An important archaeological find is now exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Olympia!

In the Archaeological Museum of Olympia, the clay inscription P15632 was exhibited, bearing engraved the first 13 verses of the rhapsody x of the Odyssey (meeting of Odysseus with Eumaeus).

This is a recent find that comes from the Roman cemetery in Franganisi, at a distance of 1.5 km. east of Olympia and was used in second use as a building material in a funerary monument of the 3rd century BC. anno Domini.

It was found in 2018 and was considered as one of the most important archaeological discoveries of that year worldwide.

According to the research data, the inscription is the oldest surviving excerpt of these verses and at the same time it is one of the oldest texts of the Homeric epics from the Greek area (except shells or vases with verses from the Homeric Epics).

The above highlights the great importance of the find, but also its uniqueness as an archaeological, epigraphic, philological and historical document.

Source – Ephorate of Antiquities of Ilia