Epigraphy is the study of texts and related symbolic communications (e.g., graffitti, mason’s marks and the like) inscribed or incised into durable materials like stone or metal. Epigraphic texts (also referred to as “inscriptions”) are important sources for the study of ancient geography, providing the names of communities and their peoples as well as a variety of other essential information. This topic provides links to articles on the AWMC website related to the study of epigraphy in the context of ancient geography. For more general information on epigraphical studies, consult the extensive collection of links at the website of the American Society of Greek and Latin Epigraphy.
Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy
The journal Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy is devoted to studies in archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, and early history of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen, from prehistory through the middle ages. [ read article ]
Epigrafia romana (Angela Donati)
Leonard Rutgers reviews
A. Donati, Epigrafia
romana. La communicazione nell’antichità (Bologna: Il Mulino, 2002),
ISBN: 8815086366.
for the Bryn Mawr Classical
Review: ... a concise
and very readable introduction to Roman epigraphy that is geared towards undergraduate
students with no prior knowledge ....
1
[ read article ]
Epigraphy Room
A special room in Davis Library contains a basic reference library of books (drawn from the library collection) and some journals that pertain to the disciplines of epigraphy and palaeography. [ read article ]
First inscription naming Londinium?
On 11 October 2002 various news
agencies reported that archaeologists excavating a site in Southwark had unearthed a marble plaque inscribed with what may be the
earliest known epigraphic attestation of London’s Latin name from the environs of the capital itself ... The
stone bears a religious dedication by an individual who describes himself by the mysterious title of
moritix Londiniensium
.
2 (
S. Corcoran, B. Salway and P. Salway for the British Epigraphy Society Newsletter n.s. 8 (Autumn 2002), 10-12). [ read article ]
Hispania Epigraphica 10
By way of a notice to the inscriptiones-l discussion list, Jose d'Encarnação has alerted us to the publication of volume 10 of the serial Hispania Epigraphica. I have taken the liberty of translating his entire announcement [ read article ]
The Inscription on the Moorlands Patera
In July 2003, the Portable Antiquities Scheme in the U.K. announced the discovery by amateur metal detectorists in the county of Staffordshire of a well-preserved, enameled alloy pan (or patera), which was inscribed with a text of geographical importance. The “Moorlands patera ” is one of three extant examples of inscribed cups — perhaps commemorative souvenirs — carrying the names of certain western forts along Hadrian’s Wall. Contrary to prior published speculation, a problematic string of characters in the cup’s inscription should be taken, not as a heretofore unknown placename, but as a phrase indicating that the other places named were to be found “along the path of the wall.”
Update: other scholars have reached the same conclusion and, moreover, one is arguing an interpretation that may give us our first attestation of an ancient proper name for Hadrian’s Wall. [ read article ]
Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project
The Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project is an NSF-funded effort to advance the study of the fragmentary, early third-century AD ‘Severan Marble Plan’ of Rome. [ read article ]
