DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4679#0127
8. RELIGION OF BURIAL. 101
deity who is named on the stone ; and it is highly probable that many
so-called votive inscriptions are really sepulchral. In this way the
class of votive inscriptions to the god Sozon are explained Ch. VIII
§ 9, and those to Zeus Bronton in the neighbourhood of Nakoleia 1 are
of the same character. The erection of a gravestone is also conceived
as a distinction and prerogative (tl/itj) of the dead man and living-
god ; and the formula stating that the erector of the tomb did honour
to (eTi/j.rjo-ev) the dead person is widely used, especially on the southern
side of the great plateau of Asia Minor. Such tombs were frequently
erected by a city or corporate body, and the tombstone is then
expressed in forms similar to those of an honorary inscription to
a living person. A very clear example occurs in no. 85.
§ 9. The God as Ruler axd Healee. In studying the antiqui-
ties of the various cities and bishoprics of Phrygia, and in a less degree
of other districts of Asia Minor, we shall find numberless traces which
enable us to fill out in detail this brief sketch of the religion of Hiera-
polis and of the old social system to which it bears witness. Diony-
sopolis especially shows a type of religion that agrees in the names
and probably in the minutest details with that of Hierapolis; and
everything that we shall have to say of the former may, no doubt, be
taken as applying to the latter. But Hierapolis was so much under
Greek influence that the Phrygian ritual was more strictly esoteric
and private there than in some other places. In particular, not a trace
survives there of the old system of government on the village-system
which struggled all over Asia Minor against the Greek city-system.
The Anatolian village-sj^stem was almost a pure theocracy. The god
of the central hieron, revealing his will through his priests and pro-
phets, guided with absolute power the action of the population which
dwelt in villages scattered over the country round the hieron. The
chief priesthoods seem to have been originally hereditary in
one family or in a small number of families ; but no evidence re-
mains as to the rules of succession. The highest priests and priestesses
played the parts of the great gods in the mystic ritual, wore their
dress, and bore their names; they, as a body, or perhaps the chief
priest alone, controlled the prophetic utterances which guided the
action of the community. Alongside of this theocratic government of
the various districts, there was originally an imperial government of
the whole country; but the nature of this central government is still
a matter for investigation. Nothing positive can be stated about it
at this stage, though its existence seems certain.
1 See an article on Sepulchral Customs in Phrygia in JHS 1884.
deity who is named on the stone ; and it is highly probable that many
so-called votive inscriptions are really sepulchral. In this way the
class of votive inscriptions to the god Sozon are explained Ch. VIII
§ 9, and those to Zeus Bronton in the neighbourhood of Nakoleia 1 are
of the same character. The erection of a gravestone is also conceived
as a distinction and prerogative (tl/itj) of the dead man and living-
god ; and the formula stating that the erector of the tomb did honour
to (eTi/j.rjo-ev) the dead person is widely used, especially on the southern
side of the great plateau of Asia Minor. Such tombs were frequently
erected by a city or corporate body, and the tombstone is then
expressed in forms similar to those of an honorary inscription to
a living person. A very clear example occurs in no. 85.
§ 9. The God as Ruler axd Healee. In studying the antiqui-
ties of the various cities and bishoprics of Phrygia, and in a less degree
of other districts of Asia Minor, we shall find numberless traces which
enable us to fill out in detail this brief sketch of the religion of Hiera-
polis and of the old social system to which it bears witness. Diony-
sopolis especially shows a type of religion that agrees in the names
and probably in the minutest details with that of Hierapolis; and
everything that we shall have to say of the former may, no doubt, be
taken as applying to the latter. But Hierapolis was so much under
Greek influence that the Phrygian ritual was more strictly esoteric
and private there than in some other places. In particular, not a trace
survives there of the old system of government on the village-system
which struggled all over Asia Minor against the Greek city-system.
The Anatolian village-sj^stem was almost a pure theocracy. The god
of the central hieron, revealing his will through his priests and pro-
phets, guided with absolute power the action of the population which
dwelt in villages scattered over the country round the hieron. The
chief priesthoods seem to have been originally hereditary in
one family or in a small number of families ; but no evidence re-
mains as to the rules of succession. The highest priests and priestesses
played the parts of the great gods in the mystic ritual, wore their
dress, and bore their names; they, as a body, or perhaps the chief
priest alone, controlled the prophetic utterances which guided the
action of the community. Alongside of this theocratic government of
the various districts, there was originally an imperial government of
the whole country; but the nature of this central government is still
a matter for investigation. Nothing positive can be stated about it
at this stage, though its existence seems certain.
1 See an article on Sepulchral Customs in Phrygia in JHS 1884.