Epigraphy

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/epigraphy

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the analytical components?Material analysis, script identification, linguistic decipherment, contextualization, and historical interpretation
2. What is the interdisciplinary connections?Crucial for archaeology, ancient history, linguistics, classics, religious studies, and art history
3. Why do people study inscriptions on stone and metal?People study these inscriptions because they give us real, unedited records from the past. They show us what people said, who ruled, and what they believed.
4. How do epigraphers read ancient writings that are very old?Epigraphers first find the inscription, then carefully copy or photograph it. They use tools like laser scanning to make a digital copy, then translate the words using knowledge of old languages.

Cuneiform: An ancient Mesopotamian script characterized by wedge-shaped marks impressed on clay tablets.
Hieroglyphs: A formal writing system used by ancient Egyptians, combining logographic, syllabic, and alphabetic elements.
Epistolography: The study and writing of letters, often considered a related textual field to epigraphy.