Inscriptions on Stone

In the course of the Austrian excavations at Ephesos, more than 3,500 inscriptions have been found to date. Certain of them, which allow a declaration of their content, have been extensively fully edited in "Repertorium", (Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien Vols. 11-17), as well as in the series "Neue Inschriften aus Ephesos", of which 13 articles have already appeared within the ÖJh (Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Institutes in Wien). The inscribed stones themselves, as far as they are still preserved, are on the one hand set up in the excavation area, while others have been brought to the inscription depot located in the terrace of the Temple of Domitian; certain pieces have also been transported to the museum in Selçuk.

Graffiti from the Terrace Houses of Ephesos

Between the years 1960 and 1985, Austrian archaeologists excavated the so-called "Hanghäuser" (Terrace Houses) at Ephesos. The walls of these luxuriously-equipped houses were decorated to a large extent with frescoes, upon which more than 400 graffiti (scratched-in inscriptions and drawings) are preserved. Their content ranges from simple writing exercises to epigrammes, which praise wealthy benefactors, from mere names to receipts of craftsmen, and from memorial inscriptions for friends to erotic crosswords.
The most interesting complex consists of 30 lists, which give the expenses for daily necessities (such as food, equipment for heating, lighting and washing, entry fees for public baths) with their corresponding costs in silver denarii and in local bronze coin, assaria. These lists are not only of interest on social and economic grounds (from the point of view of the preferred nutrition of the provincial upper classes, or the rate of exchange between silver and bronze coinage); the appearance here of assaria (which were minted only up until ca. 260 A.D.) allows a new dating of the frescoes, which previously were placed in the 5th century A.D., with all of the attendant consequences for post-Pompeian wall-painting.

Graffiti from the Grotto of St. Paul

In the course of the systematic excavation of a cave, equipped as a Christian cult room, on the cliff slope of Bülbüldağ, over 500 graffiti and inscriptions, dating from the 5th to the early 20th century, have been discovered on the partially uncovered frescoes. Most of these texts have to do with invocations; in particular the apostle Paul, but also God, Christ, Maria, and other saints are named. The traces of writing, which have been copied onto plastic film, will be computer-scanned and prepared for analysis and publication.

Picture Captions
Fig. 1: Terrace House 2, Scratched drawing (Photo: N. Zimmerman)
Fig. 2: Terrace House 2, Graffito (Photo: H. Taeuber)

Bibliography:
Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien 11.1 - 17.4 (Bonn 1979-1984).
"Neue Inschriften aus Ephesos" in den ÖJh.
H. Taeuber, Graffiti als Hilfsmittel zur Datierung der Wandmalereien in Hanghaus 2, in: P. Scherrer - H. Taeuber - H. Thür (eds.), Steine und Wege. Festschrift Dieter Knibbe, SoSchrÖAI 32 (1999) 153-161.
H. Taeuber, Die Inschriften, in: M. Steskal u. a., Die Damianosstoa in Ephesos. Bericht über die Ausgrabung 2002 im Abschnitt Kathodos III, ÖJh 72, 2003, 263-269.
H. Taeuber, Graffiti und Dipinti, in: H. Thür (ed.), Hanghaus 2 in Ephesos. Die Wohneinheit 4. Baubefund, Ausstattung, Funde, FiE VIII 6 (2005) 132-143.
H. Taeuber, C. Vibius Salutaris - Wohnungsbesitzer im Hanghaus 2?, in: B. Brandt - V. Gassner - S. Ladstätter (eds.), Synergia. Festschrift Friedrich Krinzinger I (2005) 349-353.
H. Taeuber, Graffiti auf Keramik klassischer Zeit aus den Grabungen in der Tetragonos Agora, in: P. Scherrer - E. Trinkl, Die Tetragonos Agora in Ephesos. Grabungsergebnisse von archaischer bis in byzantinische Zeit - ein Überblick. Befunde und Funde klassischer Zeit, FiE XIII 2 (2006) 251 f.

Contact:
Hans Taeuber
Institut für Alte Geschichte, Altertumskunde, Papyrologie und Epigraphik
A-1010 Wien, Dr. Karl Lueger-Ring 1