IThera015

The inscription is carved on a rock surface outside the enclosed area, 3.10 m east of graffito no. 365, to the southwest of the entrance to the temple of Apollo Carneios. It is one of the earliest inscriptions discovered on the rocky promontory adjacent to the temple. The rock surface has a total height of 64 cm, while the inscription itself measures between 40 cm and 45 cm in length. The text runs from left to right, except for the iota, and remains largely legible except for the final two letters. The letter sizes are consistent: alpha and san measure 9–10 cm, while pi is 8 cm high. The incision consists of a narrow V‑shaped groove, about 2 mm wide, produced with a pointed tool. This technique is known in the area but is less frequent than the broader, shallow groove made with a wide‑tipped tool, which was widely used from the late 7th to early 6th century BCE (see Inglese 2008, pp. 61-65). Nearby inscriptions predominantly contain anthroponyms, sometimes followed by adjectives. The name of the divinity is one of the cases on the island in the Archaic period where a testimony of Doric dialect can be identified (other examples of divine names are nos. 370 Ηερμᾶς and no. 361 Δαμία, to which various anthroponyms can be added). It should be noted that the divine name is in the genitive, unlike most Archaic graffiti in the area, which are in the nominative (except for the probable genitive of inscription no. 358, datable to the same chronological horizon). In rock inscription no. 376, outside the enclosed area to the west, there is another case of a divine name in the genitive, the epithet being that of Zeus Στοιχαίο, which can be dated to at least the mid‑5th century BCE. Regarding dedicatory formulas, in a single case of rock inscription, no. 551, the divine name is attested in the dative without the dedicator’s name, but the verb of dedication is expressed. In archaic inscriptions nos. 401 and 402 and probably no. 403, currently lost, the divine name would appear in the nominative and, in particular in nos. 401 and 403, the dedicator’s name in the genitive. In inscription no. 389, read by Hiller on a small altar of volcanic material (now lost), the dedicator’s name would have been present in the nominative, the verb ἐποίε and probably the divine name in the accusative Λύκειον. Several features as the type of incision, the fairly consistent letter size, the presence of Doric alpha, and also the comparison with other dedicatory formulas may serve as dating criteria, placing the inscriptions from the beginning of the 6th century BCE onwards. The theonym also appears in another Archaic inscription (IG XII 3.450), which mentions both damiourgoi and Apollo with the epithet Agyieus (see Inglese 2008, chap. 4). IG XII 3.450 is the only official document from this period so far found on the island. Another important reference to Athena occurs in a graffito from the area known as Skaros (northwest coast of the island), where boundary markers (οὖροι Ἀθαναίας) are mentioned, probably indicating land belonging to the goddess. On Athena’s cult in Thera, see Inglese 2008, pp. 175-177.