Local Cults Research Articles

CAMPAIGN AGAINST PILGRIMAGES TO «HOLY PLACES» IN THE CHUVASH ASSR IN THE LATE 1950s – EARLY 1960s

An important component of the anti-church campaign that took place in the late 1950s and the first half of the 1960s was the fight against pilgrimages to the so–called «holy places». Such campaigns were not new to our country, it is enough to look back on Peter the Great’s decree prohibiting the construction of chapels unauthorized by the authorities. The cult of «holy places» is obvious to have been an important part of the so-called «casual» or «folk» religiosity and the presence of «holy places» supported the religious enthusiasm among the population. It is implied that in an effort to limit the influence of «religious prejudices» on citizens, the Soviet government could not help but pay attention to this phenomenon. The purpose of the study is to study the struggle against pilgrimages to «holy places» in the territory of the Chuvash ASSR, which took place as part of another aggravation of state–church relations in the late 1950s – early 1960s, known as «Khrushchev anti-church campaign». Materials and methods. The source base of the research was made up of materials kept in the foundation of the Authorized Council on the Russian Orthodox Church (since 1965 Council on Religious Affairs) under the Council of Ministers of the Chuvash ASSR (F. R-1857), located in the State Historical Archive of the Chuvash Republic. The materialistic understanding of history was used as a research method. Research results. In the territory of the Chuvash ASSR, the plenipotentiaries of the Council on the Russian Orthodox Church record two «holy places» in their reports: in the village of Ishaki of Cheboksary region and in the village of Mirenki of Kuvakinsky (now Alatyrsky) region. An important part of the «holy places» cult was the worship of wells, the water in which was considered sacred by the population. Every year, on special days associated with the local cult, there was a mass pilgrimage to the wells with consecrated water. During the days of pilgrimage, spontaneous markets around the «holy place» were organized by consumer cooperation organizations. Pilgrimages were accompanied by appropriate practices (almost publicly undressing and dousing with water, foolishness, etc.), which could look shocking. Pilgrimages helped to maintain a high level of religiosity in rural areas. In the late 1950s, the central authorities adopted a number of regulations aimed at minimizing and, if possible, eliminating the practice of pilgrimage. The Plenipotentiary of the Council on the Russian Orthodox Church in the Chuvash ASSR managed to put an end to the pilgrimage to the village of Ishaki and the village of Mirenki. However, «holy places» spontaneously appeared in other locations. Conclusions. The Soviet society as a whole was ready to put up with religion, but within a clearly defined framework of the temple. In this sense, the struggle against pilgrimages fit into the educationist paradigm. The argumentation of the attack on the «holy places» is surprisingly similar to the argumentation of Peter the Great’s decree banning the construction of chapels in the «holy places». Both of these campaigns, which are two centuries apart, can be considered as phenomena of the same order, as episodes of secularization in the Russian execution.

Women as Participants and Promoters of Saints' Cults in Fifteenth‐Century Krakow

AbstractThis article examines issues relating to women's participation in religious cults at the local level in the fifteenth century. The research is based on the collections of Krakow's miracles. This analysis aims to show the social and cultural background to women's participation in local worship, their religious practices, and also their place in social and family structure. Research shows that women were engaged and active, which translated into the development of local cults. Local worship allowed women to fulfil their religious needs without major disturbances in their daily lives.

The Goddess on the Lion

This paper focuses on the genesis of the association between the Indian warrior goddess and the lion. As is well-known, this is a goddess with a multifaceted identity, who evokes both imperial grandeur and village cultic practices. This figure cannot be identified as Mahiṣāsuramardinī or Durgā in any Pre-Kuṣāṇa and Kuṣāṇa text or inscription. A considerable influence on her burgeoning representation was probably exercised by Nanā, a Hellenistic goddess, who takes on characteristics of the Mesopotamian Inanna-Ištar, typically associated with lions. Significantly, in the early centuries CE, this feline was still a widespread species on the Subcontinent and had already become identified as the fiercest wild predator, informing the long-lasting lion-warrior imagery. While the background and the rise of Durgā have been the object of several studies, relatively little attention has been paid to her symbolic association with the lion as a key perspective that may contribute to providing a deeper understanding of both the shaping and the significance of this divine figure. By analysing some of the most significant of the earliest iconographic and textual representations, this paper is an initial attempt to employ the feline attribute as a prism to trace the earliest phase in the historical process of the development of the goddess. It may provide insights regarding both the degree of entanglement between local cults and early Hinduism, and the interrelation between the representation of this warrior goddess and kingship ideology in Kuṣāṇa and early Gupta India.

