C.Kal 1
The inscription on an ostracon from a painted geometric vessel was discovered in 1938 by the archaeologist M. Segre within the Sanctuary of Apollo on the island of Kalymnos. The ostracon is inscribed on both sides. Paleographically, the text is significant for its unusual forms of the letters e and λ. The ostracon is dated to the 8th or 7th century BCE and regarded as the oldest ostracon discovered in Greek-speaking territory. The object is housed in the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes.
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Side a: or/ybny
Side b: k nyeλ qr bt t
References:
Schürr, D. 2019. “Zur vor- und Frühgeschichte des Karischen,” in Karia Arkhaia. La Carie, des origines à la période pré-hekatomnide. 4èmes Rencontres d’archéologie de l’IFÉA. Istanbul, 14-16 novembre 2013, eds. O. Henry, K. Konuk, Istanbul, 1–21.
Segre, M. 1952. Tituli Calymnii, Bergamo.
Images:
D. Schürr, 2019