• 1 For further discussion on pre-monetary means of payment at Greek sanctuaries, Lau, 1924, 43 sqq.

1Pausanias (3.12.3) tells us that one paid with oxen, slaves, and ingots of silver and gold before coins were used as currency.1 In pre-monetary society, the exchange of items was commonplace. Food, animals, goods, services, and ingots were used as a medium of exchange. Worshippers consecrated animals, goods, and ingots as a means of payment of fees for individual and collective cultic rituals performed in sanctuaries. The monetarization of the market has certainly accelerated the use of coins in cultic context. The monetarization of cultic services was especially useful for the temple economy and cultic officials. The temple and cultic officials had higher benefit from money than from goods or animals. Money can be accumulated and used for different purposes. Goods and animals do not offer these advantages. There is a process of interweaving between the polis and the cults. The polis determined the features of the cults, organized festivals, and fixed temple taxes and fees for different cultic services. The polis has also accelerated the monetarization of the cults.

• 2 The translations are mine, if not indicated otherwise.

3This paper explores a number of epigraphic2 and archaeological sources that illustrate the shaping of the cult of Demeter and Persephone by commercial transactions, the income from the Eleusinian Mysteries, aparche, and coins deposited at various sanctuaries of Demeter. The first part of the paper deals with ingots and coins in gold, silver, bronze, and copper unearthed at the sanctuaries of Demeter (Fig. 1). The second part deals with thesauroi and their use attested by archaeological and epigraphic sources for the sanctuaries of Demeter. The third part analyses epigraphic material on the income from the Eleusinian Mysteries and aparche paid by the members of the Delian League. As it would go beyond the scope of this paper, only a few inscriptions on the finances of the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis will be analysed.

• 3 De Angelis 2016, 251.
• 4 De Angelis 2016, 251.
• 5 Eloro (de Miro 2008, 66), Gela (Verger 2011, 26), and Agrigento (Fiorentini 1969, 72).

5Bronze ingots were found at various sanctuaries, such as in Eloro, Monte San Mauri di Caltagirone, Gela, Himera, Selinunt, and Agrigento.3 Most sanctuaries, where bronze ingots were found, were dedicated to deities linked to agricultural fertility and to chthonian elements.4 Bronze ingots were unearthed at the sanctuaries of Demeter in Eloro, Gela, Selinunt, and Agrigento.5 The deposition of metal objects and ingots is more commonplace for the sanctuaries of Demeter in Western Greece than for her sanctuaries in other regions. Single metal objects are attested for some sanctuaries of Demeter in mainland Greece, Western Asia Minor, and on the Greek islands. The number of metal votives is, therefore, significantly high at the Western Greek sanctuaries of Demeter.

• 7 Karatas 2015, appendix table 3.
• 8 Myrmekion (Butyagin, Chistov 2006, 77), Stageira (Sismanidis 1999, 472–474), old Samos (Archaeologi (...)
• 9 For further discussion on coins found at different places in the Greek world, see also Çizmeli-Ögün(...)
• 10 Picard 2016, 82.

6The monetarization of the markets has its beginning in the 6^th century BCE. However, it is in the 5^th and following centuries that coins played an important role in the economy and cultic life. The deposition of coins in sanctuaries has also its beginning in the 5^th century BCE. More than 118 sanctuaries of Demeter are attested by archaeological evidence,7 but coins were only unearthed at few sanctuaries of the goddess (Fig. 1; Table 1): Myrmekion, Stageira, Samos, Kaunos, Knossos, Via Fiume at Gela, Morgantina, Eloro, Entella, and the santuario ctonio at Agrigento.8 The coins are made of gold, silver, bronze, and copper. In some sanctuaries, the low value bronze coins were deliberately deposited together with clay votives, jewellery, pins, and other objects made of bronze and iron. Coins found at various sanctuaries and sites were also low value coins used in day-to-day low value transactions.9 The find circumstances of coins at some sanctuaries of Demeter suggest that the coins were dedicated as votives and were not intended to be used for the expenses of the sanctuary. As illustrated in Table 1, the deposition of coins as votives ends in the late 2^nd and in the early 1^st centuries BCE. The dedication of clay votives also ends at most sanctuaries of Demeter in the 2^nd century BCE, indicating that the end of the deposition of coins as votives is linked to the end of dedication of clay votives. Some coins were intentionally deposited in hoards at some sanctuaries. In antiquity, many sanctuaries functioned as banks, where money and precious ingots were deposited. Gold and silver coins were deposited as treasury for later recovery in sanctuaries. Sometimes, the coins were for some reasons not retrieved. Picard states that bronze coins were seldom deposited as treasury due to their low material value and to the demonetization of bronze coins after a period.10

• 11 Orlandini 1965, 1–3; Id. 1966, 8sqq, pl. 2, fig. 2.
• 12 Orlandini 1965, 2.
• 13 Hinz 1998, 58.
• 14 Orlandini 1965: 4–17.
• 15 Bronze ingots were found in deposits 2, 4–21, 22, 24–31 (Orlandini 1965, 4–16).
• 16 See also Seaford 2004, 139, fn. 87.

8The sanctuary of Demeter at Gela Bitalemi was established in the 7^th century BCE and abandoned in the late 5^th century BCE. The end of the cult at Bitalemi was not the end of the cult of Demeter at Gela, as the goddess was worshipped at her other sanctuaries in the same city. The strata of the site at Bitalemi is divided into 5 layers (Fig. 2).11 The stratum 5 is the oldest layer and votives found in this layer date to the second half of the 7^th and to the first half of the 6^th century BCE.12 70% of the votives, metal objects, and ingots were found in the stratum 5.13 Votive dedication at this site ceased in the 5^th century BCE. Orlandini unearthed 31 deposits in the stratum 5 containing each between 0.350 – 11.70 kg metal objects and ingots.14 The bronze ingots were not all collected and deposited together in the same pit but in 29 different deposits.15 The high number of deposits, where bronze ingots were deposited, and the long period of dedication indicate that bronze ingots were collected over a period and deposited together with other votives dedicated during the same period. Not only a high number of metal ingots were unearthed in the stratum 5, but also many bronze and iron objects, e.g. jewellery, agricultural tools, and knives. Metal objects such as agricultural tools were dedicated to Demeter, as she was a goddess of agricultural fertility. But these objects and other metal objects had a material value and were dedicated as valuable votives.16

• 17 Hinz 1998, 58; Orlandini 2008, 173sq; Verger 2011, 19; Tarditi 2016, 59.
• 18 Verger 2011, 25.
• 19 Verger 2011, 25.
• 20 Tarditi 2016, 50.
• 21 Tarditi 2016, 59, fig. 30.
• 22 Aes rude (aera rudia, plural): an irregular rough piece of bronze. Aes formatum (aera formata, plur (...)
• 23 Tarditi 2016, 59.
• 24 Orlandini 1965, 20; Verger 2011, 26; Tarditi 2016, 59.
• 25 Tarditi 2016, 60.
• 26 2–3 drachmas per kilo of bronze (Price 1968, 103). Based on IG II² 1675, Murray calculated a price (...)
• 27 Verger 2011, 25.
• 28 Verger 2011, 25.

9The ingots found at Gela Bitalemi include 709 single bronze ingots dating to the 6^th century BCE.17 According to Verger, approximately 610 bronze ingots (84 kg) were found at this site.18 The total weight of bronze found at Bitalemi is 102 kg.19 Tarditi states that the bronze ingots have a weight of 110 kg.20 709 single bronze ingots found at this site are composed by 704 bronze ingots and bars (Fig. 3).21 The bronze ingots and bars are called aes rude, aes formatum, and aes signatum.22 The bronze aera formata from Bitalemi has rounded or oblique sides.23 The letters Σ Η are engraved on one of the aera formata.24 The aes signatum from Bitalemi is considered to be one of the earliest examples dating to the second half of the 6^th century BCE.25 The aes signatum from Bitalemi weighs 670 gr and has an ornament on each side that depicts leaves (Fig. 3). If we calculate 2–3 drachmas per kilo, 100 kg bronze had a value of 200–300 drachmas.26 Approximately 84 kg of ingots consists of bronze ingots between 5 gr and 3,3 kg.27 72,5 % of the ingots are less than 100 gr.28 Depending on the weight, each ingot had at least a value of ca one obol. The single bronze ingots were probably consecrated as votives or as fees for cultic rituals by single worshippers.

