The Role of the Religious Sector in the Economy of Late Bronze Age Mycenaean Greece

Abstract

20 I think I should add here that I do think the sanctuaries held their own land, but not the land recorcled by the palace scribes. 9 This view is seen, for example, in Hiller's seminal article on the Linear B evidence for Mycenaean sanctuaries. 21 His focus was not the economic aspect of the sanctuaries, but he was trying to answer some of the same questions that I address. For instance he asks, "What role did [the shrines] play in the political system? What was, in detail, their relation to the palace?" 22 Thus he discusses the issue of the religious sector's involvement in economic activities as it comes up in the tablets. When looking at the Theban Of series, in which deities and other personages associated with the religious sphere receive allocations of wool, he accepts the idea (first proposed by Chadwick 23 ) that deities presided over oikoi, which he defines as industrial complexes that also had a sacred character. 24 Hiller also uses this concept to explain the economic activities of *ma-ri-ne-u and me-za-na whom he accepts as deities, and many other instances where economic resources are associated with religious references (such as the flocks of sheep and pigs found on PY Cc 665 that are associated with Potnia, the Potnian bronzesmiths of PY Jn 310.14 and Jn 431.16, the references to Potnia on PY An 1281 where she is allocated workers, and the flocks that are held by Potnia and Hermes in the Knossos D and D 1 series). 25 The institution of the oikos, he says, "in a way seems to be a Mycenaean parallel to the oriental institution of the so-called 'temple economy.' 26 But he hastens to say that the oikos system makes up only a part of the

The ‘Ϝhεδιέστας’ inscription from Archaic Argos (SEG 11:314): a reconsideration

“…On TH Of 34 the word a-pi-qo-ro may be singular or plural and masculine or feminine; it has been taken to denote a priest, priestess, attendant of a deity, deity or secular worker. See Aura Jorro (1985-93) 1.84; Bendall (2007) 101; Lupack (2008) 110, all with bibliography. 47 See already Vollgraff (1929) 233-34.…”

Redistribution in Aegean Palatial Societies A View from Outside the Palace: The Sanctuary and theDamosin Mycenaean Economy and Society

“…8 Further religious functionaries are found on the PY Ep and PY En land tenure tablets. Among them are e-ri-ta, the priestess of pa-ki-ja-ne (PY Ep 704.3/PY Eb 339.A, PY Ep 704.5-6); ka-pa-ti-ja, the Keybearer of pa-ki-ja-ne (PY Ep 704.7/ PY Eb 338A); a priest (i-je-re-u) named we-te-re-u; a i-je-ro-wo-ko, which has been interpreted as an offi ciating priest, perhaps in charge of sacrifi ces (PY Ep 613.7); a man named we-ra-jo, who is designated as Potnian (PY Ep 613.14); and 46 "slaves" or "servants of the deity" (te-o-jo do-e-ro/a) (Lupack 2008a;2010, 272). 9 Chadwick 1988. deities and for the support of the religious personnel who were attached to the sanctuaries.…”

“…30 I do not mean to imply that the power would have been all on the side of the religious sector-by no means. This may have been a delicate and variable 25 Lupack 1999Lupack , 2006Lupack , 2008aLupack , 2008b. 26 Lupack 2006;2008a, 100-3.…”

“…I have proposed a similar role within the Mycenaean economy for the "collectors"(Lupack 2006), who have a position comparable with that of the religious sector on many of the same series of tablets mentioned in relation to the religious sector's involvement in economic activities. I do not bring them in here as a separate focus of power along the same lines as the palace, damos, and religious sector, but I do not doubt that they, too, had a great infl uence within the Mycenaean economy.59 Shelmerdine 1999, 23.…”

‘Collectors’ as stakeholders in Mycenaean governance: property and the relations between the ruling class and the state

“…71 Bennet (1992) 97. 72 Lupack (2008) also argues in favour of the Pylos 'collectors' being owners of property too, like their Knossian counterparts. 73 Bendal (2007) 8-9, argues for the dominance of the palace in the Mycenaean economies.…”