INSCRIPTION, in Latin Inscriptio (a word formed from the preposition in and scribere to write), and signifying something written or engraved on any substance, whether of wood, stone, metal, or other material, and having for its object to transmit to posterity the record of some important event or transaction.

It is well known that the ancients engraved on temples and columns the principles of science, as well as the events of history. In the early ages of the world this was the only means by which valuable truths could be preserved, and the memory of important transactions transmitted to succeeding ages. Sanchoniathon, a Phoenician historian, born at Berytus in Syria, and who flourished about the time of the Trojan war, is said to have drawn most of the materials of his history from inscriptions which he found in temples and on columns, both in his own country and in Palestine. But however this may have been, the circumstances mentioned by Herodotus shew, that the first method of instructing men, and of transmitting sciences as well as history to posterity, was by inscriptions. And this is confirmed by Plato; who, in his Hippias, informs us that Pisistratus caused to be engraved on stone, for the benefit of his countrymen, useful precepts in husbandry. Pliny assures us that the earliest public monuments consisted of plates of lead, on which were engraved the records of public transactions; and, in corroboration of this, he mentions, by way of exception, that the treaty of confederacy concluded between the Romansand the Jews, was inscribed on plates of brass, in order that the record of the compact might be less liable to be effaced, and that the Jewish people might always have something to remind them of the alliance which they had formed with the Romans. Nor were inscriptions discontinued in proportion as the art of writing was improved and facilitated. On the contrary, amongst the Greeks and Romans especially, this method of preserving the memory of important events, in connexion with distinguished names, continued to be employed long after it had ceased to be a matter of necessity; and hence the multitude of inscriptions, or fragments of inscriptions, which has outlasted the injuries of time, and the still more destructive dilapidations of barbarism-

inscriptions are of different kinds, and they have been variously classed. Spohn, for instance, has divided archaeography into no less than eight parts, viz. numismatography, epigrammatography, architectonography, iconography, glyptography, toreumatography, bibliography, and angiography. But this classification, which Boeckh has denominated rude, appears to be extremely unscientific and arbitrary, and not being founded upon any clear or definite principle, it is calculated to involve the subject in inextricable perplexity. A more natural and obvious division readily suggests itself. Inscriptions, generally considered, may be arranged in two classes, namely, numismatic and monumental ; the former including the legends preserved on ancient coins and medals; the latter, the texts engraved on palaces, temples, and other edifices, together with those on columns, obelisks, statues, and such like monuments. The one of these branches is entirely distinct from, and can never be confounded with the other. In numismatics, our attention is exclusively confined to simple legends, consisting merely of names, titles, and dates. In monumental inscriptions we meet with texts, or the remains of texts, which, besides names and titular or official designations, contain, in a more or less perfect form, records of particular transactions or events, the memory of which it was intended thus to perpetuate. But the latter, with reference to their subjects, may nevertheless be subdivided into four different kinds. These are, first, the inscriptions relating to public affairs and civil institutions, which it is the principal object of the historian to investigate; secondly, those which respect private affairs, or the economy and intercourse of common life; thirdly, those which relate to the ceremonies of religion, and the arts or observances therewith connected; and, lastly, those which have reference to the history of science, whether as respects philosophy, mythology, or any other branch of knowledge. Under one or other of these heads may be included every kind of monumental inscription.

