epigrapha

Epigrapha refers to inscriptions found on durable materials such as stone, metal, ceramic, or commemorative plaques, and to the body of inscriptions collected and studied by epigraphy. The term is often used to describe the inscriptions themselves as opposed to the broader literary or manuscript sources. The word derives from the Greek epigraphê, "an inscription," and its plural form epigrapha is used in scholarly contexts to denote collections of inscriptions or the field of study associated with them.

Epigraphy covers inscriptions from many cultures and periods, including ancient Greece and Rome, the Near East, and beyond. Inscriptions can be dedicatory, votive, legal, funerary, civic decrees, building inscriptions, epitaphs, graffiti, and monument labels. They may be single short lines or long texts, inscribed on stone, metal, ceramic, or other durable media.

Epigraphic sources provide direct evidence for language, onomastics, religion, political organization, daily life, and historical chronology. Reading inscriptions requires paleographic analysis—deciphering letter forms and dating by script, language, or context—and philological interpretation. Large corpora such as the Inscriptiones Graecae (IG), Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum (CIL), and Inscriptiones Latinae Selectae (ILS) compile texts, while regional publications preserve inscriptions from particular sites.

Fieldwork includes surveying, recording, drawing, photographing, and, increasingly, 3D scanning and digital databases. Limitations include fragmentary preservation, punctuation conventions, damaged inscriptions, and biases toward public monuments or elite contexts. Epigraphy thus complements archaeology, philology, and numismatics as a primary source for reconstructing past societies.