Malis: a new Lydian goddess

The authors will present a new edition of a Lydian-Greek bilingual inscription from the Temple of Athena at Pergamon (LW 40). This badly weathered inscription can now be fully deciphered for the first time since its discovery. As has long been suspected, the inscription records the Lydian name of the Greek goddess Athena, although not in the word so far identified as variants of ‘Athena’ but in a previously undeciphered word.The Lydian goddess carries the name of Malis. This divine name is also attested in Greek transmission as Μαλίς, where it refers to an obscure deity. It is found in Greek poetry, such as in Hipponax of Ephesus, Theocritus and in a fragment of a Lesbian poem. From an Anatolian perspective, Malis can be equated with the Luwian goddess Malija found in Hittite transmission in the second millennium B.C., and also in Lycian inscriptions of the classical period. The new readings of the Lydian-Greek bilingual and, consequently, the discovery of a new Lydian goddess offer a significant contribution to our understanding of Lydian religion. Furthermore, it demonstrates the perpetuation of the ancient Anatolian goddess Malija in Classical Lydia, and provides both background and context for the name Malis in Greek sources.