DIVINE BINDING ON DELOS: THE DELIAN ARETALOGY OF SARAPIS AND LOCAL CURSE PRACTICE

Abstract This article shows that the Delian aretalogy of Sarapis portrays Sarapis as a tongue-binder, familiar from judicial curse tablets and binding spells, and interprets Sarapis’ display of aretê by binding within a Delian setting in light of material remains of curse practice on the island and the Cyclades. Even as Egyptian migrants and devotees of Sarapis asserted an ancestral Egyptian pedigree, they presented the god’s power in a way that resonated locally and inscribed their cult into ritual networks on Delos.