​Epigraphic Conversations

The Society is occasionally hosting digital ‘Epigraphic Conversations’, originally motivated in 2021 by the coronavirus pandemic. These Conversations are thematic workshops, around 1.5 to 2 hours in length, featuring 3 to 4 short contributions, and delivered via zoom. The aim is to facilitate exchange and to spark debate on a number of epigraphic topics, Greek, Roman and beyond. Participation is free, but registration is required (see the details given with each Conversation). Information about upcoming Conversations will be posted on this page regularly. Below is information on several past Conversations.

2022 CONVERSATION SCHEDULE

Conversation: Wax Tablets through time & space
Date: 20 June 2022, 14.00-16.00 (UK summer time)
Host: Dr Anna Willi (Nottingham)

Wax tablets were used from the third millennium BCE up to early modern times, yet researchers on the topic rarely look beyond their own time period. This Conversation aims to explore practical aspects of the use of this medium and its significance in different writing cultures by bringing together researchers working on tablets from different time periods and geographical areas.
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Conversation partners & topics
Dr Michele Cammarosano (Napoli, 'L’Orientale'): ‘Wax boards in the cuneiform world’
Dr Anna Willi (Nottingham): ‘Roman wax tablets between object and text’
Prof. Kristel Zilmer (Oslo): ‘Wax tablets as multi-layered media in medieval Scandinavia’

REGISTRATION: opens on 1 June; details will follow by 1 June!

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2021 CONVERSATION SCHEDULE

Conversation the First: 'An epigraphy of slavery?'
Date: 30 April 2021, 17.00-18.45 (UK summer time)
Hosts: Drs David Lewis and Ulrike Roth (Edinburgh)

Conversation partners & topics:
Prof. Peter Hunt (Boulder): 'Female slaves missing from the Attic Stelai?'
Dr Dominika Grzesik (Wrocław): 'Why so many? A new approach to interpreting the phenomenon of Delphic manumission records'
Dr Ulrike Roth (Edinburgh): 'Building an epigraphic family tree for Roman imperial slavery'

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A big THANK YOU  to all the speakers and discussants for a very enjoyable and thought-provoking epigraphic gathering!
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Conversation the Second: 'Regional epigraphic cultures across the ancient wider Mediterranean' (Part 1)
Date: 11 May 2021, 15.00-17.00 (UK summer time)
Hosts: Ilaria Bultrighini (UCL) and Irene Salvo (Exeter)

Conversation flow:
15.00  Ilaria Bultrighini (UCL): Introduction
15.10 Dan Socaciu (Liverpool): 'The roles and functions of text in the Urartian state'
15.50 Rostislav Oreshko (Leiden; Harvard Center for Hellenic Studies): 'Language, society and cultural contact in Lydia in the 5th-4th centuries BC: an epigraphic perspective'
16.20 Emanuela Borgia (Sapienza, Rome): 'Inscriptions from Hadrian’s Wall in Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Trust (Carlisle): local identities and Roman influences'
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Another big THANK YOU to all speakers and participants for their various contributions to this Conversation.
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​Conversation the Third: 'Why were inscriptions reused or reinscribed?'
Date: 28 May 2021, 16.00-18.00 (UK summer time)
Hosts: Drs Muriel Moser-Gerber (Frankfurt) and Aaron Schmitt (Freiburg)

Conversation partners & topics:
Dr Aaron Schmitt (Freiburg): 'A contextual and praxeological approach to the study of reused and reinscribed monuments in ancient Mesopotamia'
Prof. Polly Low (Durham): ''Pragmatic' vs 'symbolic' erasures in the inscriptions of Classical Athens'
Dr Muriel Moser-Gerber (Frankfurt): 'The reuse of old statue monuments, and their inscriptions, in Roman Athens'
Dr Anna Sitz (Heidelberg): 'Politics and religion: erasing the pagan past on select inscriptions in Late Antiquity'

A third THANK YOU is in order - to all the participants, speakers and organisers, who made this a highly productive Conversation!

​Conversation the Fourth: 'Regional epigraphic cultures across the ancient wider Mediterranean' (Part 2)
Date: 15 June 2021, 14.00-16.00 (UK summer time)
Hosts: Ilaria Bultrighini (UCL) and Irene Salvo (Exeter)

Conversation flow:
14.00 Irene Salvo (Exeter): Introduction
14.10 Charlotte Spence (Exeter) 'A comparison of regional cultures of curse-tablet creation in the second century CE'
14.40 Víctor Sabaté Vidal (Barcelona): 'Approaching Iberian inscriptions on lead tablets: a case for ‘epigraphic bilingualism'
15.10 Katherine McDonald (Exeter): 'Epigraphic cultures in non-urban and 'federal' sanctuaries in central and southern Italy'

And a final heartfelt THANK YOU to  the organisers, speakers and participants at this Conversation!