Arsinoë II was a Ptolemaic queen and co-regent of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of ancient Egypt. She was given the Egyptian title "King of Upper and Lower Egypt", making her pharaoh as well.
Seleucus I Nicator was a Macedonian Greek general, officer and successor of Alexander the Great who went on to found the eponymous Seleucid Empire, led by the Seleucid dynasty. Initially a secondary player in the power struggles following Alexander's death, Seleucus rose to become the total ruler of Asia Minor, Syria, Mesopotamia, and the Iranian plateau, assuming the title of basileus (emperor). The Seleucid Empire was one of the major powers of the Hellenistic world, until it was overcome by the Roman Republic and Parthian Empire in the late second and early first centuries BC.
Priene was an ancient Greek city of Ionia located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of what was then the course of the Maeander River. It was 67 kilometres (42 mi) from ancient Anthea, 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from ancient Aneon and 25 kilometres (16 mi) from ancient Miletus. The city was built on the sea coast, overlooking the former Latmian Gulf of the Aegean. It was developed on steep slopes and terraces extending from sea level to a height of 380 metres (1,250 ft) above sea level at the top of the escarpment. Because of siltation from the river filling the bay over several centuries, the city is now an inland site. It is located at a short distance west of the modern village Güllübahçe Turun in the Söke district of Aydın Province, Turkey.
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 writing and the writers. Specifically excluded from epigraphy are the historical significance of an epigraph as a document and the artistic value of a literary composition. A person using the methods of epigraphy is called an epigrapher or epigraphist. For example, the Behistun inscription is an official document of the Achaemenid Empire engraved on native rock at a location in Iran. Epigraphists are responsible for reconstructing, translating, and dating the trilingual inscription and finding any relevant circumstances. It is the work of historians, however, to determine and interpret the events recorded by the inscription as document. Often, epigraphy and history are competences practised by the same person. Epigraphy is a primary tool of archaeology when dealing with literate cultures. The US Library of Congress classifies epigraphy as one of the auxiliary sciences of history. Epigraphy also helps identify a forgery: epigraphic evidence formed part of the discussion concerning the James Ossuary.
The pillars of Ashoka are a series of monolithic pillars dispersed throughout the Indian subcontinent, erected—or at least inscribed with edicts—by the 3rd Mauryan Emperor Ashoka the Great, who reigned from c. 268 to 232 BC. Ashoka used the expression Dhaṃma thaṃbhā, i.e. "pillars of the Dharma" to describe his own pillars. These pillars constitute important monuments of the architecture of India, most of them exhibiting the characteristic Mauryan polish. Twenty of the pillars erected by Ashoka still survive, including those with inscriptions of his edicts. Only a few with animal capitals survive of which seven complete specimens are known. Two pillars were relocated by Firuz Shah Tughlaq to Delhi. Several pillars were relocated later by Mughal Empire rulers, the animal capitals being removed. Averaging between 12 and 15 m in height, and weighing up to 50 tons each, the pillars were dragged, sometimes hundreds of miles, to where they were erected.
The Nazareth Inscription or Nazareth decree is a marble tablet inscribed in Greek with an edict from an unnamed Caesar ordering capital punishment for anyone caught disturbing graves or tombs. It is dated on the basis of epigraphy to the first half of the 1st century AD. Its provenance is unknown, but a French collector acquired the stone from Nazareth. It is now in the collections of the Louvre.
The Panionium was an Ionian sanctuary dedicated to Poseidon Helikonios and the meeting place of the Ionian League. It was on the peninsula of Mt. Mycale, about 100 kilometres (62 mi) south of Smyrna—now İzmir, in Turkey. Herodotus describes it as follows:
The Panionion is a sacred ground in Mykale, facing north; it was set apart for Poseidon of Helicon by the joint will of the Ionians. Mykale is a western promontory of the mainland opposite Samos; the Ionians used to assemble there from their cities and keep the festival to which they gave the name of Panionia.
Ariarathes I was the last Achaemenid Persian governor (satrap) of the province (satrapy) of Northern Cappadocia, serving from the 340s BC to 331 BC. He led defensive efforts against the Macedonian invasion, commanded by Alexander the Great, and later fought at the Battle of Gaugamela under Darius III, the last King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire. After the fall of the Achaemenid Empire, Ariarathes continued his resistance against the Macedonians, ruling concomitantly as an Achaemenid remnant and a precursor to the Kingdom of Cappadocia. He is regarded as the founder of the Iranian Ariarathid dynasty.
