Epigraphy (from the Greek Greek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical ancient Greek literature and the New Testament of: ἐπιγραφή epi-graphē, literally "on-writing", "inscription"[1]) is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes A grapheme is a fundamental unit in a written language. Examples of graphemes include alphabetic letters, Chinese characters, numerical digits, punctuation marks, and the individual symbols of any of the world's writing systems and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be deduced concerning the writing and the writers. Specifically excluded from epigraphy is the historical significance of an epigraph as a document A document , is a bounded physical or digital representation of a body of information designed with the capacity (and usually intent) to communicate. A document may manifest symbolic, diagrammatic or sensory-representational information. To document (verb) is to produce a document artifact by collecting and representing information. In or the artistic value of a literary Literature,, is the art of written works. Literally translated, the word means acquaintance with letters (as in the Arts and Letters"). In Western culture the most basic written literary types include fiction and nonfiction composition.

A person utilizing the methods of epigraphy is called an epigrapher or epigraphist. For example, the Behistun inscription The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the city of Kermanshah in western Iran is an official document A document , is a bounded physical or digital representation of a body of information designed with the capacity (and usually intent) to communicate. A document may manifest symbolic, diagrammatic or sensory-representational information. To document (verb) is to produce a document artifact by collecting and representing information. In of the Achaemenid Empire The Achaemenid Empire , also known as the Persian Empire, was the successor state of the Median Empire, ruling over significant portions of what would become Greater Iran. The Persian and the Median Empire taken together are also known as the Medo-Persian Empire, which encompassed the combined territories of several earlier empires engraved on native rock at a location in Iran Iran (Persian: ایران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and formerly known as Persia, is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was widely known as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are. Epigraphists are responsible for reconstructing, translating and dating the trilingual inscription and finding any relevant circumstances. It is the work of historians A historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time. If the individual is concerned with events preceding written history, the, however, to determine and interpret the events recorded by the inscription as document. Often epigraphy and history are competences practiced by the same person.

An epigraph is any sort of text, from a single grapheme (such as marks on a pot that abbreviate the name of the merchant who shipped commodities in the pot) to a lengthy document (such as a treaty, a work of literature, or a hagiographic Hagiography is the study of saints. A hagiography, from the Greek (h)ağios (ἅγιος, "holy" or "saint") and graphē (γραφή, "writing"), refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of ecclesiastical and secular leaders. The term hagiology, the study of prescription). Epigraphy overlaps other competences such as numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. While numismatists are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, the discipline also includes the broader study of money and other payment media used to resolve debts and the exchange of goods. Lacking a structured monetary or palaeography Palaeography, also spelt paleography, παλαιός palaiós, "old" and γράφειν graphein, "to write") is the study of ancient handwriting and the practice of deciphering and reading historical manuscripts. Most inscriptions are short compared to books. The media and the forms of the graphemes can be any whatever: engravings Engraving was a historically important method of producing images on paper, both in artistic printmaking, and also for commercial reproductions and illustrations for books and magazines. It has long been replaced by photography in its commercial applications and, partly because of the difficulty of learning the technique, is much less common in in stone or metal, scratches on rock, impressions in wax, embossing Repoussé (French pronunciation: [ʀəpuse] ) or repoussage [ʀəpusaʒ] ( listen) is a metalworking technique in which a malleable metal is ornamented or shaped by hammering from the reverse side. There are few techniques that offer such diversity of expression while still being relatively economical. Chasing is the opposite technique to repoussé on cast metal, cameo Cameo is a method of carving, or an object such as an engraved gem, item of jewellery or vessel made in this manner. It nearly always features a raised relief image; contrast with intaglio, which has a negative image. Originally, and still in discussing historical work, cameo only referred to works where the relief image was of a contrasting or intaglio An engraved gem is a small gemstone, usually semi-precious, that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major luxury art form in the ancient world, and an important one in some later periods. Strictly speaking, engraving means carving in intaglio, with the on precious stones, painting on ceramic A ceramic is an inorganic, non-metallic solid prepared by the action of heat and subsequent cooling. Ceramic materials may have a crystalline or partly crystalline structure, or may be amorphous . Because most common ceramics are crystalline, the definition of ceramic is often restricted to inorganic crystalline materials, as opposed to the non- or in fresco Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco [afˈfresːko] which derives from the Germanic-derived adjective frisch ("fresh"). Frescoes were often made during the Renaissance and other early time periods. Typically the material is durable, but the durability might be an accident of circumstance, such as the baking of a clay tablet in a conflagration. Modern inscriptions might be chalk graffiti Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property. Graffiti is any type of public markings that may appear in the forms of simple written words to elaborate wall paintings. Graffiti has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. In on a sidewalk, skywriting Skywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground. The message can be a frivolous or generally meaningless greeting or phrase, an advertisement aimed at everyone in the vicinity, a general public display of celebration or, a tracing with the finger in the condensed moisture from a breath on glass, or in criminology Criminology is the scientific study of the nature, extent, causes, and control of criminal behavior in both the individual and in society. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in the behavioral sciences, drawing especially upon the research of sociologists (particularly in the sociology of deviance), social anthropologists and psychologists, less propitious media.[dubious – discuss] Traces of such temporary epigraphs preserved by chance are often of great interest.