The most remarkable inscriptions in the world are those sculptured on the temples, palaces and obelisks, or painted on the interior of the hypogoeaox burial-vaults of the ancient Egyptians; the texts, in cuneiform characters, observed on the ruins of Persepolis, as well as on vitrified bricks found amidst the ruins of Babylon; and those preserved on the pillars and ornamental parts of the rock-temples of Elephanta, Ellora, Carli, and other ancient monuments in India. Of the first of these, some account has already been given in the article Hieroglyphics, to which the reader is accordingly referred. In this interesting field of inquiry, modern sagacity has, in part, triumphed over the difficulties, so numerous and formidable, which seemed destined to oppose an insuperable barrier to all investigation. But much, very much, yet remains to be done; indeed, the task may be said to have only been commenced. Proper names have been deciphered, legends have been interpreted and explained, dates have also been determined; but the body of those texts, to which the history of ancient Egypt has probably been consigned, still remains as great a mystery as ever. To a double or perhaps triple lock only one key has as yet been found. With regard to the Persepolitan characters, again, various attempts have been made to decipher them, though hitherto without any certain or assignable success. By a fortunate accident or rather conjecture, Μ. Saint-Martin has, we understand, been enabled to detect the name of Xerxes upon a vase in the cabinet of the King at Paris. But whilst [7:12:291]little reliance can be placed on such divinations, it is plain that the interpretation, even if well-founded, cannot afford sufficient data for advancing a single step beyond it. No parasite translations into any known language have been discovered, as in Egypt, where the pillar of Rosetta and the monument of Philae afforded the means of instituting tentative comparisons, and furnished the elements of an alphabet; nor is it at all probable that, without some such accessory helps, any progress will ever be made in determining the values of the nail-headed characters. The Indian inscriptions, also, still remain in a great measure undeciphered; nor has there yet been found any certain or safe clew calculated to lead to the interpretation of the characters in which they are written, much less of the texts which these characters have been employed to express. The discovery of such a key, indeed, is a question in the theory of probabilities, where the chance of failure is to that of success, within a given time, as a number incalculably great to unity. Some interpretations have, indeed, been published, as for example of the Allahabad and Delhi inscriptions, and also of those found in the caves of Carli; but none of the interpreters, so far as we know, has condescended to state the data on which he proceeded, or to explain the process by which he was enabled to construct an alphabet; and it must be evident that, without the most distinct and precise information on this point, no confidence can be placed in the results alleged to have been obtained.^[1. With regard to the Carli inscriptions, the Rev. Mr Stevenson of Poonah, having directed his attention to the subject, employed a year and a half in searching for a key amongst the natives; but as the latter were wholly unacquainted with the characters in which these inscriptions were written, his researches proved fruitless. He then made a collection of alphabets used on the western side of India, and attempted, by means of these, to decipher the inscriptions; but still with indifferent success. The publication of the Allahabad inscription, however, gave a new impulse and direction to his studies, and at length he was enabled, though we are not informed how, to read and translate the Carli inscriptions. It would certainly have been much more satisfactory, and, in appearance at least, far less empirical, had Mr Stevenson condescended to state the data on which his method of interpretation is founded. But be this as it may, the results alleged to have been obtained from the Carli inscriptions deciphered are curious. These are, first, that the rock temple in question was excavated about sixteen centuries ago; secondly, that the empire of Shalivahana, in the Deccan, continued at least a hundred years after his time; thirdly, that Buddhism was the religion at that time favoured by the ruling party; fourthly, that the Shakas, so far from supplanting the language and literature of the Brahmins, adopted the Sanscrit as the vehicle for transmitting the memory of their own deeds to posterity; fifthly, that a simpler character than the Devanagari was probably used at the time when the Vedas and other ancient compositions were committed to writing; sixthly, that the Arabic numeral ciphers had been introduced into India at the period above mentioned; and, lastly, that great caution must be observed in admitting local traditions as of authority in regard to the condition of society or the state of knowledge and manners in such remote times. These results, however, though probable enough, require confirmation. We have already observed that Mr Stevenson’s scheme of an alphabet is not satisfactorily developed; and Mr Princep found that, when applied to the Allahabad inscription, it did not convert the text of that monument into intelligible Sanscrit. Besides, Mr Hodgson, resident in Nepaul, has expressed his conviction that the characters of this incription, so far from having preceded, are in fact derived from the Devanagari, or literal symbols of the learned Hindus. It appears, also, that the Allahabad and Delhi inscriptions are identical with one discovered at Mattia-lath, on the Nepaul frontier. ]

