Ancient Greece, Island of Crete, ca. 6th to 5th century BCE. An oblong stone tablet with four lines of inscribed text meant as a protective invocation for sailors or mariners. The tablet has flat lateral sides, rounded top and bottom peripheries, a relatively flat obverse face, and a slightly convex verso. When translated, the text reads, "Heracles, who lives (or 'camps') in our city, come (or 'have pity') and may you preserve them for the rest of time, and you also, white goddess, Cretan-born, arrow-pourer, save [them] together with their wives." Though some of the letters at the ends of each line are faded, the inscription can still be made out with relative accuracy. Custom museum-quality display stand included. Size: 8.5" W x 5.125" H (21.6 cm x 13 cm); 6.25" H (15.9 cm) on included custom stand.

This tablet is an interesting example of how sailors, fishermen, and workers of the sea prayed for their needs of protection while on the vast, open Mediterranean waters. The four named deities - Heracles and the epithets white goddess, Cretan-born, and arrow-pourer - all hold some significance in defending sailors and their well-being. First, Heracles would have been prayed to as his feats of strength meant he could withstand even the strongest and most terrifying natural forces. Second is Leukothea (literally "white goddess"), a goddess of the sea and a noted protectress of sailors who aided those seafarers in distress. Third is Zeus of Crete ("Cretan-born"), the primary god of the Greek Pantheon and god of thunder and the sky; sailors pleaded to him for fair weather, calm skies, and placid waters. Last is Artemis ("arrow-pourer"), the goddess of the hunt typically prayed to by hunters or soldiers; she was prayed to divert any contentious or otherwise threatening vessels from the sailors' path.

A few intricacies regarding the inscribed text make this an intriguing example. First is the particularly powerful line "for the rest of time" which, when literally translated, means "for the whole time" or "for all of time." This statement indicates this inscribed invocation was not meant as a one-time appeal for protection; it was intended as an ever-lasting prayer for current sailors and all similar mariners to come. Second is how there does not seem to be any delineation between individual deities when addressing Leukothea, Zeus, and Artemis. This could possibly be due to a grammatical mistake on the part of the inscriber, or there could be a deeper, regionally-specific explanation. On the surface, the three deities seem to represent the protection against the specific maladies which could plague or ultimately terminate the voyages of seafarers. Though when prayed to in a conjunctive manner, a sailor might expect that certain protective aspects of each deity might overlap and provide them with a more all-encompassing aegis of preservation.

Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection

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#136992

Surface wear and abrasions commensurate with age, fading to some inscribed letters, minor nicks along obverse, reverse, and peripheries, and light roughness across most surfaces, otherwise intact and excellent. Light earthen deposits throughout. Inscribed Greek text is still legible.