Rare examples of Phoenician and Greek epigraphy are found in the western Mediterranean from the ninth and eighth centuries BC (e.g. the "Nora stele", a Phoenician text on Sardinia, perhaps ninth century BC; the so-called "Nestor's cup" from Ischia, a Greek text engraved on a Greek vase in the later eighth century BC).
Greek inscriptions are first found on Sicily c.600 BC, around a century after the first Greek settlers arrived on the island, and provide important evidence for early Greek (see fig. no.3). Phoenician inscriptions are found on the island (mostly at Mozia) from perhaps the fifth century onwards (see fig. no.2). Sikel inscriptions are rare, but are found in the east of the island in the sixth and fifth centuries BC, inspired by the appearance of Greek epigraphy (see inscription 1).