Casting a New Light on Ancient Inscriptions

23 September 2025

The Epigraphic Database for Ancient Asia Minor is an innovative digital resource for the study of Greek and Latin inscriptions. Developed by an interdisciplinary team consisting of Ancient Historians and Computer Scientists, it represents a significant step forward in making the epigraphic heritage of ancient Asia Minor accessible.

Inscriptions provide invaluable insights into the historical, social, and cultural developments of regions such as Lydia, Galatia, Paphlagonia, Phrygia, and Proseilemmene. These Greek and Latin texts, carved into stone and other durable materials, are crucial primary sources for understanding the ancient Mediterranean world. They capture a rich array of information, including official decrees, religious dedications, funerary monuments, and legal documents. For researchers, studying these inscriptions opens up new perspectives on the interactions and daily lives of the people who lived in Asia Minor during antiquity.

EDAK (Epigraphische Datenbank zum antiken Kleinasien) has been designed as a comprehensive platform to facilitate engagement with this diverse material. The database already features over 6,000 records, each accompanied by the original text, translation, concise commentary, and detailed descriptions. This structure allows users to explore inscriptions in their linguistic, geographical, and historical contexts. Thanks to a recent technical overhaul, inscription texts in EDAK are now presented in TEI/EpiDoc format, significantly enhancing both interoperability with other digital resources and the accuracy of textual representation.

The newly updated beta version now available online offers users a modern data infrastructure with several key functionalities. It supports searching by category, enabling targeted research across different types of inscriptions or thematic interests. Users can access an interactive map to visualise the findspots of inscriptions and gain a spatial overview of the epigraphic landscape. In addition, the database features a powerful full text search, allowing both exact and flexible queries. Detailed individual entry views provide comprehensive access to each inscription’s text, translation, and context.

Some features, including bibliographic references, interactive mapping, and the full display of EpiDoc markup, are still being refined and will be released in future updates. Nevertheless, users are already invited to benefit from the improved data structure and enhanced access.

The development of EDAK is the result of close collaboration between Ancient Historians Kaja Harter-Uibopuu and Franziska Weise and a team of Computer Scientists. In particular, the ‘Data Linking’ (Research Field F) team, especially Sylvia Melzer, Ralf Möller, Thomas Asselborn, Magnus Bender, and Florian Marwitz, played a pivotal role in creating the system, working together with members of the Center of Sustainable Research Data Management, in particular Kai Wörner and Stefan Thiemann.