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EpiDoc: Digital encoding of epigraphic text and object

SunoikisisDC Digital Approaches to Cultural Heritage: Session 1

Date: Thursday January 11, 2024. 16:00-17:30 GMT.

Convenors: Gabriel Bodard (University of London), Martina Filosa (Universität Köln), Nora White (Maynooth University)

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/Y_JHU3eU1As

Slides: Combined slides (PDF)

Outline

This session introduces the concept of epigraphic encoding: the use of computational tags to unambiguously record text features, physical description and scholarly commentary about ancient text-bearing objects. We discuss some of the benefits for encoding such features according to internationally accepted standards, including publication tools, interoperability of projects and datasets, shared tools, conversion of legacy data. We explore through case studies both "typical" classical Greek and Latin epigraphic projects, and corpora from other disciplines, cultures, languages and periods, and end with a discussion of some of the important issues facing archaeologicts, philologists and other scholars working with these technologies today and in the future.

Required readings

  • Antonio E. Felle & Norbert Zimmermann. 2014. “Epigraphy, Art History, Archaelogy: A Case of Interaction between Research Projects: The Epigraphic Database Bari (UniBa, Italy) and the Domitilla Projekt (ÖAW, Austria).” In Orlandi, Santucci et al. (edd.) Information Technologies for Epigraphy and Cultural Heritage Proceedings of the First EAGLE International Conference. Pp. 95–116. Available: http://www.eagle-network.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Paris-Conference-Proceedings.pdf
  • Martina Filosa, Usama Gad & Gabriel Bodard. 2023. "Description, translation and process: Making the implicit explicit in digital editions of ancient text-bearing objects." In: Palladino, C. and Bodard, G. (Eds.), Can’t Touch This: Digital Approaches to Materiality in Cultural Heritage. Pp. 51–75. London: Ubiquity Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bcv.d.

Further readings

  • Lisa Anderson & Heidi Wendt. 2014. "Ancient Relationships, Modern Intellectual Horizons: The practical challenges and possibilities of encoding Greek and Latin inscriptions." In ed. M.T. Rutz & M.M. Kersel, Archaeologies of Text: Archaeology, Technology, and Ethics. Oxbow Books (Joukowsky Institute Publication 6). Pp. 164–175.
  • Francesco Bianchini. 2023. "Looking beyond the text: Opportunities and challenges in the digitisation of Sanskrit inscriptions." In Palladino C. & Bodard G (eds.), Can’t Touch This. London: Ubiquity Press. Pp. 77–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/bcv.e
  • G. Bodard & P. Yordanova. 2020. “Publication, Testing and Visualization with EFES: A tool for all stages of the EpiDoc editing process.” Studia Digitalia Universitatis Babeș-Bolyai 65.1 (2020), pp. 17–35. Available: https://doi.org/10.24193/subbdigitalia.2020.1.02
  • M. Filosa, A. Sopracasa, S. Stoyanova. 2020. “The Digital Enhancement of a Discipline: Byzantine Sigillography and Digital Humanities.” magazén: International Journal for Digital and Public Humanities 1-1, 101–128. Available: http://doi.org/10.30687/mag//2020/01/006.
  • Heřmánková, Petra, Vojtěch Kaše, and Adéla Sobotková. 2021. "Inscriptions as Data: Digital Epigraphy in Macro-Historical Perspective." Journal of Digital History no. jdh001 (October). Available: https://journalofdigitalhistory.org/en/article/WBqfZzfi7nHK
  • Kalkhitashvili, Tamar. 2022. "Digital Edition of the Inscriptions of Georgia." KADMOS 14: 7–32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32859/kadmos/14/7-32
  • Liuzzo, Pietro Maria. “EAGLE and EUROPEANA: Architecture Problems for Aggregation and Harmonization.” Proceedings of the Symposium on Cultural Heritage Markup. Balisage Series on Markup Technologies vol. 16 (2015). DOI: https://doi.org/10.4242/BalisageVol16.Liuzzo01
  • Nicola Reggiani. 2017. “Cataloguing Metadata.” in Digital Papyrology I: Methods, Tools and Trends. De Gruyter. Pp. 37–117. Available: https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110547474-003

Resources

Exercise

Technical requirements

  • Please install Visual Studio Code on your laptop, and check that you are able to open and edit text files. (If you need any help installing or activating this free software, please speak to your university's IT support as soon as possible.)
  • Within VSC, please go to the Extensions button on the left bar (5th button down) and in the "Search Extensions in Marketplace" field enter XML. Of the many plugins offered, install the plugin "XML (XML Language Support by Red Hat)". Then in the same field enter tei and install the plugin "tei-publisher-vscode (Visual Studio Code extension to support TEI editing)".
  • You will need to restart your computer (not just the software) after installing these plugins.

Editing with EpiDoc

  • Download this EpiDoc Template (right-click on the link and save as), and make a new copy of the file for each inscription you are going to encode.
  • You may find this Quick Reference sheet a useful overview of EpiDoc tags.

Pick a text

  1. Starting with a copy of the EpiDoc Template for each new document, create EpiDoc files for 2 or 3 inscriptions, papyri, seals or other text-bearing objects of your choice.
  2. As discussed in this session, focus on the "Manuscript Description" features of the edition. Encode as many of the features of object description, document history, and other metadata as you can find.

(Optional: Viewing, transforming, searching EpiDoc)

  • Download the EFES platform on your laptop
  • If you know what "Git" means…
    • you may like to fork a copy of EFES into your own Git repo, where you can keep your EpiDoc files (backed up and version controlled) for this course or your bigger project
    • or simply clone the main EFES branch and edit it there (you won't push your changes, obviously)
  • Most of you: if you don't want to or cannot use Git, simply click on Code --> Download ZIP to make a static copy of EFES on your desktop.