Argument
In 2002, an imposing stone stele, inscribed in Greek on both sides and dated to the first half of the 2ndcentury BC, was unearthed at Marmarini, some fifteen kilometers northeast of the town of Larisa in Thessaly. The text prescribes a series of sacrificial and purificatory rituals in the sanctuary of a goddess of Near Eastern origin, who remains anonymous. This sacred place was probably linked to an association where Greeks and non-Greeks met and interacted as part of the cult of this goddess of Near Eastern origin.
The inscription was published in 2015, then republished in 2017, and an online edition by Jan-Mathieu Carbon and Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge is now available on the Collection of Greek Ritual Norms (CGRN) website, where Marmarini's text is numbered 225. To stimulate reflection on this exceptional text, it seemed necessary to bring together specialists from the various geographical areas from which the actors involved in the association that helped draw up the regulations were likely to have come.
This meeting is intended to be more of a brainstorming workshop than a traditional symposium. The aim is to shed light on the identity of the gods honored in this Thessalian sanctuary, and on the various rituals performed there. Each participant is invited to take up an aspect of the text and share the reflections that his or her own field of investigation allows. The aim is to enrich and refine our understanding of the text, which presents a remarkable case of cultural hybridization.