Inschriften von Didyma

The volume presents some 300 inscriptions from a period of one millennium, from the 6th century BC to the 6th century AD which provide manifold insights into the history of the Oracle in Didyma, which was transformed into a Christian site after the end of the pagan cult. Numerous testimonia reflect the entire spectrum of the sanctury: detailed accounts of the building activities show the progress of the construction of the temple itself, inventories are evidence of the administration by Miletus, and dedications and oracle inscriptions document the communication with the God as well as the religious phenomena concerning the sanctuary as a place of worship also of other gods and godesses. Finally, the social structures of the milesian elite, to which the ministrants of Apollon and Artemis (prophetes, hydrophorai) belonged, are revealed by the reports of honours which they received and by their self-testimonies in the inscriptions through the centuries.