Representation to Reproduction: Digital Phenomenology and Hermeneutics of Inscriptions

Digital technologies have created new methods for representing, reconstructing, and disseminating ancient texts, whether inscribed, painted, or written on manuscripts. However, even allowing for increasing accuracy, epistemological issues remain. One of the most important is the singular materiality of the original, the nature of the material itself. Also fundamental is the context. An inscription is both a text and a visual representation whose understanding is intimately connected to its physical, material, and social context. How well can digital technologies address these considerations? Three case studies raise issues of contexts and interpretation. Can digital methodologies produce a better understanding of the complexities of contextual visibility and visuality?