• 29 Hinz 1998, 66sq.
• 30 Hinz 1998, 67; Orlandini 2008, 173. Coins are also attested for the sanctuary of Demeter in Carruba (...)

10Another sanctuary of Demeter at Gela is situated in Via Fiume. The shrine is located outside the city walls and has two oikoi. The archaeological material from this sanctuary dates to the 6^th–4^th centuries BCE.29 900 silver coins dating to 500 BCE were found deposited into a vase.30 Depending on the weight of each coin, 900 silver coins were worth several hundred drachmas. Coins dating to later periods were apparently not found at this site. The silver coins were presumably deposited as a treasury. As mentioned, precious metals and money were deposited as treasuries in some sanctuaries. Especially major sanctuaries were used for the deposition of treasuries. Such sanctuaries offered security for the stored treasuries, as they were generally located within the settlements and had guardians. The small sanctuary in Via Fiume is located outside the city walls and did not offer enough security for the deposition of a high quantity of coins. 5^th century BCE is marked by several territorial disputes between Gela and other cities. The silver coins were probably deposited during the political turbulence and it was aimed to recover it later. As the shrine existed for more than 100 years, it is not obvious why the silver coin hoard was not retrieved.

• 31 Fiorentini 1969, 63; Hinz 1998, 71, 74.
• 32 Hinz believes that the building was an open-air enclosure (1998, 72).
• 33 Fiorentini 1969, 70–72.
• 34 Hinz 1998, 71sq.
• 35 Hinz 1998, 73.
• 36 Fiorentini 1969, 72; Hinz 1998, 73. According to Fiorentini, the pithos contained 149.80 kg bronze (...)
• 37 Fiorentini 1969, 72; Hinz 1998, 73.

12One of the sanctuaries of Demeter in Agrigento is located at S. Anna. The cult of Demeter at S. Anna began in the 6^th century BCE and existed until the 3^rd century BCE.31 The sanctuary has a temple and an open-air enclosure (Fig. 4).32 Several pits containing clay votives, lamps, and metal objects dating to the 6^th and 5^th centuries BCE were unearthed in the open-air enclosure,33 which was apparently used for the deposition of votives. This is a practice attested for several sanctuaries of Demeter located in Doric cities, e.g. Rhodes town, Cnidus, and Halicarnassus. A pithos – 48 cm in height and 59 cm of diameter – from local production and dating to the 6^th century BCE was unearthed in one of the pits located in the open-air enclosure (Fig. 5).34 Two third of the pithos was placed into the pit.35 It recalls the thesaurus found at the central sanctuary of Demeter in Morgantina. The pithos was used as a kind of collection vessel for the consecration of bronze ingots from the beginning of the cult of Demeter at this site. The pithos contains 150 kg bronze ingots and several coins.36 A cup, two iron knives, and a key were placed on the pithos.37 The size and the shape of the bronze ingots suggest that they were used as aera rudia (Fig. 5). If the price for 1 kg of bronze was ca. 2–3 drachmas (see Table 2), 150 kg had a value of ca. 300–425 drachmas. The bronze ingots were probably dedicated by single worshippers and collected in this pithos. We can assume that a higher number of ingots were dedicated at this site in the 6^th and 5^th centuries BCE. A significant part of ingots consecrated at this site was probably melted down or sold. The ingots found in the pithos were presumably deposited by cultic officials in the 5^th century BCE when the offering of ingots and as a means of payment for services came to an end. The deposition of a cup, two knives, and a key on the pithos also indicates that the ingots were deposited solemnly as votives by cultic officials. From the 5^th century BCE onwards, the payment in ingots was replaced by coins at the sanctuary in S. Anna that continued to exist for ca. 200 years. Coins consecrated between the 5^th to 3^rd centuries BCE were not deposited in the precinct.

• 38 For this enclosure, see also Hinz 1998, 81–82.

13The sanctuary of the chthonian deities at Agrigento is situated on the acropolis called the Valle dei Templi, where numerous monumental sanctuaries are located. The sanctuary of the chthonian deities, which has its beginning in the 6^th century BCE, has three temples, two open-air enclosures, circular altars with recesses, and rectangular altars (Fig. 6). The open-air enclosure A has a structure like a temple and has three rooms.38 The initial height of the walls of the open-air enclosure A is not known, as only two rows of the walls are preserved (Fig. 7). The significant size of the stone blocks used for the walls of the open-air enclosure A suggests that the walls were presumably high. It cannot be determined whether the entrance of the open-air enclosure A was in the south-east or in the north-west, as the thresholds giving access to the rooms are not preserved.

• 39 Hinz 1998, 82.
• 40 Bulba 2010, 654.
• 41 de Miro 2008, 60.
• 42 Hinz 1998, 84–88.

14A small rectangular stone altar (altar A) with a recess is situated in the western room of the open-air enclosure A (Fig. 8). A circular stone altar with a large recess is also situated in the same room (altar B). The recesses of both altars were used for libation. A few coins dating to the 4^th century BCE were found together with bronze objects and burnt piglet bones in the cavity of the altar A.39 The small size of the cavity indicates that it was the intention of the dedicator to put selected offerings into it (Fig. 8). Coins were also deposited together with piglet bones at the sanctuary of Demeter in Kaunos.40 If a large number of votives were deposited into the earth, single coins can be deposited accidentally. This may be the case with a few coins found at the sanctuary of Demeter at Eloro.41 Especially low-value small coins made of bronze or copper were deposited accidentally or intentionally with votives. Carthaginians destroyed Agrigento in 406 BCE. In the following centuries, Agrigento and its sanctuaries lost their significance. The coins, bones, and bronze objects were probably deposited into the recess of the altar A as offering or as part of a ritual performed by cultic officials or worshippers before the open-air enclosure A was abandoned in the 4^th or 3^rd century BCE.42

• 43 For the sanctuaries of Demeter in Sicily, see Hinz 1998.
• 44 Grandjean 2016, 59.

15Four sanctuaries of Demeter are located on the acropolis of Morgantina that was used for sacral and public buildings from the 6^th century BCE onwards. In 459 BCE, Morgantina came under the rule of Syracuse. It is in the 5^th century BCE that the sanctuaries of Demeter were built at Morgantina. Coins dating to the 5^th–3^rd centuries BCE are attested for the central, south, north, and north annex sanctuaries of Demeter in Morgantina. Even if Morgantina began to mint its own coins in the 5^th century BCE, coins found at the sanctuaries of Demeter in Morgantina are from different Sicilian cities, especially from Syracuse. Epigraphic and literary sources are silent concerning the significance of the cult of Demeter at Morgantina for other Sicilian cities. Sanctuaries of Demeter are attested by archaeological evidence for 25 Sicilian cities.43 Like nowadays, people did not only visit the sanctuaries in their cities, but also those in other cities. It can, therefore, not be excluded that worshippers from Morgantina dedicated all or almost all coins from other Sicilian cities. Grandjean states that one is tended to think that foreign coins, which were not made of valuable metal and had less value, were discarded.44 Like at Argos, where Grandjean excavated, many coins found at various sanctuaries were bronze coins from other cities. The coins from other cities had a material value but were not always accepted as legal tender. The coins from Morgantina consecrated at the sanctuaries of Demeter were used for the running cost, whereas one part or all bronze coins from other cities were deposited as votives. Bronze coins from other cities, which were not used as legal tender, were melted down and manufactured. Depending on the weight, it provided a small income for the sanctuary.

• 45 Sjöqvist 1960, 78; Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 164, no. 29.
• 46 Sjöqvist 1960, 78, pl. 19.
• 47 Sjöqvist 1960, 78.
• 48 From the Hellenistic period onwards, the name Kore was associated with positive aspects, whereas Pe (...)

