The rock inscriptions of the Grama Bay sq, Mbishkrimet shkëmbore në Gjirin e Gramës) is an archaeological site in Southwestern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

Vlorë County Vlorë County (; sq, Qarku i Vlorës) is one of the 12 counties of the Republic of Albania with the capital in Vlorë. The county spans and has a total population of 187,675 people as of 2021. It borders the counties of Fier and Gjirokastë ...

, in the Grama Bay located on the Ionian coast of the Karaburun Mountains, including roughly 1,500 rock inscriptions that date from the 3rd century BC to the 15th-16th centuries. The name of the bay originates from the Greek word γράμμα meaning 'letter'. The little bay with difficult overland access but with abundant springs had always been a favorite stopping place and shelter for the ones sailing along the coast: mariners, soldiers, merchants and pirates. The city of

Oricum Oricum ( grc, Ὤρικον, Ὤρικος or Ὠρικός; lat, Oricum or ''Oricus''; sq, Oriku or ''Orikum'') was a harbor on the Illyrian coast that developed in a Ancient Greek polis at the south end of the Bay of Vlorë on the southern Adr ...

, located 12 km to the north, was founded in the 7th century BC, and the inhabitants started to use the Grama Bay as a quarry in the 3rd century BC from where they could extract limestone of good quality. The first inscriptions carved into the eastern rock face of the bay were made by the quarry workers themselves. During the following 2,000 years further mariners made their signs on the rock which ended up in the former quarry covered by 1,500 inscriptions. Majority is written in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, but inscriptions in Messapian language as well as ones made by

Byzantine Greeks The Byzantine Greeks were the Greek-speaking Eastern Romans of Orthodox Christianity throughout Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. They were the main inhabitants of the lands of the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire), of Constantinople ...

or Ottoman Turks are also included. These typically give the name of the people and that of their vessels and often invoke the Dioscuri. Historical figures also showed up in the Grama Bay and put their marks on the rock, such as

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

in 48 BC or

John V Palaiologos John V Palaiologos or Palaeologus ( el, Ἰωάννης Παλαιολόγος, ''Iōánnēs Palaiológos''; 18 June 1332 – 16 February 1391) was Byzantine emperor from 1341 to 1391, with interruptions. Biography John V was the son of E ...

in around 1369. The Roman statesman Sulla was actually never visiting the bay, but in 86 BC after defeating Mithridates VI of Pontus during the

First Mithridatic War The First Mithridatic War (89–85 BC) was a war challenging the Roman Republic's expanding empire and rule over the Greek world. In this conflict, the Kingdom of Pontus and many Greek cities rebelling against Roman rule were led by Mithridates ...

he ordered to commemorate his triumph with a new inscription made on the Grama Bay's rocks. The medieval inscriptions call upon the Lord for his help. Those arriving to the Grama Bay after the 15th century continued the tradition of making their own graffito, but these pieces are of less archaeological value. Most considerably one can see inscriptions made by the hands of Himariotes during the 19th-20th centuries as well as graffito of Enver Hoxha's soldiers in the second half of the 20th century.

Ser also

* Messapian language

References

Sources

*Neritan Ceka: ''The Illyrians to the Albanians.'' Tirana: Migjeni. 2013. pp. 322., 396., 496. *Oliver Gilkes: ''Albania: An archaeological guide.'' London; New York: I. B. Tauris. 2013. pp. 203–204. *Arben Hajdari, Joany Reboton, Saïmir Shpuza & Pierre Cabanes: Les inscriptions de Grammata (Albanie) Revue des Études Grecques Année 2007 120-2 pp. 353–394 Archaeological sites in Albania Tourist attractions in Vlorë County Inscriptions Albanian Ionian Sea Coast Karaburun-Sazan Marine Park {{europe-archaeology-stub