among the most interesting monuments of ancient eretria is the iseion, a temple sacred to the goddess isis and other egyptian deities. situated to the south of the town, between the baths and the lower gymnasium or the palaistra (wrestling area), it extends behind the small harbour, a detail that correlates the temenos with merchants who had their interests in eretria. according to excavation and inscription testimonies, the temple was probably built in the fourth century bc and was surrounded by other edifices and auxiliary spaces. the initiation to the cult of isis and the egyptian deities occurred during the hellenistic period by greek merchants who came to greece from egypt after the unification of the then known world by alexander the great. their worship in eretria has also been attested by inscriptions, of which the most important is set on a limestone block to the left of the prodomos (anteroom) before the cella.