16Nine silver coins (3^rd century BCE) deposited in a jar were found in a room of the south sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Morgantina.45 Sjöqvist considers this type of jars as medicine bottles, as such bottles from Morgantina bear the inscription ΛΥΚΙΟΝ (lykion) and depict the head of Asclepius.46 Lykion is a plant used in medicine (Diosk. Mat.Med. 1.132). Sjöqvist has suggested that a worshipper dedicated the bottle with silver coins as an expression of his gratitude towards the goddess,47 suggesting that Demeter or Kore48 was worshipped as a healing deity at Morgantina. The bottle may also have been dedicated to Asclepius. Healing cults flourished during the Classical and later periods and ensured a high income for sanctuaries offering incubation and therapies. Healing aspect of the cult of Demeter, Kore, and Plouton was also emphasized during these periods. I.Didyma 496 (2^nd or 3^rd century CE) provides evidence for incubation performed at the sanctuary of Demeter in Miletus. Incubation is also attested for the sanctuary of Plouton and Kore at Acharaca located in Nysa (Strab. 14.1.44). Money was paid as fees for incubation and various therapies offered at sanctuaries. The silver coins were paid for services offered at this shrine or dedicated as thanksgiving. The silver coins paid as fees for various services may have been collected by cultic officials in this bottle. The silver and gold coins from the sanctuaries of Demeter at Gela (Via Fiume) and Myrmekion were also put into a vase. Due to the high number of silver and gold coins found in vases at Gela and Myrmekion, the two coin hoards had a high material value, whereas 9 silver coins were only worth several drachmas. The 9 silver coins were deposited as votives, but not as treasury.

• 49 Sjöqvist 1960, 78sq.
• 50 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 165sq, no. 30.
• 51 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 165sq, no. 30.

1719 Greek coins (3^rd century BCE) from Sicilian cities (Syracuse and Agrigento), 9 Roman coins (3^rd–2^nd centuries BCE), and several clay busts of Persephone were found in the same room, where the medicine bottle was deposited.49 Apart from the coins in the medicine bottle, 56 coins were also found in the south sanctuary.50 The coins date to the 4^th–3^rd centuries BCE and are from Agrigento, Alaesa, Mamertine, Syracuse, Rome, and Carthage.51 These coins were also consecrated as payment for cultic services and deposited by cultic officials or by worshippers.

• 52 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 159sq, no. 19.
• 53 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 158sq, nos. 15–18.
• 54 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 158sq, nos. 15–18.

18A single coin is attested for the north sanctuary,52 and 18 coins for the north sanctuary annex of Demeter at Morgantina, which were found in three different rooms.53 These coins also date to the 4^th–3^rd centuries BCE and are from Agrigento, Syracuse, Tauromenium, Leontini, Alaesa, and Panormus.54 The significantly small number of coins found at these shrines suggests that they were left accidentally in the temene.

• 55 Sismanidis 1999, 473–474.
• 56 Most of the coins found at the sanctuary of Demeter at old Samos town are Samian coins and a single (...)
• 57 Knossos (Coldstream 1973, 157, no 219) and Cyrene (White 1984, 51).
• 58 Sismanidis 1999, 473.
• 59 Sismanidis 2003, 81.
• 60 BCH 119, 1995, 967.
• 61 Sismanidis 1999, 473sq.
• 62 Gatzolis, Psoma 2016, 92.
• 63 Gatzolis, Psoma 2016, 94.
• 64 Gatzoulis 2011, 192sqq.
• 65 Sismanidis 1999, 472sq.

19The sanctuary of Demeter at Stagira was established in the 6^th century BCE. The shrine has two simple oikoi and a circular building (11 m diameter) dating to the Archaic period (Fig. 9). Altogether 79 coins dating to the Classical period were found in the western part of the sanctuary of Demeter at Stageira deposited into a pit together with bronze arrowheads and bullets.55 A few bronze coins dating to 394–250 BCE and arrowheads are also attested for the sanctuary of Demeter at old Samos.56 Arrowheads are linked to the army, but they also had a material value. Arrowheads, which are also attested for the sanctuaries of Demeter at Knossos and Cyrene,57 may have been dedicated by any worshippers as votives. Apart from three coins in silver, the other coins found at Stagira are in copper.58 Coins were also found in the circular building. Sismanidis has suggested that the circular building was a Thesmophorion, as it has similarities with the sanctuary of Demeter at Pella.59 The sanctuary of Demeter at Pella is a circular open-air shrine surrounded by a wall. Several sacrificial pits are situated in this circular structure at Pella. The walls of the sanctuary of Demeter at Pella and that of the circular building at Stagira are low. The circular building at Stagira was presumably an open-air enclosure that offered space for a few people. Such a small building does not offer enough space for the celebration of the Thesmophoria. Clay figurines, vessels, lamps, metal object, and coins were deposited into three pits cut into the rocky ground of the circular building at Stagira.60 One of the pits of the circular building contains 30 coins, bronze arrowheads, and bullets, which were deposited as votives. The coins date to the late Classical and to the early Hellenistic periods. The bronze and copper coins found at this site did not have a high material and monetary value. The coins bear the names of Philip (7 coins), Alexander the Great (11 coins), Antigonus Gonatas (3 coins); seven coins are from Amphipolis and two from Chalcidice.61 Not only most of the coins found at this site bear the names of Philip and Alexander the Great but also 33 % of the excavated coins from Stageira.62 Stageira minted its own coins from the 6^th century to 480 BCE.63 From the second half of the 4^th century BCE onwards, coins issued in Macedonian kingdom were in use as legal tender in Chalcidice.64 This explains why most coins found at this site bear the names of the Macedonian rulers. The inscriptions ΦΙΛΙΠΠΟΥ (Philippou) and ΚΛΕΟΒΟΥΛΟΥ (Kleoboulou) engraved on bullets indicate that these bullets were in use during the reign of Philip of Macedonia or during the destruction of Stageira in 348 BCE.65 Philip II reigned between 359–336 BCE, Alexander the Great between 336–323 BCE, and Antigonus Gonatas between 277–239 BCE, suggesting that the coins were consecrated over a period of ca. 100 years. Most of the coins found in the circular building were dedicated after the destruction of Stageira.

• 66 Bulba 2010, 649. For the sanctuary of Demeter at Kaunos, see also Işık (2000, 229–240; Id. 2010, 88 (...)
• 67 Bulba 2010, 650–655.
• 68 See the following footnote.
• 69 See also Bulba 2010, 654.
• 70 Bulba 2010, 654.
• 71 Bulba 2010, 654.
• 72 I would like to thank Zeynep Çizmeli-Öğün, who kindly informed me about the coins found at the sanc (...)
• 73 Çizmeli-Öğün, Marcellesi 2011, 321.
• 74 The Carian city Kasolaba has not yet been located; however, the city is also known from the Athenia (...)
• 75 Çizmeli-Öğün, Marcellesi 2011, 298.

20The open-air sanctuary of Demeter at Kaunos was founded in the 6^th century BCE (Fig. 10).66 Votives deposited into the cavities of the rocky outcrops date from the 6^th to 1^st centuries BCE.67 Excavations carried out at this shrine in 2009 and 2010 brought to light 29168 silver and a few bronze coins.69 The coins were deposited together with clay figurines, lamps, and piglet bones.70 110 silver coins were found deposited together with piglet bones into a cavity.71 The coins are from different cities: 18 coins are from Kaunos, 204 from Kasolaba (Caria), 37 from Hydai (Caria), 8 from Rhodes, 6 from Euromus (Caria), and 5 from Magnesia on the Maeander (Ionia).72 Coins found in different sites at Kaunos are made from bronze.73 As far as I am aware, another silver coin hoard is not attested for other sites in Kaunos. The silver coins from Kaunos, Kasolaba,74 Euromus, and Hydai date to the 5^th and 4^th centuries BCE. Çizmeli-Öğün and Marcellesi point out that the bronze coins were in use from the 4^th century BCE onwards.75 It explains partially why a high number of silver coins was consecrated at this shrine.

