The Gortyna Code

. The longest inscription in the ancient world is the fascinating Gortyna Code found at the ancient city of Gortynon the island of Crete.

While it dates from the Hellenic period, this long document detailing the legal rights of the citizenry is believed to retain some of the spirit of the law code of Rhadamanthys, once a king of Crete and later, a judge of the dead and ruler of the Elysian fields.

One of the "highlights" of the Code - visible changes in the inscription style gradually diminishing some of the legal rights for women, who once enjoyed complete equality -some say superiority- on Crete during the Minoan period a thousand years previously.

Pictured: the archways of the building built to protect the remaining blocks of the Law Code of Gortyn.