Project PROMETHEUS
Promoting Universal Values through Digital Epigraphy and Cultural Heritage
Epigraphic monuments are an important part of cultural heritage and a valuable source of information about the past. They testify to all aspects of human civilization and are a helpful tool for the recognition and promotion of universal human values. In the last decades, epigraphy has significantly evolved as a digital domain. Various digital corpora and initiatives exist that promote the use of digital technology in bringing the content of the inscriptions closer to the wider audience.
The Southeastern European and Balkan countries have a significant Greek and Roman epigraphic heritage, nevertheless their digital epigraphy resources are underdeveloped and museums are in need of new models for audience development.
The aim of this cooperation in the frames of the “Prometheus” project is to bring together the existing successful practices of digital epigraphy, and the use of epigraphy for education in order to create digital collection of inscriptions from the regions of North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Serbia accompanied with other digital resources that will serve as a tool for active engagement of the audience in appreciating the stories of epigraphic monuments and the universal values they share.
This project will enhance the transnational cooperation in the area of digital epigraphy and cultural heritage between cultural, educational and research institutions in Southeastern European, Balkan and other countries. It will build up their capacities to create digital epigraphic corpora and to implement the existing and develop new resources and models that will engage the audience in a way in which everyone will be able to recognize the universal values as a link between the past, the present and the future. The digital content created as a result of this project will be open access and thus the local epigraphic monuments will become available to diverse audiences from around the world to be studied as a historical source, used for education and appreciated as a European cultural heritage.
Visit Project Prometheus web-site
The website is equipped with all the necessary features and functionalities to achieve its goals. It has a functional underlying content management system with a front-end tool for processing XML files for the EpiDoc database and a navigation bar consisting of menus such as Inscriptions, Indices, Manual, Stories and Project.
The collection includes inscriptions from three different Roman provinces, dating to the period of the early Principate in European history (1st–3rd centuries AD), and it is available on the web-site. Inscriptions were encoded using markup languages like TEI XML. This process includes transcribing the text, annotating features (such as abbreviations, ligatures, and line breaks), and providing metadata (such as provenance, date, and material). It allows researchers to search, compare, and analyze them across different contexts. Beyond mere transcription, digital epigraphy, and our web-site, incorporates semantic information. For instance, it links personal names to prosopographical databases or identifies geographical locations. Digital tools enable interactive visualizations of inscriptions, allowing researchers to explore them spatially, temporally, or based on specific criteria. Digital platforms facilitate collaboration among scholars worldwide.
Activities
Project activities are organized in five work packages:
- Project management, administration and coordination, lead beneficiary is the Archaeological Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia, Skopje
- Capacity building, lead beneficiary is the Institute for Balkan studies SANU, Belgrade, R. of Serbia
- Networking and knowledge sharing, lead beneficiary is the Faculty of Philosophy, University in Belgrade, R. of Serbia
- Digitisation of epigraphic monuments, lead beneficiary is the University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, R. of Bulgaria
- Communication and dissemination, lead beneficiary is the Faculty of Philosophy, University “Ss. Cyril and Methodius”, Skopje
Lectures
Nicolay Sharankov, “Epigraphic practice in ancient Thrace”
Vojin Nedeljkovic, “The Sad fate of a Pieceful Citizen”
Slavica Babamova - Inscriptions as historical documents: Roman Macedonia between East and West
Partners