• 76 Bresson 2016, 269.

21As most coins are from other cities, the question arises whether the cult of Demeter at Kaunos was also worshipped by people from other Carian cities. Coins from different cities circulated in other cities, since cities had political and economic relations with each other. Coins from some cities were also used as currency or changed in an office of the polis. Inscriptions from Kaunos and other cities do not mention the cult of Demeter at Kaunos, which had presumably local significance and the coins were dedicated by local people. Bresson states that “the system of coinage precious metals is to be sought in the universal character of coins as a means of payment”.76 Silver coins from other cities were probably accepted as means of payment made by weight between merchants, but not as legal tender in everyday life, as Kaunos had its own currency. Silver coins from other cities had a certain material value and were dedicated by local worshippers as valuable objects at the sanctuary of Demeter in Kaunos. As Demeter was mainly worshipped by women, it seems unlikely that merchants dedicated the silver coins. Therefore, the numerous clay male figurines found at the sanctuary of Demeter in Kaunos may indicate that the cult of Demeter was not restricted to women.

• 77 Butyagin, Chistov 2006, 77–131; Butyagin, Treister 2006, 133–146; Stancomb 2006, 373–374; Ohlerich (...)
• 78 Ohlerich 2009, 118.

23Myrmekion founded in the mid-6^th century BCE was established by Panticapaeum, a city founded in the late 7^th or in the early 6^th century BCE by Greek colonists from Miletus. The excavations carried out in 2003 at the sanctuary of Demeter in Myrmekion by the Hermitage Museum (St. Petersburg) under the direction of Chistov brought to light a bronze olpe (21.5 cm in height) filled with 99 electrum staters from Cyzicus.77 A similar coin hoard is attested for the sanctuary of Artemis at Epidaurus, where 92 gold coins dating to the 3^rd century BCE were found in a clay aryter. Other coins were not found in the sanctuary of Demeter at Myrmekion. Coins are also attested for the sanctuary of Demeter in Nymphaion. The coins were found together with clay votives deposited into a pit in a building dating to the 5^th century BCE.78

• 79 Butyagin, Chistov 2006, 77, 80.
• 80 Escherai were used for burning sacrifices. Sacrificed animals or food, such as cereals or cakes, we (...)
• 81 Butyagin, Chistov 2006, 77, 133.

24The coin hoard found at Myrmekion was embodied into the wall 360 that was built in 370 BCE as part of a new building with an eschara that was probably used as a temple of Demeter (Fig. 11–12).79 This building was built on an ash-hill. Ashes, animal bones, and fragments of pottery found at this ash-hill indicate that it was used for burnt offering referred to as ‘holokautoma’ (ὁλοκαύτωµα). Burnt offerings are well attested by archaeological evidence for various sanctuaries of Demeter.80 The eschara underlines the cultic significance and continuity of burning sacrifices at the sanctuary of Demeter in Myrmekion. The coins date to 500–400 BCE and the bronze olpe to the first half of the 5^th century BCE.81 As the bronze olpe with the coins was embodied into the wall of the new building, the coins and the olpe were initially dedicated to the same deity who was worshipped at the same place, where the new building was built. The olpe was dedicated more than 80 years before the construction of the wall 360. All coins were probably collected in the olpe or deposited into the olpe before the wall was built. The olpe with the coins may have served as a foundation votive for the new temple of Demeter or deposited as a treasury.

• 82 Figueira 1998, 524sqq.
• 83 Related lammata: IosPE I² 24; IGDOlbia 14.

25A singularity is that only electrums staters were deposited. An electrum stater was equivalent to 28 drachmas and to 7 Athenian tetradrachmas.82 An inscription from Olbia dating to the 4^th century BCE and found at the hieron Kalchedonion orders the purchase of Olbian coins at the ecclesia without fees (SEG 26:848, lines 9–22). 83 A stater from Cyzicus was sold for 11,5 Olbian silver staters (SEG 26:848, lines 23–24). As illustrated in Table 2, an electrum stater from the sanctuary of Demeter in Myrmekion had probably a value of ca. 33 drachmas, and 99 electrum staters were worth 3,267 drachmas. Low value coins were also consecrated or paid as fees at this site, as not all worshippers were able to consecrate electrum staters. Apparently, only staters were deliberately collected over 100 years. The sanctuaries had reserves of precious objects and metals, which were used to finance the expenses of the cult. One part of the reserves was not used as circulating capital. The staters embodied into the wall of the oikos were presumably the reserves of the sanctuary. The deposition of the treasury into the wall offered security and gave the possibility to retrieve it any time. The sanctuary at this site existed at least for 100 years. Whatever the reason, the treasury was not retrieved later by cultic officials. During the long period, the sanctuary had different cultic officials. It may be that the treasury was not communicated to the next generation of cultic officials who served at this site.

• 84 Jackson published 164 coins (1973, 108).
• 85 Jackson 1973, 111–113.
• 86 Jackson 1973, 188.
• 87 Coldstream 1973, 130–171.

26196 bronze coins were unearthed in six votive deposit pits (deposits D, E, F, G, H, and J) at the sanctuary of Demeter in Knossos.84 Most of the coins are from Knossos and were minted between 320 and 220 BCE. Single coins are from Gortyna, Itanos, Cydonia, Itanos, Argos, Athens, Cyrenaica, Paros, Rhodes, Antioch, and Nicomedia.85 The coins were deposited with statues, clay figurines, vessels, jewellery, and small finds made of silver, bronze, and iron.86 The votives date mainly to the Hellenistic period. Most of the 196 coins were minted and consecrated over a period of ca. 100 years. On average, maximum two coins were consecrated per year, which is not significantly high. The bronze coins are small (8–29 mm) and were not high in value, suggesting that worshippers from different social classes were able to afford to consecrate bronze coins as fees for cultic services or dedicated as votives. Most of the coins were found in the deposit pits H and J. More than 300 gold, silver, bronze jewellery, and small finds were also found in the deposit pit H.87 The content of the deposit pit H indicates that metal objects and coins were not deposited in all pits, but only in selected votive deposit pits. As the jewellery and metal small finds from this site have not yet been dated, it is not obvious to what extant coins have replaced metal objects or dedicated as votives alongside metal objects. Pausanias (7.22.3) mentions that the worshipper put a local coin, called a ‘copper’, and asked the deity a particular question he wished to put to him. Coins found at this site and at other sanctuaries were presumably consecrated as payment before a prayer addressed to the deity or at rituals. The coins were collected by cultic officials and used for the running of the shrine. Cultic officials deposited one part of the coins as votives alongside other metal and clay objects into the pits.

• 88 Frey-Kupper 2016, 285, table 1.
• 89 Frey-Kupper 2016, 285, table 1.
• 90 Frey-Kupper 2016, 285, table 1.
• 91 Frey-Kupper 2016, 290–292.
• 92 Frey-Kupper 2016, 290.
• 93 For Argos, see Grandjean 2016, 56sqq, and for Thasos, see Picard 2016, 65.

27In contrast to Knosssos, only 17 coins were unearthed in different layers of the sanctuary of Demeter in Contrada Petraro at Entella.88 The coins date from 420 to 20 BCE and are from different cities.89 Frey-Kupper states that it is difficult to reconstruct a link between the coins, layers, and the votive deposits.90 11 bronze coins weight between 1.18–7.67 g, and two bronze coins 28.23 g and 26.58 g.91 Three silver coins have a weight of 0.84 g, 2.90 g, and 7.67 g.92 The small number of coins indicates that they were accidentally deposited at this site, and for this reason, there is no link between the coins and the layers of the sanctuary. This may be especially the case with bronze coins, but not with the silver coins (for the value of silver, see Table 2). Most of the coins unearthed during the excavations carried out at Argos and Thasos were made of bronze and only a small part was made of silver.93 People were more careful with silver coins than with bronze coins. Silver and gold coins were more worth of care than bronze coins. This means that valuable coins were seldom lost or deposited accidentally with votives. The two silver coins deposited at Entella had a value of ca. 1–2 drachmas and may have been deposited intentionally, as their material value was not significantly high.

