Construction work on the huge temple of Apollo continued for many years, and this report covers just one year of the work. As well as the temple, the builders were asked to construct an "altar of Basileia"; this was apparently for Aphrodite Basileia.
The inscription was first published, with a German translation and commentary, by W. Günther & S. Prignitz, "Ein neuer Jahresbericht über Baumaßnahmen am Tempel des Apollon von Didyma" ( PDF ). The date depends on estimating the year in which Minnion was stephanephoros; the date shown here is the latest estimate, as reported in SEG.
In the year of Minnion as stephanephoros, when the architect was Demetrios, son of Gorgos. Account rendered for the construction work. Artemon, son of Dionysius, was in charge of the construction of the temple of Apollo at Didyma. Regarding the transport at the very beginning of the year, in the month [of Taureon], we took on [twenty ?] slaves for the cornice blocks and assigned the slaves to the work delegated 10 by the foreman Apollas, from the tenth of the month of Thargelion to the [thirtieth], for the building of the temple; and we have dressed the stones on the walls of the precinct. Furthermore, in the twenty-eighth course, [they have] placed a total of two hundred and forty-nine blocks [of marble], making five thousand five hundred and three cubic feet and three cubic spans.
We have also placed one hundred and thirty-two blocks of limestone, making two thousand one hundred and seventy-two and a half cubic feet. They also quarried 20 two thousand two hundred and fifty cubic feet of limestone blocks.
We have also built an altar of Basileia in the open ground: in this we have placed forty-five cubic feet of limestone blocks, and also we have placed eighteen blocks of marble in it, making one hundred cubic feet. In total we placed two hundred and sixty-seven blocks of marble, making five thousand six hundred and three and a half cubic feet.
Four thousand three hundred and ninety-four cubic [feet] of marble were also carried down from the quarries to Ioniapolis 30 by carts.
In addition, five thousand seven hundred cubic feet of blocks of marble were carried up from Panormos to the sanctuary. Also, two thousand two hundred and twenty cubic feet of limestone blocks were brought into the sanctuary from the oak copse
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