Squeeze paper
A squeeze or squeeze paper is a reverse copy of an inscription, made by applying moist filter paper and pushing into the indentations by percussive use of a stiff brush. The paper is allowed to dry and then removed. The image is reversed from the inscription, and protrudes from the squeeze paper.
The use of a squeeze allows more information to be gleaned than examining the original inscription, for example curves inside the cuts can identify the scribe who originally carved the inscription.[1]
Squeezes can also (and some have been since the 1950s) be made by applying layers of liquid latex. This method works best on horizontal surfaces.[1]
Modern digitising methods mean that the image can be restored to its original orientation.
Large collections of squeezes are held by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities[2] and other epigraphic collections.
See also
References
- ^ a b Taking Inscriptions Home University of Reading, Ure Museum
- ^ (i) Archive of the Academies project Inscriptiones Graecae project (ca. 120,000), (i) the Lepsius archive and Berlin Dictionary project archive at the Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae project, https://www.bbaw.de/en/research/vocabulary-of-the-egyptian-language, https://aaew.bbaw.de; see https://aaew.bbaw.de/archive/lepsius-archiv/papierabdruecke (ca. 30,000), (iii) Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum project (ca. 20,000).
External links
- Squeeze making at the Smithsonian Institution (Archived here)
- Squeeze Making in the Athenian Agora
- Video showing how squeezes are made: "Wissens | Räume – Antikenforschung in Berlin", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFOsb7QRM2A (last accessed: March 1, 2026).