Mykenische Opfergaben nach Aussage der Linear -B-Texte

The meticulous administration of some aspects of the palace economy constitutes the main concern of the Linear B tablets. According to this the archives of the Mycenaean palaces have preserved no information about prayers, rituals or religious beliefs. Nonetheless, an impression of ritual acts is provided through the recordings of appropriate economic operations. This study deals with the epigraphic records of Mycenaean offerings. All of the offerings and sacrificial animals which appear within the Linear B-tablets are listed, classified, and analysed systematically. Epigraphic, archaeological, and philological aspects are taken into consideration. The considerable amount of these tablets containing the allocation of offerings to deities, sanctuaries, and religious occasions implies that the regular fulfilment of cultic obligations forms an important duty of the Mycenaean palaces. Compared to previous examinations this study refers to all kind of religious offerings. A detailed discussion of the relevant new tablets from Thebes and the arising implications pertaining to the other tablets is also included. The impression given by these texts shows a highly developed offering-custom and provides an insight into Mycenaean cult offerings. Due to the information given about the different offerings, the diverse indication of quantities, the occasional mentioning of month- and festival-names and the grouping of different texts, a classification of the tablets can be worked out according to various forms of offerings. Whereas the offerings in form of libation, votive-offerings and fruit-offerings that are presented directly to a god or sanctuary do not have a visible benefit for the donor, the indirect offerings imply a religious and profane tone. Those are mainly instructions for sacrificial banquets, food-deliveries to sanctuaries and allocations to institutions that remind of the oriental temple-economy. The consequent differentiation between blood offerings and bloodless offerings shows the importance of animal sacrifice which has been underestimated for a long time. In addition to the classification the gods mentioned within these texts provide an insight into the Mycenaean history of religion and support the interpretation of archaeological remains.