Freedom of Information and Accountability: The Inventory Lists of the Parthenon

Abstract

Abstract I first met Professor Lewis, not in his office in Christ Church, but in the garden of the British School at Athens, and what brought him to Athens, I assume, were the inscriptions, both new discoveries and old problems. For many ancient historians, the archaeology of the Athenian democracy is the discovery of inscriptions. Each excavation uncovers buildings, matertal goods, vases, tools, the debris of human living--but the inscriptions are what immediately captures our attention and interest. Why? They are in the twilight between material culture and literary ten. They are written documents, but carved on marble. They may be transcribed as ‘texts’ and studied as monuments. The writing may shed light on some historical problem, but they are part of the material culture from that history and are themselves part of the problem. If one approaches a stele as material culture, one can ask of it questions comparable to any archaeological artefact. Who made it? What was its original conten? How was it used? What was its function?