Bu makale, Komana/Hierapolis kentinde bulunmuş ve sonradan bir şekilde Adana Arkeoloji Müzesi’ne getirilmiş olan üç adet mezar stelini ele almaktadır. Zela, Ameria, Venasa, Kabeira, Pessinus ve Pontus’taki aynı adı taşıyan Komana gibi, Kappadokia’daki Komana da Hellenistik Dönem’de Küçük Asya’nın en önemli tapınak devletlerinden biriydi. Kent ününü savaş ve zafer tanrıçası Ma’nın kült merkezine borçluydu. Antik coğrafyacı Strabon, Kapadokya’daki Komana yerleşiminin çok sayıda kişi tarafından ziyaret edildiğini ve tapınağın 6.000’den fazla köleye ve geniş arazilere sahip olduğunu belirtir. Ayrıca Komana’nın Kapadokia’nın en büyük ve en önemli tapınak devleti olduğunu da ekler. Burası son Kappadokia kralı Arkhelaos zamanında polis kent devletine dönüştürülmüş, yerleşimin yeni adı eski kutsallığından ötürü “kutsal kent” anlamına gelen Hierapolis olmuştur. Mezar stelinin birincisinin üzerindeki yazıta göre, Oclatius Sacerdos, Oclatius Apollinarios ve Oclatia Iulia isimli kardeşler kendi babaları Iulius için bir mezar steli yaptırmışlardır. Oclatia/Oclatius gens isimleri Komana/Hierapolis yerleşiminde ilk defa karşımıza çıkmaktadır. İkinci yazıtta ise Antigonos ismindeki bir şahıs kendi oğlu Mamas için mezar steli yaptırmıştır. Küçük Asya kökenli Mamas ismi Komana’da sıklıkla kullanım gören bir isim olmuştur. Üçüncü ve son yazıtta ise, Claudia Philtate ismindeki bir kadın, kendi kardeşi Claudius Bakhylos’un anısına bir mezar steli diktirmiştir. Gerek Philtate ve gerekse Bakhylos isimleri Komana yerleşimi için yeni isimlerdir. Burada ele alınan mezar stelleri, Komana/Hierapolis yerleşiminden daha önceden bilinen alınlıklı ve akroterli mezar tipolojisine sahiptir.

This paper investigates the funerary landscapes of rural settlements along the Syrian coast during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Spanning the 1st–6th centuries CE, lebanit examines how burial forms and mortuary rituals reflected broader transformations in social, religious, and cultural identity. Drawing on epigraphic evidence (Aliquot, 2010; Gatier, 2005), national archaeological surveys (Badawi 2010, 2015, 2016-2019), and the author’s own field documentation in the Jableh hinterland, the study develops a typology of rural tombs. It situates them in relation to settlements, agricultural installations, and sacred sites. Case studies from Khirbet al-Mirdesiya, Bishman, Barsoomah, Arab al-Milk, and al-Rahbiyya highlight the predominance of rock-cut tombs, the selective use of Greek funerary inscriptions by rural elites, and the gradual Christianization of mortuary space. By comparing these practices with funerary traditions in Lebanon and the Syrian Limestone Massif, the paper demonstrates both regional continuities and unique coastal developments. The analysis highlights how burial spaces were not passive residues, but rather active social and symbolic constructs. They encoded kinship, memory, and belief into the physical landscape, thereby offering a valuable lens into the cultural identity of rural communities in Late Antiquity.

The paper analyzes a funerary inscription from Maroneia, which contains an uncommon legal term – νεκροδιάταγμα. After a brief prosopographic and textual analysis of the inscription, the paper examines the term νεκροδιάταγμα from the point of view of the theoretical opposition between the legal and the religious means of protecting the grave against violations. Then, through parallels with other epitaphs, special attention is given to the relationship between the public legal norm, stemming from the τυμβωρυχίας νόμος or the actio de sepulchro violato, and the possible existence of a private legal norm, based on the will of the tomb founder and his absolute right to dispose of the tomb. Finally, the paper concludes that the protection of the tomb in the Graeco-Roman funerary law should not be considered as a twofold phenomenon, situated between the religious and the legal aspects of the tomb, but rather as a threefold phenomenon, which combines the religious aspect with both the public legal norm and the private one.

