Epigraphic Museum
(Ermou 148 Athens tel. 210 3463552)
The first efforts to collect ancient Greek inscriptions began in 1829 in Aegina, with the creation of the first post-liberation museum. In 1893 this collection together with the Acropolis inscriptions became part of the National Archaeological Museum. Their name was from 1953 Epigraphic Collection and from 1977 Epigraphic Museum. The Epigraphic Museum is housed in 11 rooms in the S. courtyard of the National Archaeological Museum and its entrance is on Tositsa Street.
As it has been characterized, the Epigraphic Museum is a classical library with stone books. It has over 14,000 inscriptions from the 7th BC. until the 4th AD century, of which the most important are exhibited, such as those of great historical interest (lists of lords, priests, athletes - winners in competitions, lists of cities, tribes, municipalities, alliances between cities, mainly resolutions of Greek states, especially Athens) or religious interest (votive inscriptions to gods and heroes, sacred laws, altars). Also important are those that have philological value, because they are related to the development of the alphabet in various periods and regions of ancient Greece, and finally, those, mainly statue pedestals, that bear the signatures of great sculptures of antiquity, such as Antinoros, of Chrysilas, Myronos et al.
Editor: Fotini Anastasopoulou