Late Nineteenth- and Early Twentieth-Century Scientific Developments in Epigraphy
The science of epigraphy has its roots in drawings and paintings made by travelers and those who worked on state-funded expeditions in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it was primarily archaeologists, associated with universities and other research organizations, who recorded temple and tomb decoration. The desire to document texts and art was spurred by a growing push to conserve the monuments due to threats by those who visited, studied, and collected artifacts from them. In accord with this vision, the wet squeeze method of recording inscriptions was gradually replaced with less invasive techniques, such as dry squeezes, tracings, freehand copies, and photographs. Many factors influenced—and continue to influence—ways of recording of decoration: technical (physical location of decoration, available light, cost and limitations associated with print publications) and personal (the epigrapher’s training, cultural background, and attention to text and/or image).