• 94 Pafford analysed in her unpublished PhD thesis submitted in 2006 at the University of California, B (...)

28Fees paid by worshippers were conveyed to cultic officials or dropped into stone box called thesaurus (θησαυρός sg., θησαυροί pl.).94 The term thesaurus is also used for buildings, which served as storerooms for valuable votives in sanctuaries. We may compare the thesauroi with boxes in churches nowadays, which are used for the donation of money on a voluntary basis. The thesauroi in antiquity were not only used for the donation of money on a voluntary basis, but also for fees. A thesaurus was unearthed at the central sanctuary of Demeter in Morgantina and three inscriptions dating to the 4^th and 1^st centuries BCE mention thesauroi situated in the sanctuaries of Demeter at Eleusis (IG II² 1672), Andania (IG V,1 1390), and Cos (HGK 17). Apart from the central sanctuary of Demeter at Morgantina, epigraphic and archaeological evidence for thesauroi is not attested for the sanctuaries of Demeter, where coin hoards were unearthed.

• 95 Thesaurus: Stillwell 1959, 168; Kaminski 1991, 104, 158; Sposito 2008, 226. Stone block: Sposito 20 (...)
• 96 Stillwell 1959, 169; Sjöqvist, 1964, 141–144; Hinz 1998, 132–134; Sposito 2008, 226, fig. 14–15.
• 97 Hinz 1998, 132.
• 98 Hinz 1998, 132.

29Numerous coins were deposited in two places at the central sanctuary of Demeter in Morgantina: in a rectangular thesaurus95 unearthed in situ in the north court and in a stone block in situ in the south court (Fig. 13). The central sanctuary of Demeter in Morgantina is located at the agora. The shrine was founded in the 5^th century BCE, and coins were dedicated from the 5^th century BCE onwards.96 Hinz has suggested that the shrine was initially an open-air sanctuary that consisted of the altars A2 and A3.97 In the late 4^th or in the early 3^rd century BCE, the sanctuary received an architectural elaboration.98

• 99 Sposito 2008, 231, fig. 26.
• 100 Hinz 1998, 132.
• 101 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 156–157, 186, nos. 4, 8, 53.
• 102 Sposito 2008, 226.
• 103 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 186, nos. 51, 54.

30Sposito uses the term bothros for the stone block situated in the south court, where coins were deposited.99 A bothros is a pit dug into the earth and used for sacrifices performed in sanctuaries. The bothros mentioned by Sposito is a bowl-shaped depression cut into a stone block (Fig. 14). I will use the term ‘stone block’ instead of bothros. The stone block is situated on the threshold of the oikos 3 and has the same width as the wall of the oikos 3. The stone block was probably part of the oikos 3 that was built in the late 4^th or in the early 3^rd century BCE.100 24 coins found in this stone block date to the 5^th and 4^th centuries BCE.101 The coins were found together with clay votives dating to the 5^th–3^rd centuries BCE.102 Single coins were also found in different parts of the south court.103 The coins consecrated in the 5^th century BCE were probably not collected in the stone block, as it dates presumably to the same period as the oikos 3.

• 104 Hinz 1998, 133.

31The south court has several altars and an entrance in the south-west. The numerous altars in the south court provide evidence for libation, offerings, and rituals performed at this site. As fees were asks for various offerings and rituals, the coins were deposited into the stone block or collected by cultic officials. At its current state, a circular stone is placed on the stone block (Fig. 14). Coins deposited as fees for rituals into the stone block were retrieved by cultic officials on a daily basis, as the stone block cannot be closed by a locker. Hinz has suggested that the stone block was used for libation.104 The recess of the altar at the sanctuary of chthonian deities in Agrigento was also used for libation, and coins with votives were deposited into it at the end of the cult at this site. The stone block at the central sanctuary of Demeter in Morgantina may have been used in the same way. In the 3^rd century BCE, coins from two centuries, which were not used as income for the running cost of the shrine, were deposited into the stone block when the thesaurus in the north court came into use. The same practice was also applied to the coins consecrated in the 3^rd and 2^nd centuries BCE, which were deposited into the thesaurus (Fig. 15).

• 105 Kaminski 1991, 158.

32The thesaurus in the north court is situated in an open-air enclosure next to the altar A6 and in proximity to the entrance. It is interesting to note that the stone block and the thesaurus are situated not far from the entrances. Such a location is not unusual for thesauroi found at various sanctuaries. Kaminski has suggested that a wall was built in the 2^nd century BCE that surrounded the thesarurus and formed an open-air enclosure.105 There is no clear evidence that the open-air enclosure was built in the 2^nd century BCE, and not in the 3^rd century BCE. The thesaurus dates presumably to the 3^rd century BCE. The open-air enclosure has the same orientation as the thesaurus and aimed to create a separate space for the thesaurus. The open-air enclosure has an entrance in the east and offers a space for up to 2–3 people. At its current state, the wall of the open-air enclosure is low (Fig. 15). The wall was probably high and secured the privacy. The open-air enclosure offered a space that ritualised the consecration of coins into the thesaurus.

• 106 Stillwell 1959, 168; Kaminski 1991, 158.
• 107 Stillwell 1959, 168.

33The thesaurus has two stone blocks. Each block measures 60 x 40 cm and is 60 cm high.106 The upper stone block has a hole (10 cm) in the middle (Fig. 15). A rectangular bowl (20 x 20 cm) is cut into the lower stone block.107 Coins dropped into the hole of the upper block were collected in the bowl of the lower block (Fig. 16). The lower block was placed into a pit that had the same depth as the lower block. The upper block was pushed to one side in order to open the thesaurus. To protect the money deposited into the thesauroi, the stone boxes had sophisticated lockers. The thesaurus and the stone block situated at the central sanctuary of Demeter in Morgantina can be opened easily by everyone, as they do not have lockers. The money deposited into the thesaurus was presumably retrieved on a regular basis or guardians protected the sacral and public buildings at the agora.

• 108 Stillwell 1959, 168; Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 172–173, no 43; Kaminski 1991, 104, 158.
• 109 According to Buttrey, Erim, Groves, and Holloway, the coins from Catana date to the 2nd century BCE (...)
• 110 Stillwell 1959, 168.
• 111 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 174.
• 112 Buttrey, Erim, Groves, Holloway 1989, 174.
• 113 Stillwell 1959, 168.

34154 bronze coins found in the thesaurus date to the 3^rd–2^nd centuries BCE.108 Single coins were also found on the altar A6. The single coins found at the south and north courts were dropped accidentally. The coin hoard deposited into the thesaurus includes 3^rd century BCE coins from Syracuse, Aetna, Mamertines, Agrigento, and 2^nd century coins from Catana109 and Roman asses.110 According to Buttrey, Erim, Groves, and Holloway, the coins were not collected over a period in the thesaurus, but “scattered down all through the earth filling and formed no chronological pattern”.111 The soil at this shrine is hard and does not have earth fillings. Buttrey, Erim, Groves, and Holloway assume that the coins might have been deposited into the thesaurus during the period of wars in 139–131 BCE or in 104–101 BCE, and were not retrieved after the end of wars.112 If coins deposited into the earth filling were collected and deposited into the thesaurus during the First or Second Servile Wars (135–132 and 104–101 BCE), a distinction between the coins was not made in a period of danger. It is easier for thieves or invaders to find the coins in the thesaurus and in the stone block than in earth fillings. The coins from the stone block date to the 5^th–4^th centuries BCE, whereas those from the thesaurus date to the 3^rd–2^nd centuries BCE. Another point is that the bronze coins found at this site did not have a high material and monetary value. The material value of all bronze coins found at this site had probably a value of less than 3 drachmas. As coins were demonetized after a period, the bronze coins consecrated in the 5^th–3^rd centuries BCE were not used as legal tender in the 2^nd century BCE. A small part of coins consecrated by worshippers from the 5^th to 2^nd centuries BCE were deposited as votives by cultic officials. Low value coins were also selected for this purpose at many other sanctuaries. Coins were not deposited as votives after the 2^nd century BCE. The end of the custom of depositing coins was not the end of payment of coins as fees at rituals performed in the sanctuary of Demeter at Morgantina. Stillwell states that the altar and the open-air enclosure with the thesaurus were filled with earth, lamps, bowls, and coins.113 The open-air enclosure was probably filled with earth when the sanctuary was abandoned in the 1^st century BCE.