This paper investigates the funerary landscapes of rural settlements along the Syrian coast during the Roman and Byzantine periods. Spanning the 1st–6th centuries CE, lebanit examines how burial forms and mortuary rituals reflected broader transformations in social, religious, and cultural identity. Drawing on epigraphic evidence (Aliquot, 2010; Gatier, 2005), national archaeological surveys (Badawi 2010, 2015, 2016-2019), and the author’s own field documentation in the Jableh hinterland, the study develops a typology of rural tombs. It situates them in relation to settlements, agricultural installations, and sacred sites. Case studies from Khirbet al-Mirdesiya, Bishman, Barsoomah, Arab al-Milk, and al-Rahbiyya highlight the predominance of rock-cut tombs, the selective use of Greek funerary inscriptions by rural elites, and the gradual Christianization of mortuary space. By comparing these practices with funerary traditions in Lebanon and the Syrian Limestone Massif, the paper demonstrates both regional continuities and unique coastal developments. The analysis highlights how burial spaces were not passive residues, but rather active social and symbolic constructs. They encoded kinship, memory, and belief into the physical landscape, thereby offering a valuable lens into the cultural identity of rural communities in Late Antiquity.

Traditional museum displays often struggle to effectively communicate the historical and artistic significance of Islamic funerary inscriptions, as their interpretation relies heavily on textual analysis. This study explores the impact of holographic storytelling and sculpted replicas as interpretative tools to enhance visitor engagement and comprehension of these inscriptions. Conducted at the Shaikh Abdullah Al-Salem Cultural Center (Kuwait), the experiment involved a holographic narrator providing historical context while visitors interacted with sculpted replicas of inscriptions, allowing for both visual and tactile engagement. The results reveal that multi-sensory interpretation significantly improves visitor engagement and learning outcomes, with participants displaying increased dwell time, active participation in discussions, and greater recall of historical content. Survey data indicates that over 90% of participants found the holographic storyteller engaging and effective, while observational analysis confirmed that tactile interaction with replicas encouraged deeper exploration of the inscriptions. Additionally, interviews highlighted the role of cultural familiarity in visitor reception, as the use of a well-known artistic figure as the narrator enhanced emotional connection. These findings contribute to the growing discourse on interactive museum interpretation, reinforcing the need for integrated digital and physical storytelling approaches. The study underscores the potential of holography and tactile engagement in making text-based artifacts more accessible and immersive. Future research should further investigate long-term knowledge retention and adaptive digital storytelling techniques to enhance visitor experiences across diverse museum settings.

Recent epigraphic findings from the territory of Phaselis, including funerary inscriptions obtained through field surveys in the district of Palamut at Hisarçandır in 2018 and excavation results from Idyros in 2024, provide critical new evidence for understanding the city’s religious administration and territorial boundaries. Both inscriptions presented in this article uniquely refer to Athena as the recipient agent of funerary fine regarded as the city’s principal deity as responsible for payments. However, the inscription from Idyros mentions god Hephaistos alongside Athena - notably without the epithet “Polias” – as the recipient agents of fine colection. This distinction invites a comprehensive investigation and analysis of the territorial boundaries of the city of Phaselis throughout its historical development. In order to understand the underlying reasons for this phenomenon, the study first undertakes a comprehensive chronological examination of the territorial boundaries within the historical development of the city of Phaselis. Prior to analyzing the inscriptions themselves, the research addresses the locations where these inscriptions were discovered and contextualizes them within the historical territorial limits of Phaselis. Subsequently, the cults of Athena and Hephaistos within the relevant hinterland are examined. Through this approach, the study aims to shed light on the influence of religious cults on urban boundaries and political structures, revealing the complex networks of interaction that characterized Phaselis and its surrounding region.

The case of Caelia Q.l. Chia – named on an inscribed block decorated with a balustrade and pilasters from the Venizeleion burial ground that formed part of the North Cemetery of Knossos – raises the question: how can we identify some of the colonial families at Roman Knossos? This freedwoman can be identified in multiple ways as a member of a colonial family. The text naming her adds a new inscription of early date, and one in Latin, to the corpus of the Roman colony. She was, moreover, one of a small number of individuals known to have been buried in Italian-style mausolea in the Venizeleion burial ground. Her family name is one that suggests migration to the colony in the imperial period, perhaps when Colonia Iulia Nobilis Cnosus was founded, or not long thereafter. Her full name also utilises a distinctly Roman onomastic formula to identify her as a freedwoman, one of those who formed a distinctive part of the colonial population. Caelia’s monumental funerary inscription and others from this burial ground join colonial coinage and a range of inscriptions on stone and ceramics as sources of evidence for identifying some of the colonial families at Roman Knossos.

Funerary Inscription with Preface for the Late Princess Gao of the Dali Kingdom

The article aims to shed new light on the voices of bereaved benefactors: slaves, freedmen and freedwomen, who are often marginalized in literary and monumental sources, by exploring a series of unpublished funerary inscriptions from Rome, currently in storage at the Museo Nazionale Romano. Editions of the text, translations and commentaries have been produced by young scholars from the British School at Rome (former participants of the BSR Postgraduate Course in Epigraphy). Their entries, edited by Abigail Graham (Institute for Classical Studies, University of London, British School at Rome) and Silvia Orlandi (La Sapienza, President of the Association Internationale d’ Epigraphie Grecque et Latine), are an exciting and unique opportunity to view inscriptions through a different lens: from scholars with diverse backgrounds and interests (history, archaeology, epigraphy, as well as linguistics), including postgraduates and academics. Careful consideration of text, appearance and context presents an array of voices and audiences as well as poignant messages that transcend time and space through a common experience: grief. By incorporating interdisciplinary scholars in the editorial process, we aim to provide and promote uniquely accessible epigraphic discussions that reflect the broader impact and significance of epitaphs as texts, images and emotive experiences.

This article presents new votive and funerary inscriptions discovered in the city of Arta and its wider region, which relate to the ancient city-state of Ambracia. The finds include funerary stelae from the Arachthos riverbed, inscriptions from Hanopoulo and Koronisia recording religious officials (aozos, mageiros, oinochoos), a dedicatory inscription to Athena found near the Small Theatre-Bouleuterion, and reused inscriptions in Byzantine churches. The chronology of most inscriptions falls within the Hellenistic period (3rd - 2nd century BCE), with some extending to Roman times. Through the personal names and public offices they record, these inscriptions expand our prosopography of Ambracia and provide valuable insights into the city’s political structures, religious practices, and social organization. Notable findings include evidence of citizens from other Greek regions settling in Ambracia and new attestations of religious functionaries participating in civic cult activities.

ABSTRACT This study examines the affective and gendered significance of concordia, the life in harmony, within Roman familial ideology. This research is structured in two parts. First, it investigates the socio-cultural and gendered meanings attributed to concordia in the hegemonic civic model, by analysing literary sources and propagandistic evidences. This approach highlights the role assigned to Roman citizen women in maintaining harmony within legally recognized marriages and families. Second, it explores how shared lives marked by concordia or sine discordia –the absence of discord – were recorded in funerary inscriptions, with particular attention to the ways in which subaltern individuals employed this language to acknowledge their affective and familial relationships, some of which were not legally recognized. This approach enables an intersectional understanding of the significance of concordia, a dimension that has remained largely underexplored until now. Drawing on a transdisciplinary theoretical framework, the aim is to analyse the social value these individuals attributed to concordia, emphasizing its moral, gendered, and emotional dimensions, as well as the specific role of women within these dynamics of domestic peace. To this end, this study integrates literary and epigraphic sources, offering a comprehensive perspective that reveals the complex and social nature of concordia in Roman familial life and society.

Inscriptions are ancient writings or carvings etched onto stone, metal, pottery, and other durable materials, often created to convey information, commemorate events, or honor individuals that provide a glimpse into the lives, beliefs, and events of past civilizations. They are a source of information about the past, and are studied by historians, archaeologists, and researchers. Inscriptions serve as primary sources of historical information, preserving records of events, rulers, and societal norms. They offer insights into the development and evolution of languages and scripts over time. Inscriptions provide valuable information about the cultural and religious practices of ancient civilizations. The study of inscriptions is called Epigraphy. Inscriptions record the achievements of kings, activities of people who commissioned them, record the ideas of people and the like. Dedication Inscriptions, Commemorative Inscriptions, Funerary Inscriptions, Legal and Administrative Inscriptions are a few types of inscriptions. Deciphering an Inscriptions ma results in Multilingual Texts, Comparative Analysis, Technological Advancements, etc,. This paper deals with an ancient Pallava inscriptional poem in Saṃskṛtam consisting of 12 verses in the form of a eulogy (Praśasti) of the Pallava King discovered and published by E.Hultzsch a century ago. Rājasiṃha alias Narasiṃhavarman II (c.A.D. 670 – 700) is a king adorned with many epithets like atyantakā, Śrῑbhara, Raṇajaya and is compared with Lord Viṣnu and Lord Śiva. The Praśasti consists of 12 verses employing various metres about the King and his valour.

