Epigraphies of Anatolia: Their Histories and Their Future, Koç University Suna & İnan Kıraç Research Center for Mediterranean Civilizations, Antalya, April 24–27, 2018
For several millennia most of the civilisations of Anatolia used inscription on stone to preserve important texts – whether public documents or private commemorations. While this procedure is found in many civilisations across the world, the particular wealth of Anatolia in high-quality stones and marbles has ensured an exceptionally rich harvest of texts. Over the last couple of centuries, work on these documents has helped us understand more and more of this deep and multi-layered historical heritage, which is constantly developing and enriching our understanding.
The aim of the symposium is to allow experts who work on the inscribed texts of different cultures to present their work and compare their experiences, building a sense of the history of the epigraphic discipline. During the symposium we intend to look at how earlier generations have interacted with such texts by tracing the steady development of methodologies. We will examine how inscribed texts have introduced us to languages which had been unread for several millennia. Finally, we will look at how we can teach the necessary skills and find ways to offer the fullest possible access, both in and beyond Turkey, to this unique storehouse of knowledge.