The Ephesian Megabyzos Priesthood and Religious Diplomacy at the End of the Classical Period
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 4372845 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lynn Lidonnici, Lynn R LiDonnici (Vassar College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1999 |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 201-214 |
| Publication date | 1999-07-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Religion (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1006/reli.1999.0164 |
| OpenAlex | W2001331618 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
One element consistently cited as evidence that the feminine deities of the poleis of Ionia are aspects of a single Great Mother Goddess of fertility is the Ephesian Megabyzos priest, whose eunuch status is paralleled with the Greco-Roman eunuch priests of Cybele, the Galli. The practice of eunuchism is usually regarded as a pre-Greek or primitive element in Ephesian worship, dating back to the earliest phases of religious activity at the site. This contention is, however, a construction of the evidence coloured by nineteenth-century thinking about the development of religions and the nature of so-called ‘primitive’ societies. The evidence itself makes no claim for any great antiquity for this priesthood but rather suggests an institution of brief duration in the latter portion of the classical period. This article re-examines the evidence for the Megabyzos priesthood in terms of the political changes in and around the city of Ephesos in the fourth century B.C.E. and finds a context for the Megabyzos in the religious diplomacy between Ephesos and the Persian satrapal capital, Sardis, during the shift from Persian to Macedonian control
Ancient history · Archaeology · Capital (architecture) · Context (archaeology) · Diplomacy · Element (criminal law) · Macedonian · Period (music) · Persian · Political science · Politics · Theology · Worship · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Biblical Studies and Interpretation · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History · Law · Philosophy
Greek-English Lexicon. A Supplement
The High Priests of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
The Name of Cybele’s Priests the “Galloi”
Artemis Von Ephesos
Corpus Cultus Cybelae Attidisque (CCCA)
Sardis from Prehistoric to Roman Times . G. M. A. Hanfmann
Titres et noms propres en iranien ancien
The Mysteries of Artemis Ephesia in Pisidia
A New Testimony on the Cult of Artemis of Ephesus
The Images of Artemis Ephesia and Greco-Roman Worship
Religion and Colonization in Ancient Greece
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |