DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5009#0354
328 HANDBOOK OF AltCIIMOLOOY.
'PALAEOGRAPHY, OR INSCRIPTIONS.
I.
Aim and Utility of its Study.
Tlio study of ancient inscriptions is termed palaeography. These
inscriptions are isolated, or traced on some monument of architecture,
sculpture, &c, or on vases or paintings. We shall here treat alone
of inscriptions, properly so called, giving the text of laws, decrees,
public accounts, dedications, votive and laudatory inscriptions,
historical narratives and documents, epitaphs, &c. The Greeks
generally gave to inscriptions the name of epigraph, or epigram,
(.7TLypa<t>T), eTnypaftLjia. The liomans termed them inscriptio, titulus,
marmor, lapis, nionumentum, memoria, tabula, mensa, epita-
phium, &c, according to their distinction, and the nature of the
text they present. The importance of the study of ancient in-
scriptions need not bo dwelt on here. Inscriptions are the real
archives of the annals of ancient nations. They are the con-
temporaneous witnesses of the event and of the men whose
memory they hand down. They bear unquestionable evidences
of authenticity, and aro consequently deserving of every con-
fidence. Their public exhibition during centuries to the eyes
of numerous people who might find an interest in contradicting
them, give them a character of truth and a general sanction which
the narratives of historians do not always inspire, who may have
had opposing interests in the same historical fact.
The study of palaeography, or at least the knowledge of its
results, is therefore the first duty of the historian of ancient
nations. He will find in them important data regarding tho
chronology, the geography, tho religious systems, the civil go-
vernment, the laws and administration of affairs, the state of
individuals, the affiliations of illustrious families, the customs,
manners, oven tho very prejudices of ancient societies; and in
regard to everything which is connected with the organization of
the societies, tho magistrates, the public revenue and its em-
ployment, with military organization, wars and alliances, lastly
with their mode of intellectual life, their progress in knowledge
their languages, their dialects, and their system of writing. It
is to inscriptions that history is mainly indebted for the greater
number of tho corrections, which have cast their light on obscure
'PALAEOGRAPHY, OR INSCRIPTIONS.
I.
Aim and Utility of its Study.
Tlio study of ancient inscriptions is termed palaeography. These
inscriptions are isolated, or traced on some monument of architecture,
sculpture, &c, or on vases or paintings. We shall here treat alone
of inscriptions, properly so called, giving the text of laws, decrees,
public accounts, dedications, votive and laudatory inscriptions,
historical narratives and documents, epitaphs, &c. The Greeks
generally gave to inscriptions the name of epigraph, or epigram,
(.7TLypa<t>T), eTnypaftLjia. The liomans termed them inscriptio, titulus,
marmor, lapis, nionumentum, memoria, tabula, mensa, epita-
phium, &c, according to their distinction, and the nature of the
text they present. The importance of the study of ancient in-
scriptions need not bo dwelt on here. Inscriptions are the real
archives of the annals of ancient nations. They are the con-
temporaneous witnesses of the event and of the men whose
memory they hand down. They bear unquestionable evidences
of authenticity, and aro consequently deserving of every con-
fidence. Their public exhibition during centuries to the eyes
of numerous people who might find an interest in contradicting
them, give them a character of truth and a general sanction which
the narratives of historians do not always inspire, who may have
had opposing interests in the same historical fact.
The study of palaeography, or at least the knowledge of its
results, is therefore the first duty of the historian of ancient
nations. He will find in them important data regarding tho
chronology, the geography, tho religious systems, the civil go-
vernment, the laws and administration of affairs, the state of
individuals, the affiliations of illustrious families, the customs,
manners, oven tho very prejudices of ancient societies; and in
regard to everything which is connected with the organization of
the societies, tho magistrates, the public revenue and its em-
ployment, with military organization, wars and alliances, lastly
with their mode of intellectual life, their progress in knowledge
their languages, their dialects, and their system of writing. It
is to inscriptions that history is mainly indebted for the greater
number of tho corrections, which have cast their light on obscure