References Abegg, M. G. et al., eds. 1999. The Dead Sea Scrolls Bible. San Francisco. Adcock, F. and D. J. Mosley. 1975. Diplomacy in Ancient Greece. London. Alexander, P. S. 1984. “Epistolary Literature.” In Stone 1984:579–596. … Read more
Acknowledgments This work has incurred many debts in the past years, which I gratefully and appreciatively acknowledge; for the work’s shortcomings I alone am responsible. First and foremost, I am immensely indebted to the colleagues who forthrightly informed me of their excavations, placed at my disposal all the necessary information… Read more
Preface The Greeks who on the brink of death took with them to the grave a small gold incised lamella died content, feeling assured that special treatment awaited them in the Underworld. Such a statement is, of course, only a hypothesis, as there is no way to ascertain what the… Read more
1: Edition The Gold Epistomia of Crete Nine Incised Archaeological Context for nos. 1–7 The provenance of the seven published epistomia is unknown. Margarita Guarducci, guided by Federico Halbherr’s notes and drawings (IC II.xii [Eleutherna].31, p. 136) and by Domenico Comparetti’s edition (1910:37–41), included nos. 1–3 and 7 in the… Read more
2: Commentary on Epistomia nos. 1–12 Topography Lamellae nos. 1–7 were recovered from graves in the extensive cemetery to the north-northwest of Eleutherna, the city’s north entrance, but the exact location of their discovery is unknown. Theodoros Triphyllis, Consul of Austria-Hungary in Rethymno came to acquire nos. 1–3 and 7… Read more
3: The Cretan Epistomia in Context The Corpus of the Epistomia: Nature and Classification The engraved lamellae are objects sui generis [1] and appear to defy categorization. In order to expedite the study and understanding of these artifacts, Zuntz attempted to set standards for… Read more
4: The Cretan Contexts A Literary Cretan Context The nine incised and three unincised epistomia of Crete, dated between the third century BCE and the first CE, bear witness to a mystery cult(s) and ritual(s) in Eleutherna and Sfakaki, both located in the area to the north of the Idaean… Read more
Commentary 10.1ff. The opening lines of this book follow what seems to be a traditional pattern in which a pressing situation causes an inability to sleep, which in turn results in the formulation of a plan of action. We can compare 10.1ff. to the beginnings of Books 2… Read more