• 114 Related lemmata: LSCG 175 and IG XII,4 1:356.
• 115 The archaeological and epigraphic sources on Demeter from Cos provide evidence for the cult of Deme (...)
• 116 SEG 50:766 (2^nd century BCE) concerns the cult of Aphrodite Pontia on Cos and mentions that the pro (...)

35The inscription HGK 17 (4^th century BCE) regulated the sale of the priesthood (διαγραφαί) of Demeter at Cos. From HGK 17 (line 13),114 we learn that the thesauroi were used for the collection of fees paid for cultic services at the sanctuary of Demeter in Cos.115 The inscriptions, which concern the thesauroi of various cults on Cos, were dedicated ca. 200 years after HGK 17. The inscriptions on thesauroi mentioned in this paper date from the 4^th to 1^st centuries BCE, indicating that the thesauroi were in use at some sanctuaries on Cos from the 4^th century BCE onwards. The thesauroi at the sanctuary of Demeter in Cos were probably still in use in the 2^nd and 1^st centuries BCE. The excavations carried out at the sanctuary of Demeter in Cos did not unearth thesauroi and coins. HGK 17 mentions thesaurus in plural. The amount of money dropped into the thesauroi was apparently significantly high, as several stone boxes were needed. Several inscriptions from Cos dedicated to various deities order the opening of the thesauroi once or twice a year.116 The thesauroi at the sanctuary of Demeter were presumably opened once or twice a year.

• 117 Related lemmata: IG XII 4,1, 336.
• 118 Related lemmata: LSCG 163; IG XII 4,1, 330.
• 119 Related lemmata: IG XII 4,1, 294.
• 120 Related lemmata: LSCG 164; IG XII 4,1, 342.
• 121 According to Pausanias 6.11.9, Theagenes was worshipped as a hero with healing powers.
• 122 LSS 72 is discussed in detail by Martin 1940, 175–183.
• 123 See also Sokolowski 1962, 133
• 124 Sokolowski 1954, 153sqq.
• 125 Martin 1940, 181–181.
• 126 Pafford 2013, 50.
• 127 An inscription on a thesaurus dedicated to Aphrodite Ourania orders one drachma as proteleia at mar (...)

36HGK 17 (lines 10–12) mentions that the worshippers must give a half obol for a young and one obol for an adult sacrificial animal as gera (γέρας) that was the honorific share of the priest. The priest was usually allowed to receive one part of the sacrificed animals as his priestly share. The priestess of Demeter at Cos received money or one part of the sacrificed animals. The money paid as gera was dropped into the thesauroi. The monetarization of the gera is attested by epigraphic sources for several cults on Cos: Asclepius: SEG 51:1066, lines 5–15 (1^st century BCE); Iscr. di Cos ED 58, lines 4–10 (2^nd century BCE); Iscr. di Cos ED 92,117 line 7 (3^rd century BCE). Nike: Iscr. di Cos ED 89, lines 18–24 (1^st century BCE). Aphrodite: SEG 50:766, lines 9–10 (2^nd century BCE). The cults of other deities on Cos mentioned in this paper asked three and six times more fees for sacrificial animals than the cult of Demeter. SEG 50:766 mentions that the soldiers of big warships should sacrifice an animal at a cost of 15 drachmas or give 15 drachmas to the priestess and drop one drachma into the thesaurus (lines 6–9). The worshippers who wanted to sacrifice should pay 2 drachmas as fee for a cow, 1 drachma for an adult animal, 3 obols for a young animal, and 1 obol for a bird (SEG 50:766, lines 10–13). Iscr. di Cos ED 89118 (lines 18–24) orders the payment of one drachma for a cow and 3 obols for other sacrificial animals. SEG 51:1066119 (lines 5–25) orders that the priest shall receive the skin and the shank of the sacrificed animals, and the worshippers should drop into the thesaurus 2 drachmas for a sacrificed cow, 3 obols for an adult sacrificial animal, and a half obol for a bird. Iscr. di Cos ED 58120 (lines 4–10) has a similar regulation. The sacred laws of the cults of Nike, Aphrodite, and Asclepius order the consecration of money at animal sacrifices that should be dropped into the thesauroi. An inscribed thesaurus (73 cm high, 51 cm in diameter) dating to the 2^nd century BCE and dedicated to the local hero Theagenes was found at the agora of Thasos town.121 LSS 72 (lines 1–3) engraved on the thesaurus mentions that the worshippers who wanted to sacrifice to Theagenes should drop not less than one obol into the thesaurus.122 LSS 72 (lines 2–3) uses the verb ἀπάρχεσθαι (aparchestai) for the payment of the fee at sacrifice.123 An inscription (230 BCE) from Olbia also orders the payment of a sacrifice tax into the thesaurus: τοὺς θύοντας ἀπάρχεσθαι [ε]ἰς τὸν θησαυρόν – those performing sacrifice should make a first fruit offering (ἀπάρχεσθαι) into the thesaurus (IGDOlbia 88, lines 11–12). The same expression is also used in LSS 72 (lines 1–3). Initially, the term aparche refers to First-fruit offering made in kind. The two inscriptions refer to coins inserted into the thesauroi as fees at every sacrifice. Apart from SEG 50:766 (lines 10–11), the inscriptions from Cos mentioned in this paper do not use the term aparchestai for the payment of sacrifice tax. Therefore, the fees ordered in these inscriptions were also fees paid at every sacrifice. The fee asked as a preliminary ritual at every sacrifice was between a half obol and several drachmas. As Sokolowski illustrates, cultic services offered at sanctuaries preceded or followed by sacrifices,124 suggesting that sacrifices were frequently performed. Depending on the size of the sacrificial animal, a half, one, two, or three obols were imposed as a fee for animal sacrifice.125 Pafford has suggested that the dedication of coins at every sacrifice was a preliminary sacrifice – proteleia – that was “ritually performed through the payment of a specific denomination of coin”.126 The proteleia was a preliminary offering made to a deity before marriage.127 Before a sacrifice was performed at a sanctuary, the ordered sum was dropped into the thesaurus as preliminary ritual.

• 128 The priestess should receive the half of the income from the thesauroi and Aphrodite the other half (...)
• 129 See also Martin 1940, 186; Picard 1990, 315, 321; Pafford 2013, 50sq.
• 130 1,000 drachmas as sacrifice fees make up 6,000 animals if one obol was paid at every animal sacrifi (...)

37HGK 17 mentions that one-third of the money from the thesauroi belongs to the priestess and two-third to the sanctuary. Sacred laws of different sanctuaries on Cos had similar regulations concerning the income from the thesauroi. 128 IGDOlbia 88 (lines 6–9) mentions that the thesaurus was opened once a year and the money was entrusted to the hieromnemon who took it in custody until 1000 drachmas came together.129 Priests and officials of the city oversaw the administration of the money from the thesauroi. The income from the fees asked at animal sacrifices were considerable for the sanctuary of Asclepius at Cos that had Pan-Hellenic significance. Demeter had a small sanctuary at Cos and she did not have the same significance as Asclepius for Cos. If we assume that a half obol was consecrated for a young and one obol for an adult sacrificial animal (HGK 17, lines 10–12), the income from the thesauroi was probably less than 1000 drachmas. It seems unlikely that 6,000 and more animals were sacrificed each year to Demeter at Cos.130

• 131 For the cost of festivals, see also IG II² 1635 (lines 35–37) and IG I³ 258 (lines 4–10).
• 132 For subscription, see Migeotte 1992; Ellis-Evans 2013, 107–108; Gygax 2016, 19-26. Migeotte collect (...)
• 133 Migeotte 1998, 571.
• 134 Kantzia 1988, 179.

