religious regulation (Q1143)

Religious laws or regulations with legal or binding authority within a religious context, detailing the religious regulations and requirements governing civic cults and voluntary religious associations. These laws address various aspects of cultic practices, including the conduct of rituals, participation criteria, duties of religious officials, and the imposition of fines for non-compliance. Unlike sacred decrees, sacred laws do not provide information on their enactment processes but are believed to be enforced by priests, state officials, or founders of the associations. Often inscribed at the entrances of sacred enclosures, these laws also prescribe purity requirements, specifying prohibited actions, substances, or contacts that would render a person ritually impure and thus barred from participating in religious activities [McLean 2002, 189-192].