Classical Greek temple
- Gallery: Room 22
- Maker: Pytheos
- Culture: Classical Greek; Hellenistic
- Made in: Priene
- Date: 334BC-330BC (Inscription 399); 197 BC-191 BC (Inscription 403)
- Object type: temple, block, wall
- Materials: marble
- Museum number: 1870,0320.88
- Museum: The British Museum
- Collection record: British Museum website
- Image © The Trustees of the British Museum, shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.
Listen to the free audio guide
About this object
This is a marble fragment from a Classical Greek temple, the Temple of Athena Polias in Priene. Though only a piece of a larger structure, this block holds two important inscriptions carved in ancient Greek.
The front side marks a dedication by Alexander the Great from about 334 BC, shortly after he liberated the region from Persian rule. The second inscription, on the block’s side, concerns a territorial dispute between Priene and Samos, settled in 197–191 BC by Rhodian judges who awarded the land to Priene.
These texts were carved into the temple’s walls as public records, forming what scholars have described as a sort of ancient archive. The careful layout shows how Prieneans preserved important events and decisions across centuries.
The inscriptions offer rare historical insights, capturing both Alexander’s role and the diplomatic relations of the time. As you look closely, imagine these words as part of a larger stone wall, once standing proudly in an ancient Greek city.
See it in person
Classical Greek temple is on display in Room 22 at the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Bloomsbury, London — free to enter. Choose British Museum on audioguide.london and take a photo of it to hear this free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
New, in beta. British Museum support has just launched and is still improving: over 1,000 objects so far, with more added all the time.