Pixodarus or Pixodaros, was a satrap of Caria, nominally the Achaemenid Empire Satrap, who enjoyed the status of king or dynast by virtue of the powerful position his predecessors of the House of Hecatomnus created when they succeeded the assassinated Persian Satrap Tissaphernes in the Carian satrapy. Lycia was also ruled by the Carian dynasts since the time of Mausolus, and the name of Pixodarus as ruler appears in the Xanthos trilingual inscription in Lycia.
Seuthes III was a king of Odrysia, a part of Thrace, during the late 4th century BC.
The Major Rock Edicts of Indian Emperor Ashoka refer to 14 separate major Edicts of Ashoka which are significantly detailed and represent some of the earliest dated rock inscriptions of any Indian monarch. These edicts are preceded chronologically by the Minor Rock Edicts.
Myus, sometimes Myous or Myos, or Myes, was an ancient Greek city in Caria. It was one of thirteen major settlements of the Ionian League, and was one of three that spoke the same Ionic subdialect, the other two being Miletus and Priene. All three were Ionian colonies placed at the mouth of the Maeander River in the middle of the west coast of Anatolia.
Ptolemy Epigonos was a Greek Prince from Asia Minor who was of Macedonian and Thessalian descent.
The Priene inscription is a dedicatory inscription by Alexander the Great, which was discovered at the Temple of Athena Polias in Priene, in the nineteenth century. It now forms an important part of the British Museum's Ancient Greek epigraphic collection and provides a direct link to one of the most famous persons in ancient history. This inscription is about the dedication of a temple by Alexander to Athena Polias, which has been held at the British Museum in London.
The Priene calendar inscription is an inscription in stone recovered at Priene that records an edict by Paullus Fabius Maximus, proconsul of the Roman province of Asia and a decree of the conventus of the province accepting the edict from 9 BC. The documents align the provincial calendar with the Roman calendar, honouring Augustus by making the provincial year began on his birthday. It refers to Augustus' birth using the term "gospel." It is known as the Priene text because it was found on two stones in the marketplace of the ancient town of Priene. Other copies are known from Apamea and Eumeneia.
Naulochus or Naulochos, also Naulochum or Naulochon (Ναύλοχον), was a town of ancient Ionia. It was supposed to be the port of Priene but perhaps it was an autonomous city at least during part of the fourth century BCE, since bronze coins from that century attributed to Naulochus have been preserved, where the legend «ΝΑΥ» appears. In a decree of Alexander the Great of the year 334 BCE, the inhabitants of Priene were granted freedom and certain privileges to reside in Naulochus. A theorodokos of Naulochus is also appointed to receive the theoros of Argos around the year 330 BCE, which again seems to be a sign of certain political autonomy but nevertheless the possibility has been pointed out that in fact the invitation to the games was made in the port to transmit it to the interior, where Priene was, to avoid loss of time of the envoy.
The Temple of Athena Polias in Priene was an Ionic Order temple located northwest of Priene’s agora, inside the sanctuary complex. It was dedicated to Athena Polias, also the patron deity of Athens. It was the main temple in Priene, although there was a temple of Zeus. Built around 350 BC, its construction was sponsored by Alexander the Great during his anabasis to the Persian Empire. Its ruins sit at the foot of an escarpment of mount Mycale. It was believed to have been constructed and designed by Pytheos, who was the architect of the great Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was one of the Hellenistic temples that was not reconstructed by Romans.
Little from the letters written by and to Alexander the Great is preserved today, and much of what purports to be his correspondence is in fact fictitious. The autograph manuscripts are all lost. Only a few official letters addressed to the Greek cities survive because they were inscribed on stone, although some of these are official instructions (writs) and not true letters. The content of others is sometimes reported in historical sources, such as Diodorus Siculus, Arrian and Plutarch, but only occasionally do these sources seem to quote such letters. Only a small fraction of Alexander's correspondence is thus accessible today, and even less of his actual words.
Priene inscription may refer to: