Greek historical documents: the Hellenistic period, Chico, pp. 222-226 DITTENBERG, W. (1903): Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae. Vol. 1, Leipzig, pp. 91-110 KAMAL A. BEN (1904): Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire : Stèles ptolémaïques et romaines, nos. 22001-22208, El Cairo, pp. 59-61 MICHEL, Ch. (1900): Recueil d’inscriptions grecques, Bruxelles, pp. 415-420 MILNE, J. G. (1905): Catalogue général des antiquités égyptiennes du Musée du Caire: Greek inscriptions, Oxford, pp. 1-5 PREISIGKE, F.; F. BILABEL; E. KIESSLING; H.-A. RUPPRECHT (1950): Sammelbuch Griechischer Urkunden aus Ägypten, Band 5, Nr. 7515-8963, Heidelberg, n. 8858 STRACK, M. L. (1897): Die Dynastie der Ptolemäer, Berlin, pp. 227-232 VANDONI, M. (1964): Feste pubbliche e private nei documenti greci, Milano, 1964, pp. 7-14 |
EDITIONS/TRANSLATIONS: |
MILLER, E. (1902): Découvert d’un novel exemplaire du décret de Canope, Journal de Savants, pp.214-222. BERNAND, A. (1992): La prose sur pierre dans l’Égypte hellénistique et romaine, I. textes et traductions, Paris, pp. 23-27 |
KEYWORDS: |
Word used to mean procession: |
περίπλους (ll. 47-48) |
Word used to mean the cult images: |
ἄγαλμα (l. 49) |
Gods or other entities named: |
Berenice (l. 47) |
Description of the cult images: |
The statue is made of gold and adorned with stones (l. 49); with a different tiara from the one on the statue of Berenice’s mother (ll. 51-52); with a scepter in the shape of papyrus (ll. 52-53) |
Procession’s route: |
Frequency with which the procession takes place: |
To all the ἐξοδείαι and πανηγύρεις of the other gods (ll. 50-51) |
Performers: |
ὁ προφήτης (l. 50), the priests in charge of dressing the statues (οἱ ἱερεῖς πρὸς τὸν στολισμὸν τῶν θεῶν l. 50) |
References to the public attending the procession: |
Rites related to the procession: |
Allusions to conduct or forms of reverence: |
The statue is to be honored (τιμᾶται) and worshipped προσκυνῆται) by all under the name of Queen Berenice (l. 51) |
Other remarkable elements: |
the priests carry the statue in their arms (l. 50) |
BIBLIOGRAPHY: |
LEGRAS, B. (2004): “La réforme du calendrier sous Ptolémée III: l’avènement d’un « âge d’or » ?”. In: C. Auliard, L. Bodiou (eds.), Au jardin des Hespérides: histoire, société et épigraphie des mondes anciens : mélanges offerts à Alain Tranoy, Rennes, pp. 191-206 PFEIFFER, S. (2004): Das Dekret von Kanopos (238 v. CHR), München |