Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the writing and the writers.
Specifically excluded from epigraphy are the historical significance of an epigraph as a document and the artistic value of a literary composition. A person using the methods of epigraphy is called an epigrapher or epigraphist. For example, the Behistun inscription is an official document of the Achaemenid Empire engraved on native rock at a location in Iran. Epigraphists are responsible for reconstructing, translating, and dating the trilingual inscription and finding any relevant circumstances. It is the work of historians, however, to determine and interpret the events recorded by the inscription as document. Often, epigraphy and history are competences practised by the same person.
Epigraphy is a primary tool of archaeology 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: epigraphic evidence formed part of the discussion concerning the James Ossuary.
An epigraph (not to be confused with epigram) 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 treatise, a work of literature, or a hagiographic inscription). Epigraphy overlaps other competences such as numismatics or palaeography. When compared to books, most inscriptions are short. The media and the forms of the graphemes are diverse: engravings in stone or metal, scratches on rock, impressions in wax, embossing on cast metal, cameo or intaglio on precious stones, painting on ceramic or in fresco. 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.
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 the deciphered texts of "Linear B" were revealed to be largely used for economic and administrative record keeping. Informal inscribed texts are "graffiti" in its original sense.
The study of ideographic inscriptions, that is inscriptions representing an idea or concept, may also be called ideography. The German equivalent Sinnbildforschung was a scientific discipline in the Third Reich, but was later dismissed as being highly ideological.Mees, Bernard Thomas, The Science of the Swastika, Budapest / New York 2008. Epigraphic research overlaps with the study of petroglyphs, which deals with specimens of pictographic, ideographic and logographic writing. The study of ancient handwriting, usually in ink, is a separate field, palaeography. Epigraphy also differs from iconography, as it confines itself to meaningful symbols containing messages, rather than dealing with images.
History
The science of epigraphy has been developing steadily since the 16th century. Principles of epigraphy vary culture by culture, and the infant science in Europe initially concentrated on Latin inscriptions. Individual contributions have been made by epigraphers such as Georg Fabricius (1516–1571); Stefano Antonio Morcelli (1737–1822); Luigi Gaetano Marini (1742–1815); August Wilhelm Zumpt (1815–1877); Theodor Mommsen (1817–1903); Emil Hübner (1834–1901); Franz Cumont (1868–1947); Louis Robert (1904–1985).
The , 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 are still produced as the recovery of inscriptions continues. The 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. There are two. The first is 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 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.
Other such series include the (Etruscan inscriptions), (Crusaders' inscriptions), (Celtic inscriptions), (Iranian inscriptions), "Royal Inscriptions of Mesopotamia" and "Royal Inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian Period" (Sumerian and Akkadian inscriptions) and so forth.
Egyptian hieroglyphs were solved using the Rosetta Stone, 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, and the British scientist Thomas Young.
The interpretation of Maya hieroglyphs was lost as a result of the Spanish Conquest of Central America. However, recent work by Maya epigraphers and linguists has yielded a considerable amount of information on this complex writing system.
Form
Materials and technique Multiple methods have existed historically for epigraphical recording. For centuries, epigraphers relied upon manual recording techniques.
One of the most important was the production of squeezes, whereby damp paper was pressed into the engraved surface and allowed to dry, creating a negative impression of the text. Ink rubbings, widely employed in East Asian epigraphy, similarly captured inscriptions by highlighting carved characters against the surrounding surface. Hand copies and measured drawings supplemented these techniques, allowing scholars to preserve inscriptions that might later deteriorate or become inaccessible. These methods remain valuable into the 21st century, particularly where advanced equipment is unavailable.
Digital technologies have transformed modern epigraphy. High-resolution digital photography, and three-dimensional scanning now enable researchers to create detailed virtual models of inscriptions. Structured-light scanning and laser scanning can also now record surfaces with sub-millimetre precision. These techniques are particularly effective in recovering texts that have become unreadable through erosion or damage. Recent research has highlighted the value of digital documentation and traceological analysis in identifying carving techniques and reconstructing the processes by which inscriptions were created.
Squeeze Paper A squeeze or squeeze paper is a reverse copy of an inscription, made by applying moist filter paper and pushing into the indentations by percussive use of a stiff brush. The paper is allowed to dry and then removed. The image is reversed from the inscription, and protrudes from the squeeze paper. The use of a squeeze allows more information to be gleaned than examining the original inscription, for example curves inside the cuts can identify the scribe who originally carved the inscription.
Squeezes can also be made by applying layers of liquid latex. This method works best on horizontal surfaces.
Large collections of squeezes are held by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities and other epigraphic collections.
Estampage Estampage is a method of retrieving an inscription by making an impression of the inscription onto inked paper. It comes from the French word for artistic stamping. It is a method used extensively within East Asia.
Estampage is typically obtained by pressing wet paper on to the rock face, over which any ink material (usually, coal or Indian ink) is wiped.
A representative procedure is:
Soak a brush in water Clean the surface of the stone (that holds the inscription) using the brush. Carpet the stone surface using a large piece of wet paper (or layers of paper) Pat the wet paper(s) gently, using a dabber made of soft material. Use Indian ink (usually black-colored) to smear the paper with the dabber, in order to get the impression of the surface. Allow the paper to dry on the stone surface. When the paper becomes dry, take it off slowly. Observe and verify the ink impression (estampage) emerging as white-colored letters (grooves of the characters) against the dark (black) background.
In India, estampages have been made for numerous items and inscriptions of archaeological significance. These include:
Edicts of Ashoka and Estampages of Girnar Edicts Syriac/Pahlavi inscriptions of Kerala
In 2016, the epigraphy branch of the ASI Southern Zone opened a new, permanent museum and exhibition of estampages named Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch Memorial Museum and Epigraphical Photo Exhibition at the historic Fort St. George at Chennai, South India. This museum is named after E. Hultzsch, a German epigraphist and Indologist renowned for understanding and deciphering the ancient inscriptions of Ashoka, as part of his 159th birthday celebrations.
Stone rubbing
Stone rubbing is another technique used in transcribing inscriptions, however as it can cause damage to the monuments through abrasion, it is discouraged.
Content
Greek inscriptions
Political and social
Codes of law and regulations Ancient writers state that the earliest laws of Athens were inscribed upon tablets of wood assembled in a pyramidal shape.
These, owing to their material, have perished.
There are early codes of law preserved on stone, notably at Gortyna in Crete. Here an inscription of great length is incised on the slabs of a theatre-shaped structure in 12 columns of 50 lines each; it is mainly concerned with the law of inheritance, adoption, etc. Doubtless similar inscriptions were set up in many places in Greece. An interesting series of inscriptions deals with the conditions under which colonists were sent out from various cities, and the measures that were taken to secure their rights as citizens. A bronze tablet records in some detail the arrangements of this sort made when Locrians established a colony in Naupactus; another inscription relates to the Athenian colonisation of Salamis, in the 6th century BC.
Decrees of people and rulers, later of kings and emperors