The Dedication of Nikandre is a Greek marble sculpture, made approximately around 650 BCE, held in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, Greece (Inv. 1). Nikandre, a woman from the island of Naxos, dedicated the statue in the temple of Artemis at Delos, the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. The statue, which was found during archaeological excavation in the 19th century, is one of the earliest surviving korai, or statues of women, and displays one of the oldest inscriptions of Ancient Greek in stone. Its representation and its placement within the existing stylistic periods of Greek sculpture have become the subject of extensive scholarship. Discovery Théophile Homolle uncovered the statue amongst several other sculptural pieces in ditches while excavating around the sanctuary of Artemis in 1878. Homolle himself published slightly contradictory notes regarding the find spot of the pieces that make up Nikandre's dedication during the years following the discovery. As such, scholars have not been able to definitively place the location of Nikandre's dedication. On the basis of Homolle's notes, however, most agree that the statue was deposited in a ditch some 12 to 15 meters from the corner of the sanctuary of Artemis along with the pieces of several other statues. The purpose of this deposit is unclear, but the statues appear to have been broken before burial. Inscription On the left side of the statue is the dedicatory inscription, one of the earliest surviving inscriptions of Greek in stone. It is incised vertically, in a manner known as boustrophedon. The original Greek is as follows: «Νικάνδρη μἀνέθεκεν (ε)κηβόλοι ἰοχεαίρηι Κόρη Δεινοδίκηο το Ναησίο ἒησοχος ἀλήον Δεινομένεος δὲ κασιγνέτη Φηράησο δ᾽ ἂλοχος ν[ῦν].» An English translation, provided by G. M. A. Richter, is: "Nikandre dedicated me to the goddess, far-shooter of arrows, Nikandre, the daughter of Deinodikos of Naxos, distinguished among women, sister of Deinomenes and wife of Phraxos." From this inscription, we know the name and gender of the dedicant, Nikandre, as well as some vague hint of her intention (to please the goddess). In addition to defining herself by her relationship to her father (Deinodikos), husband (Phraxos), and brother (Deinomenes), she refers to herself as "distinguished among women", claiming some amount of glory and emphasizing her reputation in her community. Though the inscription may imply that the statue was made on the island of Naxos, where Nikandre's family resided (an implication corroborated by the type of stone