Miniature shield with gorgoneion as emblem in its centre and a dedicatory inscription around its circumference and body. The inscription ΦΡΥΓΙΑ ⋮ ΑΝΕΘΕΚΕ ΜΕ ΤΑΘΕΝΑΙΑΙ ΗΕ ΑΡΤΟΠΟΛΙ[Σ] reads “Phrygia the bread-seller dedicated me to Athena”.
The name Phrygia denotes the dedicator’s origin from Phrygia in Asia Minor as well as her status as a metic in the city of Athens. This dedication is one of the few on the Acropolis that reveals the profession of the dedicant, let alone the fact that she is a woman.
In ancient Athens women of the poorest strata needed to work outside of the household, usually in production and trade. They sold their goods going around the city or at a stand in the market. They sold food, like bread, fruit, vegetables, legumes and honey, as well as cloth, fibres, fragrances and flowers. According to the relevant literary evidence, bread-seller had a rather bad reputation as they were vulgar and usually Athenians talked disparagingly about them. This bread-seller did not hesitate to mention her profession, perhaps because she thought that the name Phrygia directing to her home country was not enough for the goddess to recognise the dedicator.
Bather, A.G., «The Bronze Fragments of the Acropolis», Journal of Hellenic Studies 13, 1892/93, σελ. 128, εικ. 7, αρ. κατ. 60 De Ridder, A., Bronzes Trouvés sur l' Acropole d'Athènes, Paris, 1896, σελ. 92-93, εικ. 60, αρ. κατ. 264 Lolling, H, Κατάλογος του εν Αθήναις Επιγραφικού Μουσείου, Αθήνα, 1899, σελ. 13, αρ. κατ. XLIV Inscriptiones Graecae I2 , αρ. κατ. 444 Inscriptiones Graecae Ι3 , αρ. κατ. 546 Osborne, M.J., Byrne, S.J., A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names II: Attica, Oxford, 1994, σελ. Φρυγία Wagner, C., Dedication Practices on the Athenian Acropolis, 8th to 4th centuries B.C, University of Oxford, 1997, σελ. 163, 168 Hurwit, J.M., The Athenian Acropolis, History, Mythology and archaeology from Neolithic Era to the Present, Cambridge, 1999, σελ. 60, 126, 336 υποσημ. 151 Kilian-Dirlmeier, I., Kleinfunde aus dem Athena Itonia-Heiligtum bei Philia, Monographien des Römisch-Germanischen Zentralmuseums 48, 2002, σελ. 272, εικ. 3 Βλασσοπούλου, Χ., Αττικοί ανάγλυφοι πίνακες της Αρχαϊκής εποχής, Αθήνα, 2003, σελ. 37 υποσημ. 87, 62 Scholl, A., «Die Akropolisvotive aus dem 8. bis frühen 6. Jahrhundert v.Chr. und die Staatswerdung Athens», Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 121, 2006, σελ. 134-135, 158, εικ. 55, αρ. κατ. 125 Καλτσάς, Ν., Shapiro, A. (επιμ.), Γυναικών λατρείες. Τελετουργίες και καθημερινότητα στην κλασική Αθήνα, Onassis Cultural Center, Νέα Υόρκη, 10 Δεκεμβρίου 2008 - 9 Μαΐου 2009, Νέα Υόρκη, 2009, σελ. 64-65, αρ. κατ. 23 Avramidou, A., Women Dedicators on the Athenian Acropolis and their Role in Family Festivals: The Evidence for Maternal Votives between 530-450 BCE, 2015, https://mondesanciens.revues.org/1365, σελ. 3, 8 Sawtell, C., Non-Citizen Commemoration in Fifth and Fourth Century BC Attica (διδακτορική διατριβή), Sheffield, 2018, σελ. 147-148 Gillis A.-C., Des dieux dans le four. Enquête archéologique sur les pratiques religieuses du monde artisanal en Grèce ancienne, Archaiologia, Villeneuve d'Ascq, 2021, σελ. 45, εικ. 1, αρ. κατ. C8