Local Cults in the Chapter “Guai Shen” 怪神 (“Monsters and Deities”) from Ying Shao’s 應劭 Treatise Feng su tong yi 風俗通義 (Penetrating into the Meaning of Traditions and Customs). Translation from Chinese and Commentary by Tatiana V. Klementeva

This article presents a translation of two sections from the chapter “Guai Shen” 怪神 (“Monsters and Deities”) of the treatise Feng su tong yi 風俗通義 (Penetrating into the Meaning of Traditions and Customs), written by the statesman Ying Shao 應劭 (d. before 204), supplied with an introduction and comments. This chapter includes twenty-one anecdotes about human encounters with the supernatural or local religious cults. Ten of them were later included into the collection of stories Sou shen ji 搜神記 (Investigations into Deities), thus this treatise had some impact on the development of the zhiguai xiaoshuo 志怪小説 (“stories [containing] records [of] the unusual”) genre. The two sections selected for publication describe local cults that were formed during the Han era 漢 (202 B.C.E. — 220 C.E.). In the first section, Ying Shao shows how officials should control such cults using laws. In the second one, the author persuades the reader to rationally approach the foundations on which the cult arises and not to trust all rumors about the divine power of creatures. This translation provides an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of religious life at the end of the Han era.

Beijing Mythological Stories about the Lady of the Bell Foundry

In the second half of the nineteenth century at the latest, a legend emerged in Beijing about the sacrificial death of the founder's daughter during the casting of a large bell for the Bell Tower. It is similar to a group of medieval Chinese tales associated with the cults of patron deities of the crafts. These have their origins in tales from Western regions related to Eastern European stories of walled-up wives. In the case of the Beijing tradition, the religious tale is transformed into a secular legend with, at best, a tenuous connection to a local cult. The story of the casting of a bell for the Bell Tower persists in Beijing's oral tradition to this day. There are also a number of related stories told in other regions of China, as well as Korean tales that are genetically linked to it. The article examines both the structural and semantic features of several mythological stories about the making of a bell for the Bell Tower recorded by Chinese folklorists from the 1950s to the 1980s, alongside those of the first known English (1870s) and the first known Chinese (1930s) amateur recordings of the legend. It also traces the connection of these texts with similar narratives from other regions, as well as with the aforementioned medieval legends of patron deities of crafts, ancient beliefs in the efficacy of human sacrifice for metallurgical production characteristic of the Wu region, and Confucian notions of filial piety.

The Heracles-Melqart Head from The Hatay Museum

The subject of our study is the head of Heracles found during the 1932-1934 excavation season at the Çatal Höyük settlement in the Amik Plain within the borders of Hatay. It is exhibited in the Hatay Museum and carved from limestone. That Heracles is in an attacking position with his club raised behind his head has enabled the statue to be evaluated within the “Cypriot Heracles” or “Heracles-Melqart” typology in the literature. Although this type has been found to be widespread throughout the Mediterranean world considering examples from Cyprus particularly, then Egypt, Al Mina, and Attica, this singular example from Anatolia demonstrates the unique value of our study. As a result of stylistic evaluation, we conclude that the Heracles head was made in Cyprus in the last quarter of the sixth century BC in the Heracles-Melqart type. Its typology was shaped by the cultural influences in Idalion or possibly Gorgoi, but by a master who closely followed the sculpture styles of Rhodes and Athens. The typological difference between the head from Hatay and the Cypriot examples can be explained by locality. In terms of meaning, the Cypriot example indicates that the Heracles-Melqart typology may be a combination of a local cult and Heracles-Melqart iconography in Anatolia. Therefore, the Heracles head at Çatal Höyük was produced in a local workshop in the late sixth century BC. Although faithful to Cypriot typology, it appears more as an Anatolian artefact in terms of meaning.