Inscriptions in an unknown character have also been found cut upon granite and sandstone rocks, between Mount Sinai and the Red Sea. Several specimens of these now lie before us, copied from the rocks at Wady Magara, Gebel Mokatteb, Mount Horeb, Wady Maggup, and Nasby. With the exception of a mixed inscription, and also one in Greek, and another Cufic, they are all in the same character. In those found at Wady Magara and Geb el Mokatteb, we discover rude delineations of the camel, the horse, the goat, and the antelope, with, in one instance, the figure of a man holding a club or staff in his hand. The characters bear a considerable analogy to the Cufic, though much more distinct; and, judging from the figures of loaded camels, with their heads all turned in the same direction, it seems not improbable, that the texts record the transits of different caravans. In one of these inscriptions, a number of characters are marked out in such a manner, by a line underneath, as to suggest the idea that they represent the name of some distinguished person, upon a principle analogous to that which was observed in the royal scrolls of the Egyptian writing; and this conjecture is somewhat countenanced by the circumstance that, amongst the characters thus defined, there is one which occurs thrice. But there exist no data upon which to found an attempt at interpretation; nor can any opinion be formed as to their relative antiquity.

In the countries of the west, where civilization is comparatively but of recent origin, few remains of extinct forms of writing have been discovered. This is easily accounted for, because, in Europe, the origin of letters is of much more recent date than in those countries where such interesting relics are found. The language of the Eugubian tables is, no doubt, an exception, inasmuch as all the learning and ingenuity of scholars have as yet been insufficient to analyze its structure, or to penetrate the meaning of the texts in which it has been partially preserved. But, by a singular anomaly, the characters on these tables have been resolved into an alphabet; and it may not unreasonably be hoped, that the power thus obtained of combining words, will ultimately lead to the discovery of their respective values. The Runic characters and the Runic language are now pretty well understood.

But the category of inscriptions to which the most direct interest and the greatest importance are naturally attached, whether with reference to the subjects of history, antiquities, or philology, is that which includes the monumental remains of Greece and Rome, particularly of the former.

Not to mention the writers who, between the age of Herodotus and that of Cosmas Indopleustes, or even later, make frequent mention of inscriptions, Philochorus of Athens, who flourished between the 118th and the 129th Olympiad, and was deeply skilled in Attic antiquities, appears to have been the first who applied himself to this subject; and, on the authority of Suidas we learn that he published ’Επίγραμμα™ ’ Aττ<⅛α, or Attic inscriptions of different kinds. He was succeeded by Polemo Graecanicus, the son of Euegetus, and the contemporary of Aristophanes of Byzantium, who, on account of his indefatigable study of inscriptions, was denominated ∑∙∏1λoκa7rαj. His principal works on this subject were, first, πtζ ∣ rωv ×.xt» πoλtις tτrιγξccμμc<,τωv ; secondly, τrtζ ∣ ruv tv Aot,κtδcoμοvι civctθviftetrav ; thirdly, four books πtζi t»í Ahm<riv άκ-ξοπολιωζ ∙, and, lastly, τrtζi rav ùv»ē-ĄuoíTuv tv th <iκζorraat ∣ . Mention is also made of a book τrtζi rωv Qη∕3Mχav tτr ∣ γξχμμct,τωv, by Aristodemus, a writer on Theban affairs, whose works have utterly perished. To these succeeded Alcetas πtξ ∣ τωv ’ ev ∆sλ<pβ<i à.va- 6nμaτωv, Menetor πtζi uvadhuarav, Apellas Ponticus, and Neoptolemus Parianus τrtξi Ιττιγξαμμαοτων, who were afterwards followed by the authors of the Anthologies. Of the collections of Philochorus, Polemo, and others, however, nothing remains excepting some expressions, such as rrctê-yta γρίλχ.» and Kticíį tΛ7rωμct iiξγvξow, with a few others; but it appears that, anciently, there existed a repository or collection of confiscated goods, arranged according to a method copied from the inscriptions, and that this fact was known both to Athenaeus and to Pollux. The book of Heliodorus, ι x ’ tξi rav tv A‰vv ∣ a∙ι τξ ∣ 7rι>∂a>v, must also have embraced inscriptions, as we find that the ancients early employed the denomination[7:12:292] of tripod. Lastly, Craterus Macedo, whom Niebuhr considers to have been the brother of Antigonus Gonatas, son of Craterus and Phila, published ∙γnφιrμuτωv σ-vvuγωγr l v, or books πiζt fr l φιrμxτωv, in which he sought to confirm public transactions by extracts of decrees and other documents, the greater part of which he, doubtless, derived from inscriptions, whilst as to the remainder, it was in all probability obtained from the Attic rolls or registers. From this collection of Craterus, indeed, and from others of a similar description, derived from the same sources, those who have preserved to us the Attic decrees copied the documents which we find embodied in their works; and to it also may be referred the greater part of the decrees inserted by the orators, particularly those cited by Demosthenes in his celebrated oration for the crown.

