IDALIUM TABLET
This bronze tablet was found in the ancient city of Idalion in Cyprus around 1850 and has been housed in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France in Paris since 1862. Written ca. 480-470 BC in the Cyprus syllabary, it is the longest known inscription using that writing system. Inscribed on both sides, it details a contract made by King Stasicyprus and the city of Idalium with the physician Onasilus and his brothers. As payment for the physicians’ care for wounded warriors during a Persian siege of the city, the king promises them certain plots of land and calls upon the goddess Athena to secure the contract.