Three New Funerary Inscriptions in the Adana Museum from the Cappadocian city of Comana/Hierapolis
Ferit BAZ - Mehmet ÇAVUŞ - Abdullatif ALTUNDAĞ
Öz
This article deals with three funerary stelae found in the city of Comana/Hierapolis and now held in Adana Archaeological Museum. Like Zela, Ameria, Venasa, Kabeira, Pessinus and the eponymous Comana in Pontus, Cappadocian Comana was one of the most important temple states in Asia Minor during the Hellenistic period, and owed its fame to being the cult centre of Ma, a goddess of war and victory. The ancient geographer Strabon reports from his own experience that the Cappadocian Comana was visited by numerous pilgrims, and that the sanctuary included considerable land holdings, attended by over 6,000 temple slaves of both genders. He also notes that Comana was the largest and most important temple state in the whole of Cappadocia. During the reign of Archelaos, the last king of Cappadocia, Comana was transformed into a polis city-state. The city was renamed Hierapolis, meaning sacred city, in respect of its ancient sanctity. According to the inscription on the first grave stele, the brothers Oclatius Sacerdos, Oclatius Apollinarios and their sister Oclatia Iulia built the grave stele for their father Iulius. The names of the Oclatia/Oclatius gens names appear for the first time in the Comana/Hierapolis settlement. In the second inscription, a man named Antigonus built a grave stele for his son Mamas. The name Mamas, apparently originating from Asia Minor, became a popular name in Hierapolis/Comana. In the third and last inscription, a woman named Claudia Philtate erected a grave stele in memory of her brother Claudius Bachylos. The names Philtate and Bachylos are new to the Comana/Hierapolis settlement.
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