The first modern work on inscriptions was that of Cyria-cus Anconitanus, who, in the early part of the fifteenth century, applied himself to collect those remains which had escaped the ravages of the barbarous ages, and who, whatever some critics may allege to the contrary, displayed equal diligence and fidelity in the execution of this laborious undertaking. He was succeeded, at intervals, by a long series of learned men, extending downwards even to our own time, who devoted their talents and industry to the collecting, interpreting, and illustrating of the monumental remains of antiquity. Amongst these a distinguished place must be assigned to Gruter, whose Corpus Inscriptionum (Heidelberg, 1601, in folio) is still a work of high importance. It is an immense collection of Greek and Latin inscriptions, which having been commenced by Smetius, was considerably augmented by Gruter, who subjoined to it the Notae Romanorum veterum Tulli Tironis et Annoei Senecae, a work which has since been much surpassed. Gruter was followed by Reinesius, who compiled another large volume of inscriptions; and Reinesius was succeeded by Fabretti, who also published at Rome, in 1609, a large volume, in which he corrected numerous errors that had escaped preceding antiquarians, and added a number of inscriptions which they had omitted. The next collection which appeared was that of Graevius, in three volumes folio; a work of extensive erudition, and, in all respects, more complete than any which had preceded it. In the course of the last century, Scipio Maffei, a man of various learning, and eminently skilled in this branch of archaeology, undertook to make a more complete collection than had yet appeared of Greek and Roman inscriptions, the former of which he proposed to include in the first volume of his work; but after the expenditure of much labour and research, he found that the enterprise exceeded in magnitude his powers of execution, and at length, in his old age, abandoned it in despair. The project of Carcanius, who meditated an universal collection of inscriptions, proved equally abortive; as did also that of Raponus, a man who, by his knowledge of Greek, was not unequal to the task, though he published only one commentation on Greek inscriptions, written in indifferent Latin. The first volume of Boeckh’s splendid work, entitled Corpus Inscriptionum Groecarum, in folio, was published at Berlin in 1828, and at once established the author’s claim to rank in the very first class of scholars and critics. It is indeed a masterpiece of learning, research, critical sagacity, and philosophical acuteness; nor, in point of typographical elegance and accuracy, is it equalled, or perhaps even approached, by any work which has yet appeared on the subject. This volume is divided into six parts, which treat respectively, of, 1. Tituli antiquissima Scripturae forma insigniores ; 2. Inscriptiones Atticae ; 3. Inscriptiones Megaricae ; 4. Inscriptiones Pe-loponnesiacae ; 5. Inscriptiones Boeoticae ; and, 6. Inscriptiones Phocicae, Locreae, Thessalicae. Of the second volume, only a small portion has as yet been published. Boeckh has drawn his materials not only from the larger collections of Gruter,. Reinesius, Spohn, Fabretti, Muratori Donius, Donatus, and others, but also from diaries, catalogues and descriptions of museums, itineraries, in a word, from books of every kind; and he acknowledges having been aided in his inquiries at the commencement of his undertaking by Bekker, Buttmann, Niebuhr, and Schleiermacher, as well as by Gerhard, Kliitze, Müller, Bischoff, Steinhart, and other young men who have since distinguished themselves by their erudition. For full information as to the nature and object of the work, the method of treating the subject, the art of interpreting and emendins· inscriptions, examples of the most difficult and obscure fragments, and how the genuine are to be distinguished from the spurious, the entire from the corrupted or interpolated, the reader is referred to the general preface, which is full of curious and original learning.

