Inscriptions

Greek inscriptions begin with the Linear B syllabic writings of the Bronze Age and continue in the first millennium b. c.e. in the Greek alphabet derived largely from Phoenicia. They provide important historical evidence, particularly in earlier periods when few books were written.

Date: From the second millennium b. c.e.

Category: Language; literature

Summary The ancient Greeks wrote on stone and metal. The study of inscriptions, called epigraphy, from Greek words meaning “written upon,” begins with the Greeks themselves, who published collections of inscriptions, continuing without interruption since the Renaissance. At the beginning of the twentieth century, archaeologists discovered, in Crete and certain Greek cities, pre-alphabetic inscriptions dating from the second millennium b. c.e. Some of them were classified as Linear B and later deciphered as early Greek with each syllable denoted by a separate letter; the content, entirely lists and inventories, gives some idea of the economy and society of Bronze Age Greece.

The Greek alphabet as it is known today, derived from the Phoenicians with some changes, first appeared about 750 b. c.e. The earliest inscriptions are brief and devoted predominantly to proper names, as on tombstones. Dialectical variations are considerable, and some inscriptions read right to left, others alternately left to right and right to left, a practice called bous-trophedon (ox-plowing).

After 400 b. c.e., inscriptions become more numerous, appearing on bronze and even gold as well as on stone; dialectical variations of decrease and elaborate forms of lettering often appear, sometimes in a right-angled grid pattern called stoichedon. With the rise of democracy, the demand was made in many Greek cities for the laws to be available to all citizens; consequently, the full text of decrees, law codes, and treaties were carved on the walls of central areas of Greek cities. However, the number of inscriptions

A stone tablet with a Greek inscription. (Library of Congress)

Vary greatly from city to city. More than seven thousand have been discovered in Athens, only seven in Corinth; thus far more is known about Athens than about other cities. Religious inscriptions, revealing much about worship and mythology, abound in the fifth century b. c.e. and later.

After the time of Alexander the Great, in the fourth century b. c.e., Greek inscriptions appear in the Middle East, including Egypt, where monarchy was the predominant political form. Many of these inscriptions are royal dedications, kings often being considered divine. The writing of Greek inscriptions continued with relatively few changes after the Roman conquest of Egypt in 31 b. c.e., changing substantially in content only after the adoption of Christianity some three centuries later.

Significance Modern society owes much knowledge of Greek civilization to these inscriptions, notably regarding historical periods when no or

Few books were written.

Further Reading

Bodel, John P., ed. Epigraphic Evidence: Ancient History from Inscriptions. New York: Routledge, 2001.

McLean, Bradley H. An Introduction to Greek Epigraphy of the Hellenistic and Roman Periods from Alexander the Great down to the Reign of Constantine, 323 B. C.-A. D. 337. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002.

Rhodes, P. J., and Robin Osborne, eds. Greek Historical Inscriptions, 404323 B. C. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.

Stephen A. Stertz

See also: Language and Dialects; Linear B; Literary Papyri; Literature;

Writing Systems.