Digital editions of inscriptions and papyri

SunoikisisDC Digital Classics: Session 4

Date: Thursday February 6, 2025. 16:00-17:30 GMT.

Convenors: Gabriel Bodard (University of London), Marta Fogagnolo (University of Bologna)

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/5GZq1Od7_3U

Slides: tba

Outline

This session introduces semantic text encoding through TEI (Text Encoding Initiative) and EpiDoc XML, a scheme for the digital representation, analysis and publication of epigraphic, papyrological and other ancient texts. We discuss the scholarly value of XML encoding, some of the assumptions behind the TEI and EpiDoc principles, and show a couple of major projects and tools. Students have the opportunity to try out text encoding for themselves, via online tutorials and a suggested exercise.

Required readings

• 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
• Irene Vagionakis. 2021. “Cretan Institutional Inscriptions: A New EpiDoc Database.” Journal of the Text Encoding Initiative. Available: https://doi.org/10.4000/jtei.3570

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
• 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.
• 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.
• 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

• Digital Greek and Latin Epigraphy (from ENCODE, via Dariah Teach)
• All EpiDoc tutorials and workshops
• EpiDoc Guidelines
• EpiDoc Markup list

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.
   • Possible sources of inscriptions:
     • Latin inscriptions: EDH, EDR. Suggestions: HD000063, HD000319, EDR000014, EDR000015.
     • Greek inscriptions: PHI, AIUK collections on AIO. Suggestions: PH2302, PH334064, AIUK 2 no. 5, AIUK 2 no. 8.
     • Papyri: Papyri.info. Suggestions: BGU 1.4, P.Oxy 5364.
     • ORACC -- if you want to mark up a Cuneiform text
     • DAMOS -- if you want to mark up a Mycenaean text
     • Inscriptions in English: Download archive. Suggestions: 4334688516_155ff19988_o.jpg, 11402116453_87a952462e_h.jpg.; or search for "broken gravestones" in Wikimedia Commons or your favourite image resource.
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.
   • The EpiDoc Structure Quick Reference (PDF) will be a useful guide to encoding
   • For more detail, see EpiDoc Guidelines section on Descriptive and Historical data
   • If you want to see some examples of already marked-up inscriptions, you may visit IGCyr, or IOSPE, or CGRN.

(Optional: Viewing, transforming, searching EpiDoc)

• Download the EFES platform on your laptop
  • instructions in the User Guide should be enough
  • but Installation page may help with troubleshooting
• 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.