ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the epigraphic habit from Phoenicia in the period between approximately the tenth c. BCE and the seventh c. CE. This habit evolved throughout the ages and was characterized by a great variety of forms of expression. The languages attested in the region are Phoenician, Greek, Latin, Aramaic and Hebrew. Phoenician is the most prominent language until ca. the second c. BCE, when it is displaced by Greek, which then remains the most popular language until the end of Roman rule in the East. Latin also figures prominently, which is attested by numerous inscriptions from between the first and the sixth c. CE.; it also plays a significant role in shaping the cultural landscape of Roman Phoenicia. The general peak of epigraphic activity takes place in the second and third c. CE.
