The Priene Inscription is a dedicatory inscription by

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

, which was discovered at the

Temple of Athena Polias The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. T ...

Priene Priene ( grc, Πριήνη, Priēnē; tr, Prien) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called th ...

(modern

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula ...

), in the nineteenth century. It now forms an important part of the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

epigraphic Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

collection and provides a direct link to one of the most famous persons in ancient history. This inscription (circa 330 BC) about the dedication of a temple by Alexander to Athena Polias, which has been held at the British Museum in London, should not be confused with the

Calendar Inscription of Priene The Priene Calendar Inscription (''IK Priene'' 14) is an inscription in stone recovered at Priene (an ancient Greek city, in Western Turkey) that records an edict by Paullus Favius Maximus, proconsul of the Roman province of Asia and a decree of ...

(circa 9 BC) also found at Priene in Turkey, which is about

Augustus Caesar Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, and about redefining the calendar around the birthdate of Augustus.

Discovery

The inscription was found in the precincts of the temple in 1868–9 by the architect Richard Pullan, who at the time was leading an archaeological exploration of

on behalf of the Society of Dilettanti. The dedicatory inscription was found at the end of one of the temple's walls, together with records of the Prienean Civic Codes. Pullan brought back inscriptions, sculptures and architectural remains from the site to England, where they were immediately deposited in the national collection.

Background

's army crossed the

Hellespont The Dardanelles (; tr, Çanakkale Boğazı, lit=Strait of Çanakkale, el, Δαρδανέλλια, translit=Dardanéllia), also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont (; ...

in 334 BC and defeated the Persian army at the

Battle of the Granicus The Battle of the Granicus in May 334 BC was the first of three major battles fought between Alexander the Great of Macedon and the Persian Achaemenid Empire. The battle took place on the road from Abydus to Dascylium, at the crossing of the Gr ...

; he then proceeded along the

Ionia Ionia () was an ancient region on the western coast of Anatolia, to the south of present-day Izmir. It consisted of the northernmost territories of the Ionian League of Greek settlements. Never a unified state, it was named after the Ionia ...

n coast, touring cities and expelling Persian garrisons as he did so. At Priene he generously supported the completion of the

temple of Athena Polias The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. T ...

, which is recorded for posterity on this large marble block.

Description

The marble wall block is inscribed on both sides in the

ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic pe ...

language. Part of the inscription records the gift of funds provided by Alexander to build the temple. Another part refers to a resolution of land disputes between different neighbouring kingdoms following the expulsion of the

Persians The Persians are an Iranian ethnic group who comprise over half of the population of Iran. They share a common cultural system and are native speakers of the Persian language as well as of the languages that are closely related to Persian. ...

.British Museum Collection
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Translation of the Inscription

Inscription: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΥΣ ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟΣ ΑΝΕΘΗΚΕ ΤΟΝ ΝΑΟΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΙ ΠΟΛΙΑΔΙ Translation: King Alexander dedicated the Temple to Athena Polias

Discovery

Background

Description

Translation of the Inscription

References

Further reading