Those persons who desire to study the Roman inscriptions, may consult any of the large collections already referred to; and they will also do well to bestow a careful perusal on Funccius de Origine, Pueritia, et Adolescentia Linguae Latinae (Francfort, 1720, in small 4to), a work of great learning, ingenuity, and research, in which the progress of the Latin language from infancy to maturity is distinctly traced, and appropriately illustrated. This magnificent idiom, which was gradually formed and perfected by grafting on the rude original stock of an uncouth and barbarous dialect successive improvements, suggested by converse with a refined people, who had made considerable advances in civilization, whilst Rome remained in a state of comparative barbarism, and which derived nearly all its peculiar excellences of form, structure, and expression, from the transfusion, partly of the vocabulary, and partly of the spirit of the ancient Greek, presents altogether one of the most interesting subjects of inquiry in the annals of philology; and it is chiefly by the aid of inscriptions that such an investigation can be successfully prosecuted. The history of the language, in short, reflects, like a glass, that of the progress of social and intellectual improvement. With regard to ancient Roman numismatics, the best manual, perhaps, which has yet appeared on the subject, is the work of Μ. Hennin (Paris, 1830, in two vols. 8vo), containing the elements of the science, and the nomenclatures, with an indication of the degrees of rarity of the antique monies and medals, and tables of their actual values. The first volume treats of the origin of monies, an invention which followed the introduction of commerce by exchange; of the epochs distinguishable in the style of the art, the legend, the form of the characters, and the metal employed in the coins; of the titles and functions of the persons entrusted with the direction of the fabrication of coins; of the materials employed in ancient coins and medals, their names, values, weights, dimensions, inscriptions or legends, and dies, with the method of detecting spurious medals; and, lastly, of the history of numismatical science. The second volume is occupied with four nomenclatures, which comprehend the whole of numismatics. The first is that of peoples, cities, and kings, arranged in the geographical order adopted in the cabinets; the second is that of the Roman as ; the third is that of the medals of Roman families; and the fourth is that of the Roman emperors, of the Caesars and the Tyrants, classed in chronological order. Each nomenclature is accompanied with a table of the value of the medals, which, however, is not remarkable for its accuracy. The works of Jobert, Patin, and Mangeart, though they contain excellent things, are antiquated; the Introduction of Millin, the Summary of Champollion-Figeac in the Portable Encyclopaedia, and the Essay on the science of Medals by Dumersan, in the Numismatics of Anacharsis, are merely abridgments, which can scarcely satisfy those who desire to make themselves thoroughly masters of the subject.
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As to the study of inscriptions, little need be said to shew its indispensable importance to the historian and philosopher, as well as to the antiquary and philologist. The records thus preserved contain much information which is not to be found in ancient authors; and they afford the best tests by which the accuracy of historians may be tried, their fidelity proved or impeached, their errors corrected, and their defects supplied. They determine dates, establish facts, and throw light on the modes and habits of civil life, as well as the observances of religion; whilst in many of them the most important historical documents have been preserved. In fact, it is only necessary to consult the Roman History of Niebuhr, to be satisfied as to the importance of inscriptions, considered as materials of history, and how greatly they may contribute, when skilfully interpreted and rightly understood, to elucidate obscurities, dispel doubts, correct mistakes, and reduce to their true value the fabulous legends of romancing chroniclers and poetical historians. Again, it is in inscriptions that the various phases, changes, and transitions of language are reflected as in a glass; it is by means of them alone that we are enabled to trace the progressive steps by which it advanced from its primitive state, characterized by a rude simplicity, to the more refined, perfect, and complicated form which, by a course of gradual improvement, it afterwards attained. The text of the Duilian column, for example, is an invaluable monument to the historian of the Latin language, which it exhibits in a state of transition from the rugged and uncouth form of a barbarous and dissonant dialect, such as that of the Carmen Saliare and the Fescennine verses, to the finished regiflarity of structure, and philosophical precision and elegance of arrangement, which we discover in the great writers of after times. As to the learned antiquary, again, he lives, moves, and has his being amidst these interesting monuments of the past; and whilst pursuing his minute investigations, perchance contributes in no unimportant degree to throw a new light on facts of more pith and moment than any of those which more immediately engage his attention. In a word, we may say to the historian, the scholar, and the antiquary, in regard to inscriptions, Nocturna versate manu, versate diurna. (a.)