Epigraphy Resources

A discipline concerned with the interpretation and classification of inscriptions found on hard surfaces, such as stone.

Primary Source Materials

• Infimae Aetatis
  Sponsored by the Cornell Greek Epigraphy Project: a textual database of Inscriptions of the Christian Empire (ICE) and Inscriptions of the Christian Kingdoms (ICK).
  
  
• Searchable Greek Inscriptions: a scholarly tool in progress
  Sponsored by the Cornell Greek Epigraphy Project in collaboration with the Epigraphical Center at Ohio State University, with funding from the Packard Humanities Institute, a searchable collection of inscriptions from selected volumes of the Inscriptiones Graecae, the SEG (vols. 32-), the Kommission für antike Rechtsgeschichte of the Osterreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, and many other collections.
  
  
• U.S. Epigraphy Project
  This page, run by Rutgers University, offers a variety of information. Under "Collections" it includes the epigraphic holdings of every pertinent institution in America. Under "Database searches," it includes links to the search engines of three large collections, two of which comprise over 100,000 items each. It also includes an "Index of Published Ancient Greek, Latin and Etruscan Inscriptions in the USA." Although primarily text-driven, it includes an "Archive of Photographed Inscriptions," which offers a single large photograph of each available item.
• Hispania epigraphica
  A searchable database of over 22,000 Latin inscriptions in the Iberian peninsula.  The search interface is available in both Spanish and English.  Works well in concert with the Hispania Epigraphica 1989-2000 CD-ROM (ordered for the Electronic Text Service in August 2007).
  
  
• Seminar für Alte Geschichte
  Run by Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Clauss of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt-am-Main, this site includes a database of 164,804 inscriptions from 390 different publications.
  
  
• Packard Humanities Institute CD-ROM #7 -- a comprehensive database of the major published collection of Greek inscriptions (as of 1996). Available at the Electronic Text Service (305 Butler Library).
  
  
• EPIGRAPH: A Database of Roman Inscriptions -- a searchable database of inscriptions contained in vol. 6 of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, i.e. the Inscriptiones Urbis Romae. Available on CD-ROM at the Electronic Text Service (305 Butler Library).

Secondary Source Materials

• Conspectus of the Corpus inscriptionum latinarum.
  A guide to the contents and layout of the principal resource for Latin inscriptions in classical antiquity. This collection may be found in the Papyrus and Epigraphy Reading Room under the call-number CN 520 .C6 F.
  • Further information on the composition of the CIL volumes may be found at the publisher's website: Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
    
    
• Conspectus of the Inscriptiones Graecae, also from the BBAW website.

• Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik
  The essential journal for papyrology and epigraphy.
  See also the Searchable Index of volumes 1-100.

• Introduction to Greek and Latin Epigraphy: an absolute beginner's guide 
  A comprehensive and well-arranged overview of the discipline, provided by Onno Van Nijf, an epigrapher at the University of Groningen.

• The Oriental Institute and Epigraphy
  The epigraphy page for the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago. Links also to The Epigraphic Survey.

• Links to Epigraphy and Palaeography Related Sites
  Offered by the Ohio State University Department of Greek and Latin. (Warning: this page can load quite slowly!)
  
  
• Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents
  This site offers quite a comprehensive list of links on topics pertinent to users of the P&E page.
  
  
• Épigraphie et électronique
  A list of electronic resources for epigraphists offered by the Bibliotheca Classica Selecta at the Facultés Universitaires Saint-Louis in Brussels.
  
  
• Fonti epigrafi
  A variety of epigraphic links and related material, provided by Rassegna degli Strumenti Informatici per lo Studio dell'Antichità Classica at the Università di Bologna.

Professional Societies

• The American Society for Greek and Latin Epigraphy (ASGLE)
  The ASGLE (founded in 1996 at the University of North Carolina) is affiliated with the Association Internationale d'Epigraphie grecque et Latine. Their page offers links to epigraphic organizations and their journals, bibliographies, images and texts, ongoing epigraphical projects, conferences and symposia, and even links to sites for non Graeco-Roman epigraphy, such as Runic and Syriac inscriptions.
  
  
• Association Internationale d'Épigraphie Grecque et Latine (AIEGL)
  The AIEGL site is sketchy in many places, and its links do not always work, but it does offer useful information about epigraphic positions.
  
  
• British Epigraphic Society
  This site may perhaps be most useful for its list of upcoming speakers. The user may be better served at the Society's host site: the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents.