Stone writing in ancient Paphos: Theatre, Basilica and House

At a time when I write in light on an electrified screen, this is a story about writing in stone. Inscriptions, not only in Cypriot archaeology, embed understanding intellectually through the interpretation of texts and also through eye and touch in the subtlety of their petrified materiality. Watching inscriptions emerge from the earth and documenting them has a poetic resonance for both scholars and artists. This essay teases out that poetic resonance, showing how the significant inscriptions associated with the theatre relate to great imperial forces and also to an emotional and private individuality.