Concept in Definition ABC

The Epigraphy is a science whose mission is to know and interpret the inscriptions that our ancestors have made opportunely in some structure or surface.

Discipline that deals with studying and interpreting inscriptions that ancestors made on structures and surfaces

When we speak of inscriptions we are referring to any writing made, whether in stone, metal, or any other material plausible to be written and that past civilizations used to express themselves.

Although it is an autonomous science, it also turns out to be an ally and auxiliary of History, since it facilitates the study of inscriptions made on hard materials such as bones, stones, metal, the wood and ceramics, among others. Meanwhile, to carry out this question, it will establish methodologies of interpretation.

The ultimate goal proposed by Epigraphy interpreting the inscriptions is to obtain the highest amount of possible data about them, who made them, when, where, how, among others considerations.

Essential tool for other disciplines such as history and archeology

According to what international conventions establish, the fact of having epigraphy Its own is the signal that confirms the passage of a culture from prehistoric to historical, for example.

Although we mention history, as the science with which epigraphy is mainly and first linked, There are also other disciplines that draw on it to deepen their knowledge and research, such as the Archeology, Paleography, Numismatics, the history of religions and even the Roman Law.

On the other hand, Epigraphy will specialize according to the historical period and the culture it produces, however the most developed are the Greek, Egyptian, Mayan and Roman.

Depending on the object of the inscription, seven main types have been established: inscriptions religious, juridical or legal, historical, honorific, sepulchral or funeral, minor, public or monumental.

Applications in Ancient Greece and Egypt

Namely, in Ancient Greece it was common to find inscriptions on the doors of buildings, on the lintels of mausoleums, or on the feet of the very statues that had been raised with the mission of commemorating and honoring someone who has performed or starred a event relevant to the story, or to remember an event that is also important to the community.

In this way the inscription made that someone or something become eternal and unforgettable for future generations who would know exactly what he did because he was Recorded in one place and the mode of engraving would hardly allow its disappearance.

Epigrams, short texts that were written in honor of someone or something, were used many times.

Meanwhile and in another civilization Relevant of antiquity such as the Egyptian, papyrus was used a lot and on it various events and questions inherent to public life and the uses and traditions of the Egyptians.

It was made from a water plant that was very common in the region, more precisely on the Nile River.
Although it was used to make different tools and elements that were used in everyday life, one of its most popular and widespread uses was as a support for manuscripts. For example, it is considered the antecedent more direct of the current role.

One of the most famous and relevant Papyri has been the so-called Ebers, which exclusively contained information on Egyptian medicine.
It is a very important source that allows to know diseases and medical prescriptions for eye conditions, for those of the skin, for those that affect the extremities, among other It would have been written during the important Egyptian 18th Dynasty, considered the most splendid of this civilization and to which pharaohs such as Ramses, Akhenaten and Tutankhamen belonged.

Topics in Epigraphy