Dini Metin ve Geleneklerde Mitra Kültü ve Mitraizm Üzerine Bir İnceleme

The cult of Mitra, which is related to the cult of the Sun, was active in Anatolia, India and Iran. The name and cult of Mitra has been widely used in Indian and Iranian religious texts and rituals. It still continues in the Zoroastrian tradition. The religious tradition of Mithraism, which bears the same name, emerged in the Roman period in the 1st century BC in the form of the religion of mystery, and continued its existence in Anatolia and Roman lands until the 5th century. Mithraism, which was adopted by Roman soldiers and merchants, spread to Europe and North Africa under the rule of Rome, and took various forms by mixing with local cults. Mithraism, which was banned and subjected to oppression when Christianity became the official religion of Rome, declined and its temples were destroyed. Mithraism survived among the Gnostics and disappeared into history. Keywords: Mithra, Mithraism, Rigveda, Avesta, Greek-Roman Mythology

Культ святых и генерирование этнической идентичности казахов в Северо-Казахстанской области

Introduction. The formation and maintenance of Kazakh identity in the northern regions of Kazakhstan was largely associated with the specificity of historical, cultural, linguistic resources, and the religious factor played an important role therein. The shaping of ‘Kazakhness’ in the pre-Soviet period was based not only on the self-image as free nomads and language community but also on belonging to the world of Islam. Such local resources of the Kazakh ethnic identity comprise the cult of holy warriors and seers — batyr, auwliye and zhyrau, i.e. true historical heroes from the period of fierce struggle for the region throughout the seventeenth–eighteenth centuries. Goals. The study attempts an insight into the specifics of the saints’ cult among Kazakhs of Northern Kazakhstan. Real supporters of Khan Abylai and active participants of steppe wars — batyrs Kozhabergen, Kulsary and Kuleke — were included in the pantheon of saints across the designated region. Materials and methods. The work examines a wide range of sources, both published archival documents and pre-revolutionary statistical collections, as well as ethnographic material collected by the authors in the form of family trees (shezhire) and ethno-genealogical legends about the deeds of cultural heroes. The documents introduced into scientific turnover have made it possible to verify the relevance of data articulated by oral shezhire narratives and legends, which together constitute a valuable layer of sources yielding insights into the mentality and spiritual world of nomads. Results. The ethnic history of the northern Kazakh clans and tribes and the emergence of the local cult of holy warriors show a close connection between lifestyle and religious factor for the reproduction of ethnic identity. Under the conditions of constant hostilities and distrust toward alien neighbors across northern steppes, those were Genghisids — famous warlords/batyrs and charismatic leaders of mighty tribes — that became objects of veneration, rather than Muslim righteous men or descendants of the Kozha clan. The informal alliance of Genghisids and batyrhood did facilitate the preservation of “Kazakhness’ during the period of heavy defeats and severe trials in the sixteenth–eighteenth centuries. The lives of heroes served as examples to all Kazakhs regardless of tribal affiliation and as models of ideal behavior. Later, descendants would endow their ancestors with the traits of Muslim saints and pass on narratives claiming their gifts of soothsaying and healing from generation to generation. Being a local Muslim variant of saints’ worship practices which incorporated elements of pre-Islamic beliefs, the cult of the northern batyr-auwliye performed an important integrative function and contributed to the deep ethnicization of clan/tribal roots among local Kazakhs.

Anthropological Aspects of Local Cults: Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Studying Religious Sites of Memory

The article deals with theoretical approaches to the analysis of anthropological aspects of religious places of memory associated with the veneration of Christian saints. This form of religious practice is often a kind of refraction of a dogmatically formalized official religious system, passed through the prism of traditional beliefs, sometimes of archaic origin, in which the objects of worship are both officially fixed material objects (icons, sometimes sculptural images of saints or Mother-of-God, worship crosses), and unofficial locally revered shrines, including springs, stones, trees, and even landscapes. The author analyzes essentialist and non-essentialist theories used to interpret local cults of saints associated with the veneration of natural objects: the theory of dual faith (dvoeverie) and “Orthodox animism”, folk religion, lived religion, vernacular religion, material religion. The most successful methodological approach to explain the historical and cultural survival of religious places of memory, according to the author, is the actor-network theory of B. Latour. Being a non-essentialist approach, the actor-network theory does not distinguish between different types of actors: people, natural objects, and supernatural actors. Natural objects create a network between pilgrims and supernatural actors, which manifests itself in direct worship practices, an important element of which are appropriate votive offerings. Natural actors carry out the function of mediation between the worlds, connecting a person with a supernatural actor who is constantly invisibly present in a sacred place, and thus a network is built that has an important psychological significance for believers, thereby determining the social significance of religious places of memory.

