Abstract

The Ancient Graffiti Project (AGP) presents a digital platform and database for more than 3200 handwritten inscriptions from the Vesuvian sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae, as well as more than 300 graffiti from Smyrna. In this paper, we will demonstrate how researchers can currently search for graffiti of a religious nature, and we will preview a new tool under development that will let users explore the religious landscape among these personal writings. AGP provides a framework for scholars to research ancient graffiti and study these writings in their archaeological context, both in terms of geospatial location and building type (public, residential, commercial, etc.). It therefore offers a unique opportunity to build out capabilities that can facilitate epigraphic research across the ancient city. We will use this paper to discuss search strategies for identifying and discovering inscriptions of a religious nature and to solicit feedback on our design for utilizing metadata and vector searching to reveal the sacred among the vast corpus of ancient graffiti.

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