Contents

Scope

Epigraphy is a primary tool of archaeology Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of past human societies, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data which they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes. Due to the fact that archaeology employs a wide range of different procedures, it can be when dealing with literate cultures. The US Library of Congress classifies epigraphy as one of the auxiliary sciences of history. Epigraphy also helps identify a forgery Forgery is the process of making, adapting, or imitating objects, statistics, or documents , with the intent to deceive. The similar crime of fraud is the crime of deceiving another, including through the use of objects obtained through forgery. Copies, studio replicas, and reproductions are not considered forgeries, though they may later become: epigraphic evidence formed part of the discussion concerning the James Ossuary The James Ossuary is a limestone box for containing bones, which came to light in Israel in 2002. It is claimed to have been the ossuary of James the Just, the brother of Jesus. Its provenance is unknown. Although the Israel Antiquities Authority assess it as a modern forgery, some scholars maintain its historical authenticity. Its discovery was.

The study of ancient handwriting Penmanship or handwriting is the art of writing with the hand and a writing instrument. Styles of handwriting are also called hands or scripts, usually in ink, is a separate field, palaeography Palaeography, also spelt paleography, παλαιός palaiós, "old" and γράφειν graphein, "to write") is the study of ancient handwriting and the practice of deciphering and reading historical manuscripts.

The character of the writing, the subject of epigraphy, is a matter quite separate from the nature of the text, which is studied in itself. Texts inscribed in stone are usually for public view and so they are essentially different from the written texts of each culture. Not all inscribed texts are public, however: in Mycenaean Greece Mycenaean Greece is a cultural period of Ancient Greece taking its name from the archaeological site of Mycenae in northeastern Argolis, in the Peloponnese of southern Greece. Athens, Pylos, Thebes, and Tiryns are also important Mycenaean sites. The last phase of the Bronze Age in Ancient Greece, it is the historical setting of much ancient Greek the deciphered texts of "Linear B Linear B is a syllabic script that was used for writing Mycenaean Greek, an early form of Greek. It predated the Greek alphabet by several centuries and seems to have died out with the fall of Mycenaean civilization. Most of the tablets inscribed in Linear B were found in Knossos, Cydonia, Pylos, Thebes and Mycenae. The succeeding period, known as" were revealed to be largely used for economic and administrative record keeping. Informal inscribed texts are "graffiti" in its original sense.

History

The high medieval Prüfening dedicatory inscription, composed in Latin Latin or sometimes Roman is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Although often considered a dead language, in view of the fact that it has no native, fluent speakers, Latin continues to be taught in schools and has been, and currently is, used in the process of new word production in modern languages from many and stamped in Roman square capitals Roman square capitals, also called inscriptional capitals, elegant capitals and quadrata, are an ancient Roman form of writing, and the basis for modern capital letters

