Synodal decree

Synodal decrees , also known as priestly decrees , are multilingual steles on which, in Ptolemaic times, the resolutions of the priestly synods, which the Ptolemaic kings regularly convened, were published. In addition to the benefits of the respective king, they document new regulations of the cult and privileges of the priesthoods. The decrees were mostly written in three scripts, namely hieroglyphic , demotic and ancient Greek , and were set up in several temples in Egypt. The previously known synodal decrees are in chronological order:

• Canopus Decree (238 BC)
• Raphia Decree (217 BC)
• Memphis Decree (196 BC)
• Second Philae Decree (186 BC)
• First Philae Decree (185 BC)

literature

• Werner Huss : The synodal decrees of the Egyptian priests , which were written in Ptolemaic times , in: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 88 (1991), pp. 189-208.
• Werner Huss: The Macedonian King and the Egyptian Priests (Historia Einzelschriften 85), Stuttgart 1994.
• RS Simpson: Demotic Grammar in the Ptolemaic Synodal Sacerdotal Decrees , Oxford 1996, pp. 1-19.
• Friedhelm Hoffmann : Egypt. Culture and life in Greco-Roman times. A representation based on the demotic sources. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 2000, pp. 153–175.