Representations of Writing Materials on Roman Funerary Monuments

Ancient funerary reliefs are full of representations of writing materials and instruments, the interpretation of which can help us better understand the phenomenon of ancient literacy. The eight studies in this volume enrich our knowledge of Roman writing with many new aspects and detailed observations.

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Ancient funerary reliefs are full of representations of writing materials and instruments, the interpretation of which can help us better understand the phenomenon of ancient literacy. The eight studies in this volume were delivered as lectures at an online conference organized by the Department of Ancient History at the University of Pécs in October 2021. The comprehensive introductory study (N. Agócs, T. Grüll, J. Jusztinger, E. Szabó) is followed by two thematic studies on depictions of the Muses (E. A. Meyer) and the role of women in written culture (J. Luginbühl). Two studies address writing materials: the well-known and widespread writing tablets (B. Hartmann), and the less-known bone spatulae which nevertheless also occur frequently (A. Willi). Finally, three studies deal with depictions of writing instruments and materials in certain regions of the Roman Empire: at Palmyra (Ł. Sokołowski), in the two Moesiae (S. Pilipović) and in Phrygia (T. Grüll). Each of the studies enriches our knowledge of Roman writing with many new aspects and many detailed observations.