The science of epigraphy has been developing steadily since the 16th century. Principles of epigraphy vary culture by culture, and the infant science in European hands concentrated on Latin inscriptions at first. Individual contributions have been made by epigraphers such as Georg Fabricius (1516–1571); August Wilhelm Zumpt August Wilhelm Zumpt was a German classical scholar, known chiefly in connection with Latin epigraphy. He was a nephew of Karl Gottlob Zumpt (1815–1877); Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician, archaeologist, and writer generally regarded as the greatest classicist of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1902, (1817–1903); Emil Hübner He was born at Düsseldorf, the son of the historical painter Julius Hübner , After studying at Berlin and Bonn, he travelled extensively with a view to antiquarian and epigraphical researches. The results of these travels were published in several important works: Inscriptiones Hispaniae Latinae (1869, supplement 1892), I.H. Christianas (1871, (1834–1901); Franz Cumont (1868–1947); Louis Robert Louis Robert was a professor of Greek history and Epigraphy at the Collège de France, and author of many volumes and articles on Greek epigraphy (of all periods, from the archaic period to Late Antiquity), numismatics, and the historical geography of Greek lands. Robert studied at the École Normale Supérieure from 1924-1927, was a member of the (1904–1985).

The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive offline collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history. The Corpus continues to be updated in new editions and, begun by Mommsen and other scholars, has been published in Berlin since 1863, with wartime interruptions. It is the largest and most extensive collection of Latin inscriptions. New fascicles A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of paper, parchment, or other various material, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf, and each side of a leaf is called a page. A book produced in electronic format is known as an electronic book are still produced as the recovery of inscriptions continues. The Corpus is arranged geographically: all inscriptions from Rome are contained in volume 6. This volume has the greatest number of inscriptions; volume 6, part 8, fascicle 3 was just recently published (2000). Specialists depend on such on-going series of volumes in which newly discovered inscriptions are published, often in Latin, not unlike the biologists' Zoological Record— the raw material of history.

Greek epigraphy has unfolded in the hands of a different team, with different corpora In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts (now usually electronically stored and processed). They are used to do statistical analysis and hypothesis testing, checking occurrences or validating linguistic rules on a specific universe. There are two. The first is Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum of which four volumes came out, again at Berlin, 1825-1877. This marked a first attempt at a comprehensive publication of Greek inscriptions copied from all over the Greek-speaking world. Only advanced students still consult it, for better editions of the texts have superseded it. The second, modern corpus is Inscriptiones Graecae The Inscriptiones Graecae (Latin for Greek inscriptions), is an academic project originally begun by the Prussian Academy of Science, and today continued by its successor organisation, the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Its aim is to collect and publish all known ancient inscriptions from the mainland and islands of Greece arranged geographically under categories: decrees, catalogues, honorary titles, funeral inscriptions, various., all presented in Latin, to preserve the international neutrality of the field of classics Classics is the branch of the Humanities comprising the languages, literature, philosophy, history, art, archaeology and other culture of the ancient Mediterranean world (Bronze Age ca. BC 3000 – Late Antiquity ca. AD 300–600); especially Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome during Classical Antiquity (ca. BC 600 – AD 600). Initially, study of.

Other such series include the Corpus Inscriptionum Etruscarum (Etruscan inscriptions), Corpus Inscriptionum Crucesignatorum Terrae Sanctae (Crusaders' inscriptions), Corpus Inscriptionum Insularum Celticarum, (Celtic inscriptions), Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum (Iranian inscriptions) and so forth.

Egyptian hieroglyphs were solved using the Rosetta Stone The Rosetta Stone is an Ancient Egyptian artifact which provided the key to modern understanding of Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is a fragment from a larger stele, with an inscription recording a decree that was issued at Memphis in 196 BCE on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three texts: one in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, one in the, which was a multilingual stele in Classical Greek, Demotic Egyptian and Classical Egyptian hieroglyphs. The work was done by the French scholar, Jean-François Champollion Jean-François Champollion was a French classical scholar, philologist and orientalist, decipherer of the Egyptian hieroglyphs, and the British scientist Thomas Young.

The interpretation of Maya hieroglyphs has lost as a result of the Spanish Conquest of Central America. Recent work by Maya archaeologists and art historians have yielded some information on this complex language.[2]

See also

Related fields of study

Types of inscription

Notable inscriptions

References

  1. ^ "Epigraph". Online Etymology Dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=epigraph.
  2. ^ Coe, Michael D. (1992). Breaking the Maya Code. London: Thames & Hudson. ISBN 0-500-05061-9. OCLC 26605966.

External links

Look up epigraphy or inscription in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Epigraphy.

Categories: Historiography | Archaeological sub-disciplines | Inscriptions | Greek loanwords

 

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