Events Calendar – British School at Athens
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Fragment of an inscribed tribute list, 425-4 BCE, image credit: the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Fletcher Fund, 1926
Upper House Seminar
Dr Edward Jones (BSA Macmillan-Rodewald Student / Oxford University) “The function and significance of inscribed accounts in Classical Athens”
Abstract: In this lecture, Edward Jones explores the Classical Athenian habit of inscribing administrative records on stone. We possess many fragments of inscribed lists, accounts, and inventories, but the reasons for inscribing them are rarely recorded in surviving literary and epigraphic texts. Therefore, this elusive practice has been variously interpreted as a way of facilitating the scrutiny of officials, of honouring the gods, or of symbolising Athenian financial might and democratic ideals.
Jones offers a new interpretation of these inscriptions in his lecture. By describing their texts and formatting features in detail, and by examining related literary and epigraphic evidence, he argues that inscribed accounts served various, shifting functions. Their formal properties indicate why they were inscribed, yet their function also depended on who was looking at them, when they were looking, and why they were looking.
This lecture sheds light on a fascinating epigraphic habit bound up with political and religious mentalities and with questions of literacy, numeracy, and transparency. It also contributes to a growing body of research on the function and materiality of inscribed monuments in antiquity.
Online and in-person
To attend in person in Athens, please register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1041842297357?aff=oddtdtcreator
To attend online via Zoom webinar, please register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eHFX1yU3Q4WEnSqEjcKehA
When: 16 December @ 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm EET
Where: British School at Athens, Upper House – Athens – 52 Souedias Street