A New Dedication to Potamos from Parsibey in Northeast Phrygia

Year 2019, Volume: 5, 59 - 62, 24.12.2019

Hale Güney

https://doi.org/10.36991/PHILIA.201906

Abstract

This paper presents a new dedication to Potamos found in the village of Parsibey (Province Eskişehir) in 2018. The inscription on a white marble column mentions the names of Phoinix (without patronymic) as dedicator and his son Hermes. The dedication of Phonix is the second known columnar votive offering to the river-god from the same village. It provides new evidence for the cult of Potamos in Northeast Phrygia and supports the suggestions for the location of the sanctuary of the river-god, which should be looked for near Parsibey. Further dedications to Potamos found in the region indicate that the river-god was recognised by the inhabitants as Tembris, the main river in Northeast Phrygia. Two votive stelai from the region, transported to Istanbul and Iznik, give a depiction of the river god as an old man with a beard.

Keywords

Dedication, River-god Potamos, Tembris, Northeast Phrygia, Beylikova

Thanks

Eskişehir Province Mihalıççık Mahmudiye, Alpu, Çifteler, Beylikova and Sivrihisar Counties Epigraphic Survey Project was approved by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The 2018 survey was assisted by Fatih Yıldırım, representing the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Museums, which kindly provided permission for this survey. I would like to express my sincere thanks to the Ministry and to its representative Fatih Yıldırım for their interest and contribution to the season’s successful outcome. I am grateful to the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Stiftung and the University of Cologne for hosting me and providing me a fellowship to prepare the inscriptions for publication between February 2017 and March 2019. I would like to extent my thanks to Mustafa Adak for sharing his comments and providing a better photo of Porsuk/Tembris and to the local people in Parsibey village for their help.

Parsibey’den (Kuzeydoğu Phrygia) Potamos’a Yeni Bir Adak

Abstract

Makale, bugün Eskişehir iline bağlı Beylikova ilçesindeki Parsibey köyünde 2018 yılı epigrafik yüzey araştırmasında tespit edilen, nehir tanrısı Potamos’a adanmış yeni bir adak yazıtını tanıtmaktadır. Parsibey köyünde daha önce bulunan yazıt gibi mermer sütuna kazınmış olan bu ikinci örnek, Potamos kutsal alanının bu köyün yakınında bir yerde olması gerektiği konusundaki görüşleri destekleyerek, Potamos’un bölgede bilinen kültüne ilişkin yeni bir katkıda bulunmaktadır. Potamos’un Parsibey kutsal alanının yanından akan Tembris (Porsuk Çayı) ile özdeş olduğu kabul görmektedir. İstanbul ve İznik müzelerinde korunan iki adet adak stelinde Tembris/Potamos yaşlı ve sakallı bir erkek olarak betimlenmiştir. Yeni yazıtın çevrisi şöyledir: «Phoiniks, oğlu Hermes ve ailesi adına Potamos’a adadı».

Keywords

Adak yazıtı, Nehir tanrısı Potamos, Tembris, Kuzeydoğu Phrygia, Beylikova

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