The sacrificial rituals of Greek hero cults in the Archaic to the early ...

Eschara and escharon 35
A fragmentary inscription dating to c. 200 BC from Priene concerning
the sale of the priesthood of Poseidon Helikonios mentions a[ – – –
Çsqá[ran
°er]àn
– – – ], unfortunately without su�ficient context to establish more
precisely what kind of eschara this was. 68 The restoration of eschara is quite
certain, but the word preceding it does not necessarily have to be °erán. If
the restoration of the eschara as sacred is correct, it is possible that the term
refers to an altar. 69 However, the eschara could have been a part of the
kitchen facilities of the sanctuary of Poseidon, as seems to have been the case
in a fragmentary inscription from Smyrna dating from the late 2nd to the early
3rd century AD. 70 This text deals with the construction or repair of a hieron,
probably belonging to a cultic association. A mageireîon is mentioned, as
well as an amount of lead, maybe to repair the roof, and finally an eschara
(line 9). Louis Robert interpreted the eschara as a low altar to be used for
sacrifices to chthonian divinities. 71 Since the stone is damaged, we cannot
know for certain, but since a mageireion is mentioned, it is more plausible
that the eschara was a regular grill, housed in the kitchen where the sacrificial
meals were prepared, rather than an altar.
From this review of the epigraphical evidence it is clear that the term
eschara was mainly used to designate a hearth or a grill, often portable and
made of metal. Only a handful of the escharai mentioned can be interpreted
as altars of a permanent kind. They form a small and dispersed group
belonging to a range of deities: the Herakleidai and Dionysos, and possibly
Athena and Poseidon. The Herakleidon eschara inscription is interesting for
several reasons. It is the only evidence for a connection between heroes
and escharai in the epigraphical record. Furthermore, the inscription is the
earliest epigraphical mention of an eschara likely to refer to some kind of
altar or sacrificial installation (4th century BC), since the interpretation of the
Lindian rock-cut inscriptions as alluding to escharai remains doubtful.
These escharai/altars also had di�ferent appearances. That of the
Herakleidai was perhaps simply an ash-heap marked by a horos, while the
eschara of Dionysos was placed in a sanctuary and may have been more
monumental. If the inscriptions at the Lindian acropolis refer to escharai,
these consisted of the bare rock or were constructed of loose stones for the
occasion.
68 Hiller von Gaertringen 1906, no. 202:8, line 37.
69 According to Kleidemos (FGrHist 323 F 1), Poseidon Helikonios had an eschara at Agrai,
Athens.
70 Petzl 1987, no. 737, line 9; Robert L. 1939, 193–197, no. 10, line 9.
71 Robert L. 1939, 194.