Attic Script: A Survey

This study places the inscriptions found on Athenian vases in the context of the early development of writing in Athens. Focusing on the period from the invention of the alphabet in the 8th century B.C. to the early 4th century B.C., when the local alphabet had been supplanted by the common Ionic script, the book presents inscriptions on stone, both public and private, scratched inscriptions on pottery, including the political ostraca, and some inscriptions on lead tablets. Although the vase inscriptions are brief, they number in the thousands and give an accurate picture of the art of writing and the state of literacy in the Classical Period.