38Iscr. di Cos ED 14 (3^rd/2^nd century BCE) from Cos is partially preserved. The inscription is a subscription list that lists the names of women who are announced to the sanctuary of Demeter. For the funding of public and sacral buildings or festivals,131 the polis called for subscriptions, which were called ἐπιδόσεις (epidoseis) that means ‘free giving’.132 In some cases, the names of the benefactors were listed on a stele. The subscriptions offered wealthy families to display their social status, piety, and wealth. Iscr. di Cos ED 14 honours the benefactors who contributed a high sum to the sanctuary of Demeter at Cos. The preserved 23 lines of Iscr. di Cos ED 14 list partially the names of 42 women. The name of the father is mentioned after the name of the female benefactors. Migeotte has suggested that the whole stele listed the names of 88–100 women who donated money for the construction of a building, restoration, or for the maintenance of the sanctuary of Demeter at Cos.133 SEG 43:212A (3^rd–2^nd century BCE) reveals that women were invited to donate money for the new sanctuary of Demeter at Tanagra (see also LSCG 72). At Cos too, only women were invited to donate money for the sanctuary of Demeter. The sanctuary of Demeter at Cos had an oikos (24 x 6 m) with a water basin.134 It may be that this oikos was financed with the money donated by women listed in Iscr. di Cos ED 14. An amount between 100 and 500 drachmas is mentioned behind the names of 31 women listed in this inscription. A law (2^nd century BCE) from Teos regulating the education of children determines 600–500 drachmas as annual wage of teachers (CIG 3059, lines 11–13). The salary of teachers mentioned in CIG 3059 demonstrates that the sum of 100–500 drachmas was very high. Only people with a high income were able to donate 100–500 drachmas. The total amount of money mentioned after the names of 31 women makes up 9,300 drachmas. If we assume that the 11 women, whose names or the sum are not visible, donated at least 100 drachmas, the total amount listed behind the names of 42 women was more than 10,400 drachmas. If the women, who were listed on the missing part of the stele, also donated at least 10,400 drachmas, the total amount of money donated by ca. 84 women was at least 20,800 drachmas. The money was not collected in thesauroi, but by the priestess of Demeter or by civic officials of the polis. It seems more likely that the thesauroi in the sanctuary of Demeter at Cos were only used for sacrifice fees, as indicated in HGK 17, and for other fees asked at rituals performed by single worshippers.

• 135 Latacz 1990, 240sqq; Noegel 2007, 25.

40Hymns were sung at festivals and symposiums and were very popular during the 7^th and 6^th centuries BCE.135 In the late 6^th century BCE under the Athenian rule, the Homeric Hymn to Demeter composed around the 7^th and 6^th centuries BCE was transcribed from the oral tradition. The reason why Athens took an interest in cultic activities at Eleusis, beginning with Solon, is linked to the conflicts with the Doric city Megara that was in dispute with Athens over Eleusis, an Ionian city like Athens. Athens pretended that the Doric city Megara occupied the Ionian city Eleusis and claimed priority over the Eleusinian cult.

• 136 Sokolowski 1959, 5–6.

42In the 6^th century BCE, Athens’ main aim was to justify its territorial claims concerning Eleusis towards Megara. For this reason, Athens was integrated into the Eleusinian Mysteries in order to emphasize the significance of Athens for the Eleusinian Mysteries. The Eleusinian Mysteries had local significance in the 6^th century BCE. The political changes after the Persian Wars brought new objectives. The objective of Athens as leader of the new Delian League was to promote the Eleusinian Mysteries to Pan-Hellenic mysteries under the religious leadership of Athens. Awareness of the significance of the Eleusinian Mysteries was also increased through heralds dispatched through the Greek world to invite people to the mysteries. Sokolowski makes a good point in saying that “we should note in conclusion that the rules regulating the celebration of the Eleusinian Mysteries were drawn up and issued not at one time but grew slowly as the current customs and popular need dictated” by Athens.136

• 137 Schuddeboom analysed the terms linked to mysteries, and the meaning of the terms telein and telete (...)

43The chance to prepare for a better afterlife had its price. Athenaeus (2.12) says that telete means to spend, as the organisation and the performance of the mysteries entail costs. The term τελεῖν (telein) means ‘to accomplish’ and ‘to perform’, and τελετή (telete) means ‘rite’. Both terms are closely linked to the mystery rites.137 The organisation and performance of the Eleusinian Mysteries were a costly matter for the sanctuary and for initiates who paid high fees for the initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries.

• 139 Anthesterion fells in February/March.
• 140 For IG I³ 6, see also Davies 2001, 120.
• 141 Dowden 1980, 425.

44The Eleusinian Mysteries are referred to as Lesser and Great Mysteries performed at the sanctuary of Demeter in Eleusis. The Lesser Mysteries were the first state of the initiation and took place in the month of Anthesterion139 (IG I³ 6b, lines 36–43; Plutarch, Demetrius 26.1). The Greater Mysteries, the most significant mysteries in ancient Greece, were performed in the month of Boedromion (Plutarch, Demetrius 26.1–2). The Eleusinian Mysteries lasted ten days and began with a procession from Athens to Eleusis. We can assume that the fees were also paid in the 6^th century BCE for the initiation into the Eleusinian Mysteries and the payment was probably made in kind or ingots used as pre-monetary currency. With the acceleration of the monetarization of the markets in the 5^th century BCE, the payment was replaced by coins. IG I³ 6 is a decree from Athens dating to 460 BCE that was inscribed on four sides of a stele.140 The decree disposed on side C regulates the Eleusinian Mysteries and the fees paid to cultic officials. The exact fees for the Eleusinian Mysteries are unknown. IG II² 1672 (line 207) dating to 329 BCE mentions that the fees for the initiation of two slaves into the Eleusinian Mystereies were 30 drachmas, suggesting that each slave paid 15 drachmas. Free people had to pay at least the same fees. We do not have epigraphic evidence for the number of people who were initiated each year. The Telesterion, where the mysteries were performed, offered the place for up to 3,000 people. Approximately 2,000–3,000 people may have been initiated each year into the Eleusinian Mysteries.141 By paying 15 drachmas each in fees, the 3,000 initiates brought in 45,000 drachmas a year (7,5 talent). It is, therefore, not recorded whether the 15 drachmas also covered the fees for sacrifices and the fees paid to cultic officials, as ordered in IG I³ 6c (lines 5–38).

• 142 Smith 1973, 38; Clinton 1974, 11, fn. 8; Develin 1989, 17.
• 143 Clinton 1974, 11.

46The hierophoioi received a half-obol each day from each initiate (IG I³ 6c, lines 5–8). The hieropoioi were appointed by the city and were in charge of finances, administration, sacrifices, and festivals.142 The decree does not precise whether each hieropoios received a half-obol or all hieropoioi together. The hieropoioi appointed by the city received their salary from the city and not from the initiates.143 A half-obol from each initiate makes by 3,000 initiates 250 drachmas a day. If the initiates had to pay for ten days, the hieropoioi received 2,500 drachmas together at the end of the Eleusinian Mysteries. The priestess of Demeter shall receive at the Lesser and Greater Mysteries one obol from each initiate (IG I³ 6c, lines 9–14). By maximum 3,000 initiates at the Lesser and Greater Mysteries, the priestess of Demeter received approximately 1,000 drachmas. The Eumolpidai and the Kerykes shall receive from each male initiate 5 obols and from each female initiate 3 obols (IG I³ 6c, lines 21–23). The Eumolpidai and Kerykes were two families based at Eleusis who were in charge of the organisation of the Eleusinian Mysteries and provided cultic officials, such as the hierophants, torchbearers, and sacred heralds. It is unknown whether most of the initiates were men or women. Supposing 50% of the initiates were men. The two families received 2,000 drachmas from 3,000 initiates (see Table 3).

• 144 Clinton may have written by mistake ‘obols’ instead of ‘drachmas’. Clinton refers to IG I³ 6c, line (...)
• 145 Clinton 1974, 13.

