Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/51

Rh In the course of my stay, hearing that at Mavrodhihssi, near Kalamo, there were some Greek inscriptions which would repay examination, I visited this place, accompanied by Colnaghi. It is situated on the sea-coast very near Oropo, the ancient Oropos, a town on the Bœotian frontier, which was sometimes held by the Athenians, and sometimes by the Bœotians. Mavrodhilissi itself is a deep ravine near the sea-shore, situated between the villages of Markopulo, on the N.W., and Kalamo on the S. With the assistance of a guide from the neighbouring village of Kalamo, we had no difficulty in discovering the spot.

It is a picturesque and secluded glen, through which a brook flows to the sea. On the left bank of this stream I found ancient foundations, evidently those of a temenos or sacred precinct; within this enclosure were a number of large cubical blocks of marble, strewn about as if recently thrown down from some wall or edifice. On inquiry, I found that these had been till lately built up and united by leaden clamps, but that the masonry had been broken up to build a new church at Kalamo.

On examining the blocks, I found a number of interesting inscriptions containing decrees of proxenia granted by the city of Oropos to various persons. The magistrates whose names were set forth in the preambles to these decrees were the Archon of the Bœotian Congress of Confederate cities, the Priest of Amphiaraos, and the Archon of Oropos. I also found a list of Victors in the Amphiaraia, an Agonistic festival, which, as we are informed