Imitation (epigraphy)

Copy of an Athenian tribute list from 440/439 BC Chr.

As imitation (English: rubbing ) is defined as in the Epigraphik the reproduction of an inscription by means of mechanical Friction on paper. Set-offs are important tools when editing inscriptions because, unlike photographs, they preserve the three-dimensional character of an inscription. The advantage of a precise recording of the depressions in the stone is offset by the disadvantage, however, that possible paint residues can be destroyed by the water.

A copy is made by placing a sheet of thick, absorbent paper on the cleaned inscription, moistening it with a sponge and patting it with a brush. After drying, the letters appear three-dimensional in the paper. A copy is usually easier to read on the back than on the front, even if the writing there is mirrored.

Occasionally , copies are also made from other materials ( e.g. liquid latex or as a plaster cast), but paper copies have proven to be very durable.

Imprints have been used in epigraphy since the 19th century. Special epigraphic libraries and research institutions such as the Inscriptiones Graecae often keep an extensive copy archive with which the reading of an inscription can be checked even without the inscription bearer (which has sometimes been lost).

In Egypt, paper fakes were made on a large scale until 1912. After that, the procedure was prohibited in an amendment to the Antiquities Act for reasons of conservation.

In recent years, some research institutions have begun to digitize their collection of sets.

literature

• Günther Klaffenbach : Greek epigraphy . 2nd, improved edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1966, pp. 100-102.
• Ernst Meyer : Introduction to Latin Epigraphy . 2nd ed. Wiss. Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt 1983, ISBN 3-534-05669-8 , pp. 103-106.
• Manfred G. Schmidt: Mirror images of the Roman world. Inscription clichés from the archives of the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum . de Gruyter, Berlin / New York 2003 ( PDF ).

Web links

Commons : Impression  - collection of images

• Collection of Greek copies at the University of Cologne
• Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies at Ohio State University with Greek and Latin collection of imitations (partly digitized) ( Memento from November 9, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
• Center for the Study of Ancient Documents (Oxford) with Greek collection (digitized)
• European Union Catalog of Chinese Rubbings provided by the École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO) (French)