Purpose: This study investigates the concept of judgment and afterlife in Ancient Egypt with particular attention to the principle of Ma’at and the Osirian tradition, while situating its findings within the comparative context of the doctrine of eternal punishment. The research aims to determine whether the Egyptian system of judgment included the notion of everlasting torment or instead emphasized cosmic balance and annihilation of the unworthy soul. Methodology: Employing a qualitative, interpretive, and historical-comparative approach, the study analyzes primary sources such as the Book of the Dead, funerary inscriptions, and mummification rituals, alongside secondary scholarship in Egyptology and comparative religion. Findings: The findings demonstrate that the Egyptian system of judgment was rooted in the weighing of the heart against the feather of Ma’at, the practice of negative confession, and the tribunal presided over by Osiris and forty-two judges. Punishment was most often conceived as annihilation rather than eternal suffering, and the afterlife was envisioned as a regenerative cosmology tied to the Nile’s agrarian cycles. These results distinguish the Egyptian view fundamentally from the Christian doctrine of hell. The study further highlights the dual function of judgment: as a religious mechanism to ensure cosmic harmony and as a socio-political instrument reinforcing royal legitimacy and social hierarchy. Implications: The implications of this research extend to comparative religious studies, curricular development, and interfaith dialogue, demonstrating that doctrines of eternal hell are historically contingent constructions rather than universal inheritances. Originality and Value: The originality of this study lies in its reinterpretation of Ancient Egyptian eschatology as an autonomous system, independent from post-biblical theological frameworks, thereby offering a new comparative lens to clarify the origins of eschatological doctrines across traditions.

The article explores the diction of the funerary (and honorific) inscriptions from three early imperial (1 BC to AD 401) Sicilian cities, i.e. Catania, Termini, and Syracuse. By means of the I.Sicily Sketch Engine corpus, three sub-samples were drawn reflecting syntactic (asyndesis), pragmatic (Dis Manibus (Sacrum)), and semantic-lexemic (symbols, indexes, icons) phrasemes in the sense of Mel’čuk’s Sens-Texte framework. The article conceptualises cemeteries with Foucault as heterotopic spaces with language / diction as a gatekeeper. The cemetery thus becomes a space for reflection on the differences between (i) individual, social, and cultural memory, (ii) pre-colonial (pagan) past and imperial (Christian) present, and (iii) language and identity choices. This reflection is externalised by means of the symbol system of language. While at the cultural level we see convergence (with customisation), at the social and individual levels flexibility prevails as the diction of the funerary inscriptions reflects. While early imperial Sicily seems to form a cultural space, smaller sub-groups, especially the Christian and polis communities, could express distinctive identity and memory choices. Individual variation focusses on the conceptualisation of the link between deceased and dedicator and the function of the memorial monument and reflects the dedicators’ bilinguality. This kind of variation highlights personal experience of collective remembrance.

This article presents a new funerary inscription on a stele from Mylasa. The stele was found in the area to the southeast of Esentepe during the sondage excavation held under the supervision of the Milas Museum in 2021. The text is the funerary inscription of 11 members of a thiasos who claimed to be buried together at the same place when they die. According to the inscription, Ouliades son of Euthydemos was heroized with divine honors after his death, and the thiasos was established in his honor. The members of the thiasos (θιασεῖται Ἡρωϊσταί) dedicated a bomos to the heros Ouliades on the street called “the street of Skorpon.” The heros Ouliades, who became the object of a cult, was the son of Euthydemos, the well-known leader of the city in the first half of the first century BC. Therefore the inscription is dated to the late first century BC - first century AD due to letter forms and prosopography.

This article analyses 33 grave inscriptions found during the 2021 and 2022 excavation seasons in the ancient city of Aizanoi. Most of the monuments presented here are doorstones and separate gables, along with a few bomoi, stelae, and a marble block, all dating back to the Roman Imperial period.These inscriptions are particularly noteworthy for the personal names they contain. When it comes to the second century AD, the citizens of Aizanoi were Hellenized to a large extent. The onomastic data that we get from the funerary inscriptions of the city confirm this too. Most of the inscriptions presented here include Greek names scarcely found in upland inner Anatolia. Masculine names like Thelymithres, Melankomas, Philostratos, or Aischines took the place of indigenous names. The indigenous names of daughters and wives like Tatiane, Aphia, Apphias, Appes, Ammia, or Babeis show that most of these men with Greek names were not Greek ethnically but Hellenized locals. Similarly, as a part of the fashion of the period, Homeric names like Menelaos and Troilos, and the names of the heroic, glorious Greek past like Solon and Alexandros are frequently attested in the inscriptions.

