ancient graffiti
Old wall markings
Ancient graffiti refers to inscriptions, drawings, or markings scratched, painted, or carved into surfaces by people in antiquity—on walls, monuments, or rocks.
Unlike formal inscriptions, ancient graffiti tends to be informal and spontaneous: declarations of love, obscenities, political slogans, or simple Kilroy was here messages from ordinary people.
Archaeologists found ancient graffiti in the ruins of Pompeii.
- epigraphyStudy of ancient inscriptions
- stone carvingSculptural work in rock
- jokesHumorous remarks or stories
- Roman EmpireAncient state from Augustus onward
- Latin phrasesClassical language expressions
dirty jokes · curses · fresco painting · charcoal sketches · linguistic analysis · Pompeii · religious symbols · stratigraphy · Indus Valley · Mesopotamia · wax tablets · cultural anthropology · Viking Age · cave walls · Herculaneum · Byzantine Empire · educational programs · digital archiving
- inscriptionsinscription, epitaph, stone inscriptions, gravestone, rock inscriptions
ancient graffitiroyal decrees
Official orders from monarchs
commemorative plaques · cuneiform tablets · temple dedications · public monuments · official records