Archaeological Contexts of Inscriptions in the Private Spher

The project funded by the FWF under the number PAT8370223 is a continuation of projects P 29261 and P 33550, which were also funded by the FWF. It is the third project to research inscriptions in ancient residences of the eastern Mediterranean. The results of the first FWF project, which investigated this topic for Greece and the Balkans, were published in book form and as open access in 2023 (https://doi.org/10.1553/978OEAW91667). While the second FWF project comprised Turkey and Cyprus, the third FWF-project regards the Middle East, Egypt and the eastern part of Libya. The residences are located in different modern countries, but were part of the Roman Empire during the Imperial period and Late Antiquity. The focus is on examining the context of the inscriptions embedded in local and overall history. Of particular interest are residences whose inhabitants are known from epigraphical evidence from the houses and beyond. By knowing their families, their social status and their activities, it is possible to interpret the contents of the texts/inscriptions in their houses in a better and more differentiated way. In general, all the inscriptions analysed in the project include those on architecture, on religious objects such as altars, on the bases of statues and busts, on mosaics and wall paintings. In addition to these texts, most of which were planned by the owners of the houses, the projects also look at graffiti, which were mostly written and drawn spontaneously. These cover a broad spectrum of content, ranging from spontaneous expressions of emotion to instructions for tradesmen and household bills (buying bread, oil, visits to thermal baths, money for lawyers, etc.) as well as depictions of people, animals and buildings. Inscriptions from ancient dwellings also allow conclusions to be drawn about the religion of the inhabitants (pagan, Christian, Jewish) and the role of women, children and slaves in the respective households. Although the inscriptions are dominated by the names of the heads of household, the names of their wives and sometimes their children and, in connection with certain activities, those of their freedmen and slaves are also mentioned. In the current project the effects of the location of residences in border regions, especially with the Persian Empire, are investigated.