49Clinton assumes that the treasury of Demeter at Eleusis received all the money listed in IG I³ 6c as fees paid to cultic officials, “except for 1,600 obols144 to be spent by the priestess on expenses as she had done in the past”.145 As cultic officials were in charge of different cultic rituals, the fees ordered in IG I³ 6c were probably used for such expenses. However, the amount of ca 45,000 drachmas (15 x 3000) is significantly high for a festival. IG I³ 6c (lines 32–35) emphasizes the supremacy of Athens over Eleusis and its cult, but also the high income from the fees paid at the Eleusinian Mysteries. If the Eleusinian cultic officials received all the fees paid at the Eleusinian Mysteries and a small sum was left after expenses, it was not necessary to deposit the money on the acropolis.

• 146 Jim analysed in her published PhD thesis the different aspects of aparche in ancient Greece (2014).

50Athens enacted several decrees in the 5^th and 4^th centuries BCE for the regulation of the aparche (ἀπαρχή),146 the so-called First-fruit payment, to Eleusis. The offering of aparche had to ensure the agricultural fertility. The Athenians and the member cities of the Delian League were ordered to pay the aparche to Demeter, who was considered to be the giver of the agricultural gift. The member cities of the Delian League had to send the aparche to Eleusis short after the wheat and barley harvest. Traditionally, the First-fruits were offered to different deities and consisted of a small amount of grain or other perishable food, which were burnt or put on the altar or onto the earth.

• 147 The stele with the inscription IG I³ 78 was found at Eleusis.
• 148 For further discussion on IG I³ 78, IG II² 1672 and aparche, see also Cavanaugh 1996, 29sqq; Pazder (...)
• 149 The most significant festival of Athena at Athens was the Panathenaia.

51IG I³ 78,147 the first Athenian decree regulating the aparche to Eleusis, was enacted in 425–422 BCE.148 This is the period between the Battle of Phylos in 425 BCE and the Peace of Nicias in 421 BCE. According to IG I³ 78 (lines 4–5), the Athenians had to pay the aparche to the two goddesses according to the ancestral traditions and Delphic oracle. The allies – member cities of the Delian League – had to pay the aparche in the same way as Athens (IG I³ 78, lines 16–17). Another Athenian decree that mentions the payment of aparche is IG II² 140 (353 BCE). The First-fruit offerings have a long tradition going back to earlier periods and were made to local sanctuaries. There is no evidence that the aparche was also paid to Eleusis in earlier periods and the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis had a Pan-Hellenistic significance during the Archaic period. Athens did not have the political power in the 6^th century BCE to impose the payment of the aparche on Greek cities. The Delian League was established after the Persian Wars in 478 BCE under the leadership of Athens. The Athenian decree justifies the payment of aparche to Eleusis with ‘ancestral traditions and Delphic oracle’. IG I³ 78 was not the first Athenian decree that imposed the payment of aparche on allies of the Delian League. The Athenian decree IG I³ 259 dating to 454 BCE also ordered the payment of aparche – one-sixtieth of the tribute named phoros (φόρος) paid by allies – to Athena. This decree was enacted at the time when the treasury of the Delian League was transferred from Delos to Athens. Such payments to the sanctuary of Athens had to emphasize the political and religious leadership of Athens. With such financial support, the sanctuaries of Demeter and Athena were also able to organize festivals, which exacted high costs. The allies were required by Athenian decrees to pay for its major cults and to send representatives to the major festivals of Athens, such as the Eleusinian Mysteries and the Panathenaia.149

• 150 Pazdera 2006, 84sqq.

52IG II² 78 (422 BCE) found on the acropolis of Athens also orders the payment of aparche to Eleusis and gives insight into the finances of the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis.150

• 151 Moreno 2007, 10, table 1.
• 152 Hansen 2004, 111.
• 153 Moreno 2007, 10, table 1.

53IG I³ 78 orders the delivery of 1/600th of the annual production of barley and 1/1,200th of the annual production of wheat to Eleusis. Moreno has suggested that the grain production at Attica was on average 580,000 medimnoi of barley (κριθή) and 120,000 medimnoi of wheat (πυρός) a year.151 If we take 580,000 medimnoi of barley and 120,000 medimnoi as basis for the calculation of aparche, Athens had to deliver 966 medimnoi of barley and 100 medimnoi of wheat to Eleusis. The price for one medimnos of barley was ca 3 drachmas (IG II³ 360, line 9; IG II³ 1 367, line 10) and ca 6 drachmas for one medimnos of wheat (IG II² 1356, lines 2, 21) in the 4^th century BCE Athens. The aparche from Athens had a value of 3,398 drachmas (Table 4). The Delian League had at least 330 member city states.152 As not all cities were able to produce the same amount of barley and wheat as Athens, the member cities of the Delian League delivered different amount of barley and wheat as aparche to Eleusis. If we assume that 50 member city states were able to deliver as much as Athens, the aparche brought 48,300 medimnoi of barley and 5,000 medimnoi of wheat. Athens had to import wheat from other cities, as it was not able to produce enough wheat for its own population. According to Moreno, Athens imported approximately 1,300,000 medimnoi of wheat.153 The aparche ordered in IG I³ 78 brought probably less than 1,300,000 medimnoi of wheat. The aparche had to be sold and used for sacrifices performed in honour of Demeter and Persephone, dedications, and stelai (IG I³ 78, lines 36–44). The income from aparche ordered in IG I³ 78 was considerable for the sanctuary of Demeter at Eleusis. If 50 cities delivered the same amount of aparche as Athens, Eleusis received approximately 179,000 drachmas as income from aparche (see Table 4).

• 154 IG II³ 1 339 (lines 12–13); 9 drachmas for one medimnos of Sicilian wheat.
• 155 IG II³ 1 339 (lines 13–14): one medimnos of barley for 5 drachmas.

**medimnoi of barley multiplied by 3, and medimnoi of wheat multiplied by 6154 155

• 156 For the epistatai of the sanctuary of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis, see also IG I³ 386.

54The decree IG I³ 32 (lines 7–12) dating to 432/1 BCE regulates the selection of epistatai who were in charge of the administration of the finances of the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis.156 The decree orders the selection of six Athenian men as epistatai (lines 7–8). This decree was released a few years before IG I³ 78 and after IG I³ 6. The high number of epistatai suggests that the income of the sanctuary of Demeter and Persephone at Eleusis was considerable. The income from aparche ordered a few years after this decree also required several officials in charge of the administration of the finances. Commercialized aparche and salvation (mysteries) were especially beneficial for the sanctuaries and cultic officials. The maintenance of the sanctuary, the construction of new buildings, and well-organised costly festivals also increased the significance of the sanctuary and the status of cultic officials.

• 157 Isocrates’ Panegyricus was published around 380 BCE.
• 158 Clinton 2010, 1–2.

55Isocrates says that most Greek cities paid the aparche according to the ancestral customs (Paneg. 31).157 If we believe Isocrates, the Pythian priestess ordered the payment and admonished the cities, which neglected the payment. Many Greek cities agreed to pay, but not all cities (Paneg. 31). Clinton states that the sanctuary was embarking on a new era of prosperity at the time when Panegyricus was published, and a few cities were contributing the aparche.158 Isocrates as an Athenian rhetorician wrote from the perspective of Athens and emphasizes the leadership of Athens. It was important to highlight that many cities contributed the aparche and to encourage other cities to pay as well.

• 159 The following deme of Attica are listed in IG II² 1672: Erechtheis, Aigeis, Pandionis, Leontis, Aca (...)
• 160 IG II² 1672, lines 276–279, mentions Myrina and Hephaistia which were cities of Lemnos.

56IG II² 1672 mentions that different demes of Attica (lines 262–273),159 Skyros (lines 274–275), Lemnos (lines 276–279),160 and Imbros (lines 298–302) paid the aparche to Eleusis. IG II² 1672 lists a few demes of Attica and islands depending on Athens, which paid the aparche to Eleusis in 329 BCE. Presumably, the allies of the Delian League paid the aparche to Eleusis as long as Athens had the political power to impose these payments.