From Local to the State: Acknowledging the Cult of Qiansui Baozhang in the Chan Historiography

The cult of Qiansui Baozhang, a legendary Indian monk, gained prominence during the Song dynasty. He has been revered as the founding patriarch of Hangzhou’s Zhong Tianzhu monastery ever since. Although accounts of Baozhang’s travels in China date back to the third century, records about him primarily emerged during the Song dynasty. The earliest known account of Baozhang can be found in the Jiatai kuaiji zhi, where he is described as a Daoist alchemist. Subsequently, his hagiography was compiled in the Chan historiography Jiatai pu denglu. Selected as the first figure in the “Yinghua shengxian” section, Baozhang is portrayed as a divine monk who traveled to many locations which are significantly important to Chan Buddhism. My research suggests that Baozhang’s cult initially gained popularity in the Pujiang, Zhuji, and Kuaiji regions. During the mid-Southern Song dynasty, the abbot of the Zhong Tianzhu monastery played a pivotal role in spreading Baozhang’s cult among high literati. With the dissemination of the Jiatai pu denglu, Baozhang’s account was included in multiple monastic gazetteers, and he himself was revered as the founding patriarch in several monasteries. Examining Baozhang’s various records from diverse sources, this paper aims to delineate his transformation from a local cult figure to a Chan ideal promoted in imperial-sanctioned Buddhist historiography. I argue that the recognition of Baozhang’s cult demonstrates the Chan school’s acknowledgment and response to prevalent folk Buddhist cults at the time. By incorporating Baozhang’s cult into their narratives, the Chan school actively engaged with and adapted to the religious landscape of the Song dynasty.

An Ithyphallic Idol from the Monastery of St. Naum near Ohrid

The article presents a stone idol located in the courtyard of the monastery of St. Naum near Ohrid, discovered within its boundaries or somewhere in its surroundings at an unknown date. The authors offer a description of the monument, assumptions about its former appearance, and an analysis of its iconographic elements, with an emphasis on ithyphallicity and the pose of the hands. Through analogies, the article assesses the chronological and cultural affiliation of the idol, with arguments in favor of its potential Pagan-Slavic character. The monument is also observed in context of the mythological and religious traditions of the region, with a focus on the local cult of St. Naum and the legend of how he yoked a bear. In that direction, presented in the article are also the surrounding toponyms that contain Pagan-Slavic theonyms, with a predominance of those of a chthonic nature. The attribution and character of the idol is then derived on the basis of comparing its iconography with the domains of St. Naum as the depicted character’s Christian successor: agriculture, livestock, water, crafts, trade, as well as healing, especially of childlessness and mental illness.

Cult Image or Decor? Options for the Interpretation of Deities on Provincial Coinage from Asia Minor in an Overview of Research History

The interpretation of figures of deities on the reverse of the coins of Asia Minor cities of the imperial period is usually done in several steps. The deity is generally quickly determined. It is difficult, however, to establish the superior intention behind the depiction. Does the figure refer to a real cult statue of the emitting city, is the image ‘only’ a reference to a local cult or was it chosen to symbolise, for instance, political connections of cities? The essay brings together opinions from 140 years of international numismatic scholarship and thus offers an overview of the changing patterns of interpretation as well as their range in general. In the end, a more conscious approach to the figures of the gods on coins and a more reflective methodological approach are recommended.

Ritual agency and moral panics: toward the anthropology of blasphemy and sacrilege

The introduction to the journal issue's special theme on “The Icon and the Axe: Discourses on Blasphemy and Sacrilege in the Russian Culture” deals with some theoretical aspects of anthropological research focusing on blasphemy, sacrilege, and desecration. The history of religious, secular, and post-secular cultures from the Middle Ages to the present day involve different types of discourses on blasphemy and sacrilege. Local cults of sacred sites, miraculous images and objects employ the concept of desecration to articulate the rules and norms of communication between humans and supernatural agents. Organized forms of sacrilege, like Reformation iconoclasm or Soviet anti-religious campaigns, aim at transformation of habitual ritual activities along with formation of new types of human and non-human agency. Present day “blasphemy panics” produce new identities and ideas of the moral order. The Russian history and culture of the recent centuries provides examples of coexistence and evolution of all these types.

СКОНСТРУИРОВАННЫЙ КУЛЬТ: ОРГАНИЗАЦИЯ ПОЧИТАНИЯ ЖАННЫ Д’АРК ВО ФРАНЦИИ XIX В.

