The inscription is orthograde, except for the second iota. It is engraved horizontally on a rock surface within a cavity near the western wall of the horseshoe-shaped enclosed area, west of the Temple of Apollo Karneios. The first five letters are quite diffucult to read.
Letters of the archaic alphabet of Thera: Alpha: rounded apex, descending oblique bar from the left stroke. Iota: three-bar form with rounded angles. Theta: circle with cross-shaped bars inside.
Encoded following the latest EpiDoc guidelines
Taxonomies for ThERA controlled values
ThERA anthroponyms authority list
ThERA theonyms authority list
Julian Calendar
The inscription likely preserves an anthroponym, contributing to the study of personal names in the region. Its placement within the cavity provides a terminus post quem for the surrounding walls, supporting Jeffery’s (LSAG[2], p. 316) hypothesis that some enclosed theonyms predate the masonry of the wall. The name is attested in Cyrenaica (Barce, 4th c. BCE) and recalls the figure of Αἰθίοψ, mentioned in Archilochus (fr. 293 West, apud Athenaeus IV 167d, citing Demetrius of Scepsis, fr. 73 Gaede), who traded his land in what would become the apoikia of Syracuse for a honey maza during his journey with Archias toward the colonization of Syracuse.