Stelae

Stelae, singular stele, are upright stone slabs or columns that bear inscriptions or relief sculptures. They were widely used in the ancient world and remain an important source for archaeology and epigraphy. Stelae vary in size from small grave markers to monumental public monuments.

Most stelae serve commemorative or dedicatory purposes, recording funerary rites, victories, legal decrees, treaties, or offerings to gods. They may mark boundaries, sanctuaries, or tombs. Inscriptions can be written in a variety of scripts, depending on culture, including hieroglyphs, cuneiform, Greek, or Latin, and they are often accompanied by relief imagery that interprets or elaborates the text. Common materials include limestone, sandstone, granite, schist, and basalt.

In ancient Egypt, stelae frequently memorialized rulers, religious rites, or offerings. Mesopotamian stele could bear royal inscriptions and legal codes, such as the Code of Hammurabi. In the classical world, Greek and Roman grave markers and public decrees were carved as stelae. Mesoamerican Maya culture produced tall, elaborately carved stelae inscribed with calendrical and dynastic information. The term also applies to other regions and periods, including the famous Rosetta Stone, a decree stele that aided the decipherment of hieroglyphs.

Stelae are crucial to understanding ancient history because they often preserve contemporary texts, dates, and iconography that survive nowhere else.