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Ancient Greek Graffiti Hidden Beneath Zeus Temple Unearthed at Kerch Peninsula’s Artezian Site

Epigraphists are working to decipher the six-letter inscription to establish its exact reading and purpose.

Overview

  • Archaeologists found a gypsum plate with a six-letter text intentionally concealed under a large slab east of the altar in the temple of Zeus Genarcha.
  • Multiple readings are under consideration, with ΜΝ ΑΡΓΟΤ cited as the leading reconstruction, but no definitive interpretation has been reached.
  • Specialists will assess whether the text represents a personal name, a dedication, an invocation, or another type of message.
  • The inscription is tentatively dated to the 1st–3rd centuries AD, possibly after the site’s destruction during the Roman–Bosporan war around 45 AD.
  • Excavations in the same area uncovered the remains of a young sacrificed horse, and reports note the work continues in a region disputed between Ukraine and Russia.