Emily Chan
The graffiti that was carved on Barako Hill was made by a single person who referred to himself as “Mikon” in an inscription alongside the drawing.
Mikon’s engraving seems to depict a colonnaded structure that is most likely a temple. An inscription next to the building says “the Hekatompedon.”
In ancient Greek, this term means “100-footer” and was used to describe a large structure. The inclusion of the article “the” indicates that the artist was alluding to a specific building at the Acropolis, considering how close the distance is between the graffiti and the citadel.
The phrase “the Hekatompedon” was the official name of the temple at the Acropolis erected in honor of Athena.
Later, it became known as the Parthenon. Construction of the Parthenon did not begin until sometime around 450 B.C. But the graffiti is from the 6th century B.C.
So, the researchers can conclude that the drawing is about a temple that stood at the Acropolis before the Parthenon was built.
For a while now, scholars have believed that there were temples older than the Parthenon at the Acropolis.
However, in 480 B.C., a Persian army attacked Athens, destroying many of the buildings. Mikon’s graffiti offers a look into temples that no longer exist, unveiling information about an ancient interest in architecture and early literacy.
The study was published in the American Journal of Archaeology.
