Epigraphic material provides fascinating insights into “Byzantium beyond Byzantium”. Marked by broad chronological and geographic variations, it offers unmediated evidence for the development of writing habits, for strategies of public (self-)display, and for linguistic and cultural diversities. Its potential to challenge and refine existing taxonomies, not least those associated with the designation ‘Byzantine’, is second to none. Our Thematic Session explores epigraphic contexts attesting to the presence of two or more languages and their scripts in close physical proximity to each other. Our aims are as follows: 1) to identify epigraphic patterns, connections, and mutual influences; 2) to examine how language choices shape intended messages and to explore the broader socio-cultural implications of this relationship, and 3) to highlight the role of language choice in the production of inscriptions and to assess the linguistic competence of carvers and stonecutters. Our participants are early- and middle-career scholars as well as senior academics. They are epigraphy specialists working on multilingual (Greek, Latin, Coptic, Syriac, Armenian, Hebrew, Arabic, Slavonic, Ottoman) inscriptional traditions from cross-/intercultural and comparative perspectives. They will approach inscriptions diachronically and with an interdisciplinary (literary, historical, religious) focus while also closely engaging with any extant visual and material evidence. Both our sessions will be sponsored. We will aim to cover the expenses of the contributors to both the Round Table and the Thematic Session. The proceedings will be published in the newly established series Studies in Byzantine Epigraphy.
In recent years, the topic of bilingualism has enjoyed greater attention within the context of the cultural and ethnic diversity, which characterized the Late Byzantine and Early Ottoman periods. Looking at Medieval Bulgaria, it is curious to observe that inscriptions on icons and sacred objects during the First Bulgarian Empire (681–1018) were systematically written in…
In Late Antiquity, the normal language for Jewish inscriptions in the diaspora was Greek. However, the Jews of Palestine, especially those in Galilee, also used Aramaic (Jewish-Palestinian Aramaic, or JPA) as their main language. Occasionally, one or two words in Hebrew were added, or Jewish religious imagery was included in the margins to point to…
In the heart of the basilica of San Marco in Venice, over the main altar, there can be seen a work of art which embodies the dual orientation of the city, anchored in the West but facing the East. The Pala d’Oro, an enamelled altarpiece placed above the city’s holiest relic, the body of Saint…
Since its foundation in the 10th century, the monastic confederation of Mount Athos attracted monks, pilgrims, and patrons from several regions of the Byzantine Empire and beyond; in the late Middle Ages it developed into one of the most populous religious centers of the Byzantine world with a profound influence on monasticism on an international…
Painters’ ‘signatures’ on Georgian wall paintings extend over a wide chronological range, from the ninth century to the late medieval period. These inscriptions, placed on church walls, form an integral component of the painted ensemble and offer valuable insights into the artistic and cultural contexts of their creation. This paper examines the function and spatial…