[1] Dated form c. 500 BC, it bears a one-line inscription in Doric Greek, which reads "sacred to the Athena of Megara" (Αθαναιας : ιαρα : τας Μhεγαροι, Athanaias : iara : tas Mhegaroi).

On the basis of the reference to Megara and its well-known sanctuary of Athena, its provenance is usually assumed to be of that city, situated in southern Greece,[4][5][6] and it is dated to the early part of the fifth century.

Among the characteristics of its writing system is an archaic, B-like glyph shape for the letter E (epsilon), a feature found regularly in early inscriptions from Megara and nearby Corinth.

[7][8] However, James L. O'Neil,[9] following Hammond and Griffith,[10] conjectures that the inscription could also have been written locally in Macedonia.

O'Neil argues that there is evidence that a place in Macedonia was also called Megara, something that is also supported by Plutarch's records,[11] and that the inscription fails to display the specifically Megarian archaic shape of Epsilon.