Digital epigraphy at the crossroads of the Mediterranean

This lecture took place on 10 June 2020 as part of the #BSROnlineLectures Series.


Jonathan Prag (Oxford, BSR)

The island of Sicily has long been recognised as a cultural melting pot at the heart of the ancient Mediterranean. The epigraphic (inscribed) texts from the island offer a unique window onto the history and culture of the peoples of the island, from the beginnings of Greek and Phoenician colonisation through to the transformations of late antiquity. These texts, on stone, metal and other materials, run into the thousands, and are written in half-a-dozen different languages. The potential offered by this corpus of material is now gradually being realised through the application of digital methods of recording and analysis. Professor Jonathan Prag (University of Oxford) will present the initial work of the I.Sicily project to build a complete digital corpus for the island, and some of the results of that project – as well as looking forward to the next stage in this exploration of the island’s history and culture through the ERC-funded ‘Crossroads’ project (2020-2025).