- Graffito (archaeology)
The Graffito (archaeology), (plural Graffiti), has been created by humans since Homo sapiens have been traversing this planet. There are even scratchings, doodlings, drawings, symbols, and
art , etc. etched on bone pieces from prehistoric times, and possibly earlier.Listings of Graffito (archaeology)
The beginning categories of Graffito (archaeology) are:
*Writing system graffiti.
*Picture (glyptic) graffiti, or Iconography.
**Ostraca type graffiti, with pictures.
*Complex, merged, or multiple category graffiti.Late (Roman) Demotic graffito
Very Late Egyptian Demotic was used only for ostraca, mummy labels, subscriptions to Greek texts, and graffiti. The last dated example of Egyptian Demotic is from the Temple of
Isis atPhilae , dated to 11 December 452 CE. See Demotic "Egyptian"."Christian Magic square", (the "Sator square")
The Sator square is a
Latin graffito found at numerous sites throughout the Roman Empire (e.g.Pompeii ,Dura-Europos ) and elsewhere (United Kingdom ). It is apalindrome -(theory) which forms aword square that may be read in any direction (with theories). SeeSator Arepo Tenet Opera Rotas for alternative details, and . The reason that the "palindrome" may only be a theory, is because the square may have to be read boustrophedonically.The square reads as follows (
boustrophedon ):::R...O...T...A...S::O...P...E...R...A::T...E...N...E...T::A...R...E...P...O::S...A...T...O...RThe square reads: "Sator opera tenet; tenet opera sator," and is approximately: "The Great Sower holds in his hand all works; all works the Great Sower holds in his hand." (See:Boustrophedon and the Ceram Ref., pg 30. (Note: reverse direction after the first "tenet", to repeat tenet (then continue boustrophedon).Four entry points, one per side, "renders" the reading of the "Magic Square", the "Sator Square": Right, Left, Upwards, or Downwards. (This is why Ceram concluded that it is the "christian" Sator Square.)
The "Sator Square"– Pottery sherd from the United Kingdom: [http://museum.man.ac.uk/collections/archaeology/romanempire.htm]
The Sator Square has to begin at "Rotas", so that it can end at "Sator", basically: "The Great Sower", (i.e. the
christian ). See: [http://www.archimedes-lab.org/images6/sator-inscript_nm.gifThe inscribed square]Deir el-Bahri religious graffitiBecause of pilgrims, to religious sites, there are ample examples of the "Graffito (archaeology)" at the Egyptian site of
Deir el-Bahri . The pilgrims were of a semi-educated class, and are responsible for some of these graffiti pieces. See the section in Parkinson Ref., pg 92., (4 objects).ee
*
Graffiti
*Ostracon External links
* [http://www.archimedes-lab.org/images6/sator-inscript_nm.gifSator Square, inscribed] , [http://www.archimedes-lab.org/latin.html Article] ; the article uses: "Rotas square"
References
*Parkinson, R. "Cracking Codes, the Rosetta Stone, and Decipherment," Richard Parkinson, with W. Diffie, M. Fischer, and R.S. Simpson, (University of California Press), c. 1999. Section: page 92, "Graffiti" from a temple at
Deir el-Bahri . British Museum pieces, EA 1419, 47962, 47963, 47971.
*Ceram, C.W. "The March of Archaeology," C.W.Ceram, translated from the German, Richard and Clara Winston, (Alfred A. Knopf, New York), c 1958.
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