The article deals with the history of forming the local cult of Joan of Arc in her native village of Domremy (Lorraine). In modern historiography under the “local cult” usually mean the veneration of Joan of Arc in Orleans, whose inhabitants since the second half of the 15th century perceived the girl not only as a savior of their city from the English siege of 1428–1429, but also as a saint. However, the other most important place of veneration of the Virgin, her native village of Domremy in Lorraine, for long remained without much attention of historians. Based on the material of written and visual sources, the author analyzes the features of the veneration of the heroine of the Hundred Years’ War in Modern times and identifies two main periods of the formation of a specific “place of memory” in Domremy – the era of the Restoration of the monarchy in the early 19th century and the years following the Franco-Prussian War. The author comes to the conclusion that the main distinction of the local cult was its secular orientation. Unlike Orleans, where already in the 15th century the veneration of Joan of Arc was purely religious in nature, the “construction” of the cult in Domremy initially became the work of the state, starting with King Louis XVIII and ending with the local municipality. The difference was especially pronounced during the so–called dispute between the two Frances – republican and monarchical.

На страже прошлого: жития местночтимых святых в контексте англо-валлийского противостояния конца XI — XII в.

In the second half of the 11th century, having completed the political conquest of England, William I undertook to establish control over the local church. To do this, he initiated a religious reform in his new possessions, which was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc (1070–1089) and his followers. This reform, directed against the “old” clergy, endangered the position of many religious centers associated with local cults. The reaction to it was the emergence of a wave of hagiographic literature, designed to legitimize both the cult itself and the status of the community representing the saint. The article is devoted to the analysis of the main features and assessment of the political role of hagiography of the late 11th — early 12th centuries, based on the case of the Lives of St. David and St. Beuno, which were directed against the reforms of both Lanfranc and his successors. From the beginning of the 12th to the beginning of the 13th century the appeal to the image of St. David and his Life were the main tools of the bishops of St. Davids in their struggle to gain the status of an archbishopric, which would remove the issue of the subordination of the Welsh clergy to Canterbury. Each stage of the confrontation was accompanied by the appearance of a new edition of the text. The Life of St. Beuno, which displayed signs of actualization at the beginning of the 12th century, expressed the fear of local religious communities to lose part of their income due to active hostilities in East of Wales. Despite all the efforts of the Welsh clergy, by the end of the 13th century the influence of the king of England and English church hierarchs on local dioceses was already unquestionable.

Сакрализация портрета императрицы Елизаветы Петровны в Оренбургской губернии в 1760-х гг.

An interesting example of the Russian phenomenon of monarch sacralization is reflected in the “lowest report” (1767) sent to the Most Holy Governing Synod by the retired secretary of the Bugulma voivodeship chancellery Ivan Nikiforovich Kurcheev (see appendix). In 1762 I. N. Kurcheev was an eyewitness to a miraculous phenomenon connected with the portrait of the Russian Empress Elizabeth Petrovna: “... And from the aforesaid image of the Most Radiant Monarchess there emanated an effulgence which attained the image of the Savior stationed in my house ...” Later I. N. Kurcheev began to revere this portrait as an icon: “... I began to put candles before this image ...” This was known to the local clergy and I. N. Kurcheev himself was convinced of the permissibility of such veneration of the Empress Elizabeth’s portrait, to whose intercession he ascribed the healing of his mother, children, and ward. I. N. Kurcheev formed a local cult of the deceased Empress, convinced of her holiness and of imperishability of her “relics” (when writing of Elizabeth’s death he used the word “dormition”). This conviction was based on the connection between the icon of the Savior and the portrait of Empress Elizabeth, miraculously shown to I. N. Kurcheev. The mentioned service of supplication (moleben) to Empress Elizabeth, which was done “under the name” of her saint patroness-namesake, as she was not canonized by the Church, correlates with the image of St. Elisabeth bearing likeness of Empress Elizabeth in the original Russian worship service to Sts. Zachariah the Prophet and Elisabeth the Righteous (the 5th of September) in the late 19th century. The later archival caption of I. N. Kurcheev’s report was supplemented by a laconic note that some “stucco image” of the Empress Elizabeth was attached to the document. Apparently, this refers to the said portrait, from which, according to I. N. Kurcheev, “emanated an effulgence” in 1762. There is no any additional information on this “stucco image.” One can assume that it was a painted bas-relief plaster portrait of the Empress Elizabeth, probably similar to mid-18th century reproductions of the lead portrait of the Empress Elizabeth by B. C. Rastrelli (1743), which are now stored in the museum collections. The published document is a peculiar and striking source on the Russian tradition of monarch’s portrait sacralization. This phenomenon of Russian folk piety developed in the 19th – 20th centuries.

