Stele

A stele (plural stelae or stelai) is a vertical stone slab or pillar erected for a commemorative, religious, legal, or territorial purpose. The word comes from the Greek stele, meaning a raised pillar or an upright marker. Stelae may bear inscriptions, relief carvings, or a combination of both, and they vary in size from modest grave markers to monumental public monuments.

Stelae served a range of functions. They record laws and decrees, commemorate persons or events, or mark boundaries and treaties. In religious contexts, they functioned as votive offerings or cult markers. In funerary practice, grave stelae identify the deceased and often depict scenes or epitaphs. Materials commonly used include stone such as limestone, basalt, granite, or schist, though wood and metal were also used in some cultures. They may be plain or richly decorated with inscriptions in ancient scripts.

Historically, stelae appear in diverse civilizations. In Mesopotamia, monumental stelae conveyed royal propaganda and legal codes, exemplified by the Code of Hammurabi stele. In ancient Egypt, stelae commemorated rulers and religious rites, including inscribed stelae connected to temple cults and tombs. The Rosetta Stone is a famous Greek-era stele that aided decipherment of hieroglyphs. In the Greek and Roman world, grave markers and public proclamations used stelae extensively. In the Americas, Maya stelae record rulers and calendrical information in monumental stone carvings.

Today, stele remains are vital to archaeology and philology, providing language data, historical dating, and insights into ancient laws, religion, and society.