Papers of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens (6.1890-1897 (1897))

A SACEIFICIAL CALENDAR FROM THE EPAKRIA.

[Plate XXV.]

In the excavations at Koukounari, in the Attic Epakria, a re-
port of which will be given in the Fourteenth Annual Report of the
American School of Classical Studies at Athens, we had the good
fortune to find at the end of the first half-hour of work an import-
ant inscription.

This is cut on a stele of Pentelic marble, in letters averaging
.006 m. in height. Beta runs up to a height of .008 m., while
Omicron is only .004 m. high. The extra height of Beta is doubt-
less due to the fact that only so could it well be cut without
making mere breaks in the place of the two loops.

The stele was inscribed on both sides, but only on the side
which we found turned downward and resting on a large thresh-
old, and which is here represented, could anything be read. A
few traces of letters on the other side, from which with some
probability the word oh may be made out, and some price-marks,,
show that the same subject was treated on that side.

The side here given contains parts of fifty-six lines, although
the first line affords only two letters. How much of the stone is
broken off above and below cannot be told. At the sides the
original edge is preserved, so that we know that the taper of the
stele was very slight, giving a breadth at the bottom of the frag-
ment of .49 m. and at the top of .485 m. The length is .60 m.
The thickness varies between .10 m. and .06 m. being thinner at the
top and toward the right, so that there is a distinct slope toward
the right upper corner when the stone is laid on the table for
reading. There is a break on the right at the top, leaving a gap
which ends with the 21st line, the 22d line being entire at the
end. At the 4th line the gap is .105 m. wide. Toward the bottom
374