"Prometheus" is a new project in the field of Digital Epigraphy, in which the University of Sofia represents Bulgaria in partnership with academic and cultural institutions from the region, such as the Archaeological Museum of the Republic of North Macedonia in Skopje, the Institute of Balkan Studies in Belgrade, the University of Belgrade, and the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje.
The initiative aims to apply existing good practices and available resources in creating a digital epigraphic collection of ancient Latin and Greek inscriptions from the three countries intended as a tool for education and popularization of epigraphy amongst modern audiences. Scholars believe that ancient inscriptions are a significant part of cultural heritage and, in many respects, can provide valuable information about human civilization as well as another perspective on universal human values through time.
In recent decades, Digital Epigraphy has been intensively developing as a discipline on a global scale, and scientists are already working on digitizing the written epigraphical heritage of the Bulgarian lands (see, for example, the Telamon collection of ancient Greek inscriptions from our lands developed by the University of Sofia - https://telamon.uni-sofia.bg/en/). However, much is still to be achieved, considering the rich epigraphic heritage of the Balkan region. Therefore, the mission of the Prometheus project is to contribute in an accessible way to the development of ancient epigraphy in the Balkans as part of the common cultural heritage of Europe and the world.
Within the current week (15-19 April 2024), the first event of the two-year program of the project is taking place - a freely accessible online workshop on Digital Epigraphy. The instructors are Dr. Dimitar Iliev and the team of digital epigraphists from the Department of Classical Philology at the University of Sofia represented by Elina Boeva and Kristiyan Simeonov, who have significant experience in the field of technical processing and encoding of inscriptions through modern technologies. The list of guest lecturers includes specialists from the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the University of Helsinki, who will present specific topics from their field of expertise. During the workshop, participants have the opportunity to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge for working with EpiDoc, EFES, Zenodo, GitHub, Zotero, to learn the necessary Front-End skills for implementing similar projects, as well as to learn more about 3D imaging and other digital methods.
The sessions continue until Friday, April 19th. Those who missed the opportunity to participate but would like to receive knowledge in digital epigraphy can follow the lectures live on the YouTube channel of the "Prometheus" project, where all recordings will be available after the end of the sessions: https://www.youtube.com/@PrometheusDigitalEpigraphy/featured
More information about the goals and development of the "Prometheus" project, as well as the full workshop program, can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/prometheusdigitalepigraphyproject