What would Athens be without its most famous landmark - or trademark - and biggest tourist attraction? London without Saint Paul’s Cathedral, New York without the Empire State Building or Paris sans Eiffel Tower would probably remain pretty much the same cities, but the "city of Theseus" without its "high city" is unimaginable.

The rock has provided refuge and protection for the inhabitants of the Athenian plain since at least the Stone Age. The early farmers and fisher folk reinforced this natural fortress and it became the home of their kings and their gods. It was principally sacred to the goddess Athena, but other deities and heroes were also worshipped here. Through success in trade and war, the city became prosperous, allowing the Athenians to erect grand temples and sculptures which became famous throughout the world.

Most plans of the Acropolis show its famous temples and monuments. However, all over and around the porous limestone rock are natural and man-made niches, caves and springs which have served religious and practical purposes over thousands of years.

See images and information about:

The Klepsydra spring and other ancient sanctuaries
on the north slope of the Acropolis: gallery pages 4 and 5.

The small fragment of limestone, found on the Athens Acropolis, has early Greek lettering scratched on one side, and is thought to be the oldest graffito from Attica yet discovered. From the form of the lettering, epigraphists believe that it was written during the 8th century BC, possibly around 700 BC.

This also makes it one of the earliest examples of writing using the Greek alphabet, which was an adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet. The art of writing in prehistoric Greece is known from the Linear A and Linear B scripts used by the Minoan and Mycenean cultures, but was lost after the fall of these civilizations and the ensuing "Dark Ages" of the 12th - 8th centuries BC.

It is thought that the Greeks adapted the Phoenician alphabet during the mid 8th century BC, although the location of this discovery is still debated. The Greeks added letters for vowels which the Phoenician script lacked, and it seems that this new form of writing was spread relatively rapidly through many Greek cities, aided by the increasing trade around the Eastern Mediterranean and a wave of Greek colonization (see History of Stageira and Olympiada - Part 2).

Transcription and translation
of the graffito:

– – ἐνκεκάλ̣[υπται]
– – ἀνφτο έροισ̣ι̣ν ἐ– –

– – therein is hidden
– – both –