Topography, Corporations and Everyday Life of Hertogenbosch in the 14th — 15th Centuries

Due to the local cult of the miraculous statue of Virgin Mary that emerged in the 14th century religious fraternities began to play a leading role in the daily life of citizens, attracting to the town famous architects, artisans, composers and artists (among them was Hieronymus Bosch). But besides religious communities, professional corporations were also important actors in the urban commune, uniting artisans of various specialties around one patron. The most significant guilds in Hertogenbosch were the communities of clothiers and blacksmiths, which formed the main articles of the town’s exports. Areas, in which those craftsmen settled, formed a specific topography of the inner-city space. The core of it was the market square with the houses of the richest members of commercial and administrative elite. Apart from the two main sites — the market and St. John’s cathedral, erected much later — in the urban landscape were present important monasteries and cloisters; belonging to fraternities of beguines and Brotherhood of Common Life. The economic, socio-political, religious and cultural activities of these numerous urban communities formed the environment in which the everyday activities of the inhabitants of Hertogenbosch took place during the 14—15th centuries.

The Mythological Tradition Concerning the Sanctuary of Apollo in Didyma

This article is devoted to myths about the sanctuary of Apollo in Didyma and their evolution. The author analyzes myths survived to modern times and di-
 vides them into three groups: myths about the origin of Didyma, myths about heroes and myths about local cult practices.
 It is important to note that most of the evidence that has survived we know from books of later antique authors. Although, probably, some of myths were created in the archaic era, but they acquired their final form already in the postclassical time. It is reflected both in the fact that myths interpret the unusual for Greeks name of the legendary progenitor of the sanctuary «Branchos» and that
 myths connect the sanctuary with the legendary heroes of the polis. The latter was
 necessary in order to justify the close ties between the sanctuary and Miletus during Hellenistic and Roman periods.
 The myth of the conception of Apollo in Didyma is also important for understanding ideas of the ancient Milesians. We know about it thanks to the epigraphic sources of the Hellenistic era, but its archaic roots are indirectly confirmed by archaeological finds. This myth justifies the status of Didyma as one of
 the most significant sanctuaries of Apollo. Myths about cult practices were prob-
 ably created late and do not reflect the actual ancient rites practiced in Didyma.
 In general, it can be said that although the mythological tradition has come down to us in a very fragmentary way, it allows us to put Didyma into the context of the most significant Hellenic oracles.

Sculptural Display of the Smintheion in Troas: visual rhetoric in the context of a Hellenistic sanctuary

The temple of Apollo Smintheus near the village of Gülpınar (north-western Turkey, Troas) is undoubtedly among the most important monuments of the Hellenistic Age. The latest publications on the temple and sanctuary complex allow a more accurate and precise assessment of this remarkable building. Apollo bearing the epithet “Smintheus” (“Lord of mice”) appears in the opening lines of the Iliad and the very place of action is localized in the vicinity of Chrysa - an ancient town found near modern Göztepe, not far from Smintheion. These “Homeric” associations are reflected in the sculptural decoration of the temple: its frieze depicts scenes from the Iliad and later epic poems. Such a representation of the Trojan cycle, as a continuous narrative with direct reference to Homer and post-Homeric texts, has no precedent in earlier temple sculptures. In addition to the continuous frieze in the entablature, the sculptural decoration of the temple included columnae caelatae of two types - ornamental and figurative ones. Being placed on the top of the columns they formed a single semantic and visual unit with the frieze. In the present article the reach sculptural display of the temple is carefully analyzed. The author demonstrates the way in which various visual languages - narrative, associative, and symbolic - were involved in the mechanisms of creating memory, maintaining the aristocratic ideology and specific aspects of the local cult.

Officina di IG XIV2 – Three New Votive Inscriptions from the Sanctuary of the Spring of Saturo (TA)

The paper provides the first edition of three vase inscriptions, brought to light in 1976 from the so called ‘Santuario della Sorgente’, in the Greek site of Saturo. The texts, dating from 6th to 5th c. BC, are all related to local cults: two of them are dedicated to the Basilìs, a local goddess attested by other dedications, while the third is devoted to the cult of an anonymous goddess. The latter inscription also presents the verb ἀποδίδωμι, in a formula rarely attested elsewhere at this age. The cults practice witnessed by these new documents shows some similarities between the site of Saturo and inland Messapian sanctuaries.