Abstract Eleven new graffiti found by us in the eleventh-century church Agia Paraskevi in Geroskipou on Cyprus in 2015 are published in this article for the first time. Analysis of spelling and paleography, as well as linguistic commentary, is also presented for each of these inscriptions. Most of the graffiti are the funerary inscriptions using the formula ἐκοιµήθη ὁ δουλος του θ(ε)ου name + date in their structure. The date, 1092, can be read only in the fifth graffito; therefore, the preliminary dating of all the graffiti complex is the 11th century. The orthography peculiarities of this graffiti complex are: υ instead of οι, η and η used twice in the verb ἐκοιµήθη, also, we have twice met υ instead of οι. Reading diphthong οι as [ü] is traditional for this period. A sequential use of η instead of ι is found in many nouns, which is probably the orthographic tendency in this region. The next names appear in the analyzed monuments: George three times, Theodora, Marcos twice, and Leo. The graffiti are written with the majuscule letters; σ and ε are lunar.

The city of Kitanaura was located on the border of Lycia and Pisidia on the flat top of a high isolated rock rising above a plateau in the mountains. The ruins of the city were initially discovered on April 6, 1842, by T. Spratt, followed by J. Schönborn, who made a similar discovery two days later. The most famous structure of the Kitanaura necropolis is the heroon, or monumental tomb of Trokondas II, erected on the hillside above the road leading into the city. The article provides a detailed description of the architectural features and decorative elements of the building, along with a translation of the funerary inscription carved on the architrave above the tomb’s entrance. Additionally, it presents the arguments of the archaeologists who surveyed Kitanaura, which suggest that the heroon was constructed in the 1st century AD. However, the analysis of inscriptions documenting specific events in the lives of Trokondas II’s descendants allows for a more precise dating of the heroon’s construction. It can be concluded that the heroon was built after the birth of Trokondas IV, grandson of Trokondas II, and the earliest possible date of his birth, if we count backwards from the birth of his great-grandson Marcus Aurelius Asclepiades, is 110 AD, or even later 125 AD. Consequently, it appears that the heroon of Trokondas II was erected in the 2nd to 4th decades of the 2nd century.

Abstract Although Greek was the dominant epigraphic language in Cyrenaica throughout the Classical period, Latin was introduced by Roman merchants and administrators at the time of the formation of the province of Crete and Cyrene c. 67 BC, and remained in use, albeit by a constant minority, until at least the fourth century AD, with the last well-dated Latin inscription dating from the Valentinian dynasty. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of Latin inscriptions in the region, based on the IR Cyrenaica 2020 corpus, which brings together hitherto scattered documents and also includes many texts published for the first time. After a general overview of the corpus in terms of geographical, typological and chronological distribution, we will look at the linguistic landscape of ancient Cyrenaica, focusing on the multilingualism of the region, the literacy of the populations, the borrowings from one language to another (Latinisms), and the influences of the western provinces on the Latin of the region, among other topics. Lastly, a series of Latin funerary inscriptions allow us to examine the multiple identities claimed by the populations, as well as the cultural influences between Greek-, Latin- and Libyan-speaking populations.

Abstract This paper explores linguistic change and cultural integration (esp. Romanization and De-Romanization) as reflected in the non-standard Latin inscriptions from Mogontiacum (modern Mainz) (first cent. BC to eighth cent. AD). Since Mainz was pivotal for defence and operations against Germanic people east of the Rhine, Roman military and the Germanic element play a greater role than in Cologne and Trier. In the Early Empire, the military was the biggest factor of integration and mobility, for people and cults from both local, Celtic and Germanic, and remote, esp. eastern origin. The Early Empire inscriptions yield more archaic features than those from Cologne and Trier (ai) whereas curse tablets, found in the Isis and Mater Magna sanctuary, offer a copious corpus of substandard language, unique on the west bank of the Rhine (first attestation of aphaeresis, semivocalization of i). Christian funerary inscriptions document a more advanced phonetic stage (nearby merger, raisings ē > ī and ō > ū, first firm evidence for palatalization and semivocalization of u in the area) and a new pronominal paradigm (unisex nominative [qui] vs. oblique [hunc]) as well as the take-over, Christian conversion and entry into the clerical hierarchy by a Frankish warrior elite, reflected in Germanic spellings of appellatives and OHG devoicing of stops in names.