16 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

“Nikasitimos Was Here Mounting Timiona,” 2,500-year-old erotic graffiti on Astypalaia, Greece

In 2014, an archaeologist working on Astypalaia, a remote Greek island of the Dodecanese discovered one of the world’s oldest erotic graffiti a pair of phallus carvings dating from the 5th century BCE and a proclamation of sexual conquest from the 6th century BCE.

Archaeologists believe it is the oldest record of erotic graffiti ever found, with inscriptions and etchings documenting an ongoing sexual relationship between two men in Ancient Greece.

Professor Dr. Andreas Vlachopoulos discovered the two carved penises while he was giving his students a tour of the island. They were found etched into a limestone outcropping on the island’s windswept, rugged peninsula overlooking Vathay Bay.

In an interview with The Guardian,  Professor Andreas Vlachopoulos, a specialist in prehistoric archaeology was surprised to find such sophisticated inscriptions in such an unlikely place. He called the inscriptions “monumental in scale”.

“They claimed their own space in large letters that not only expressed sexual desire but talked about the act of sex itself,” he told the Guardian. “And that is very, very rare.”



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Photo: Helena Smith

Even though sexual relations between men were not taboo in ancient Greece, these racy inscriptions and phalluses carved into Astypalaia’s rocky peninsula shed light on the very private lives of ancient Greece.

Carved on the side of the rock, archeologists found the name “DION” (ΔΙΩΝ). There was another inscription which was found 52 meters above sea level. “Nikasitimos was here mounting Timiona” (Νικασίτιμος οἶφε Τιμίονα), noted the inscription.

In addition to illuminating the intimate lives of the ancients, the graffiti demonstrated the degree of literacy at a period before the construction of the Acropolis in Athens.

The graffiti is written in the Greek alphabet, which was first developed in the 8th century BCE. It is written in a style known as “rustic,” which was popular in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE.

The letters have been expertly carved into the rock, demonstrating that regular island residents were also trained in the art of writing, in addition to philosophers, academics, and historians.

Remarkably, the erotic rock carvings have survived despite remaining exposed all these millennia to weather and erosion from the sea.

Cover Photo: Helena Smith

Related Articles

New Archaeological Discovery Extends Human Settlement of Kodiak Island by 7,800 Years

26 August 2025

26 August 2025

Archaeologists at the Alagnaruartuliq site (KAR-00064) on Kodiak Island’s Karluk Lake have uncovered evidence of one of the oldest known...

New Discoveries on the İsland of Skokholm

29 March 2021

29 March 2021

New discoveries dating back 9000 years have been found in Skokholm, located in the Celtic Sea two miles off the...

4,500-Year-Old Idols Discovered at Tavşanlı Höyük in Western Anatolia

16 September 2025

16 September 2025

Archaeologists in Türkiye have uncovered a remarkable set of artifacts at Tavşanlı Höyük (Tavşanlı Mound), one of the largest Bronze...

Ancient City Cistern Found Near Croatia’s Iconic Fountain

15 February 2024

15 February 2024

An island-speckled coastline and ancient walled towns place Croatia among the world’s best-beauty cities. But there’s even more to this...

Burial Cave in Israel May Belong to Herodian Princess Salome: From Royal Tomb to Christian and Islamic Pilgrimage Site

6 July 2025

6 July 2025

A recently reexamined Second Temple-period burial cave in southern Israel—long revered as the resting place of a Christian saint—may actually...

Israeli researchers create AI to translate ancient cuneiform Akkadian texts

4 May 2023

4 May 2023

Israeli experts have created a program to translate an ancient language that is difficult to decipher, allowing automatic and accurate...

Arrowhead from the Biblical Battle Discovered in the Hometown of the Giant Goliath’s

30 May 2021

30 May 2021

A bone arrowhead discovered in the ancient Philistine city of Gath might have been used fired off by the city’s...

Early Iron Age cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare textile fragments found in Austria

9 July 2023

9 July 2023

Archeologists from the Vienna Natural History Museum (NHM), a cremation burial containing bronze jewelry and rare surviving textile fragments have...

An architectural gem from the medieval monastery of Posa, Germany

26 July 2023

26 July 2023

Archaeological excavations have been taking place on the Posaer Berg (Posa Hill) near Zeitz (Burgenland) every year since 2017. They...

1,800-Year-Old Sanctuary to Mithras discovered in Spain

8 February 2023

8 February 2023

Archaeologists excavating at Villa del Mitra in Cabra, Spain, have uncovered a sanctuary dedicated to the god Mithras, along with...

Europe’s Oldest Plough Marks Discovered in Switzerland and Testifying the Use of Animals in Agriculture 7000 Years Ago

8 March 2024

8 March 2024

Excavations at the Anciens Arsenaux site in Sion, Switzerland, researchers revealed evidence that Neolithic farmers used animal traction to pull...

Coin hoard found in fireplace ‘belonging to Scottish clan chief’ murdered at infamous Glencoe Massacre

17 October 2023

17 October 2023 1

Coins believed to have belonged to a Scottish clan chief murdered in an infamous 17th-century Glencoe massacre, have been found...

5500-year-old city gate unearthed in Israel -the earliest known in the Land of Israel-

15 August 2023

15 August 2023

The Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday that archaeologists have discovered the earliest known ancient gate in the land of...

The ashes of 8,000 victims were found in two mass graves near the Soldau concentration camp in Poland

14 July 2022

14 July 2022

Polish authorities said they had unearthed two mass graves near the former Nazi concentration camp Soldau containing the ashes of...

A Nymphaeum was discovered in the ancient Thracian city of Perperikon

18 August 2023

18 August 2023

New researchs uncovered a huge monumental sanctuary of water (Nymphaeum) above the reservoir in the southern quarter of Perperikon. Professor...