Estampage
Estampage or stamping, is a term commonly used in epigraphy to obtain the exact replica of an inscription that cannot be transported. According to Jayanti Madhukar, it is defined as: The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as: Etymology. According to T.S. Ravishankar, former director of the Epigraphy branch of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Estampage is a purely Indian term used by Epigraphists. However, a more linguistically correct explanation would be that it originated from the French word estampage (by itself of Proto-Germanic etymology) that literally means 'stamping' and in practice, can mean either of the  two processes, namely industrial stamping of steel (forging) or the artistic stamping of various materials. The latter meaning seems to be have been adopted into epigraphy. Process of estampage. Estampage is typically obtained by pressing wet paper on to the rock face, over which any ink material (usually, coal or Indian ink) is wiped. An representative procedure is listed below: Epigraphers usually take a long time (days to weeks) to post-process the generated estampages, as they try to decipher, analyze, transliterate and translate the inscribed text. Usage. Within India, estampages have been made for numerous items and inscriptions of  archaeological significance. Some of them include: Museums and displays. In 2016, the epigraphy branch of the ASI Southern Zone opened a new, permanent museum and exhibition of estampages named "Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch Memorial Museum and Epigraphical Photo Exhibition" at the historic Fort St. George at Chennai, South India. This museum is named after E. Hultzsch, a German epigraphist and Indologist renowned for understanding and deciphering the ancient inscriptions of Ashoka, as part of his 159th birthday celebrations.