Abstract:

New Votive Stones from the Museum of Afyon This article presents 90 mostly new dedications in its catalogue section and two new gravestones in an addenda, all of which are now in the Archaeological Museum of Afyon. To these items are added 11 inscriptions which were previously recorded only in the inventory book and of which therefore no photos exist (s. footnote no. 3); these inscriptions are published here under various catalogue numbers. Half of the dedicatory stones feature inscriptions, some of which are preserved only in fragments. Eleven of the dedicatory inscriptions had been known previously (cf. nos. 6, 36, 37, 56, 58, 63, 64, 65, 69, 70, 88). The votives presented here are typical of Phrygia, consisting of small gable steles, round steles, tabulae ansatae, relief busts of Zeus, very small altars, small eagle statuettes and fragments of statuettes carved from either marble or limestone. The dedications were made to the gods frequently venerated in this region. The inscriptions mention the names of Zeus Thallos, Zeus Ampelites/Ampelikos, Zeus Alsenos, Zeus Petarenos, Zeus Abozenos, Zeus Orkamaneites?, Zeus Matiokometes, Zeus Amorianos, Zeus Kandionenôn, Zeus, Apollon, Theos Epekoos, Men Kseunagonenos, Men?, Meter, Meter Theon, Meter Theon Kasmeine, Meter Kasmeina, Meter Okene, Meter Keidnene, Artemis, Hosios, Helios and Hekate (Soteira). Despite their simple nature, the inscriptions provide valuable information about the onomastics of Phrygia, frequently mentioning Phrygian and Greek, but also some Latin personal names and also attesting some new ethnica. Although most dedications stem from the various villages of Afyon, votives from Kütahya (Altıntaş), Uşak (Ahlat) and from southern Eskişehir (Çifteler) are also published here. The dedications (and gravestones, s. Addenda) generally date to the 2nd or 3rd century AD of Roman imperial time.

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