EPITAPH (Lat. epitaphium, epitaphins, from Gk. Ircrcictisos, (pitaphios, funeral, from hrt, cpi, upon + Tcicpos, taphos, tomb). Properly, a com memorative inscription on a tomb or other monu ment over a grave. The oldest inscriptions of this kind that we have are inscriptions on sarcophagi of the ancient Egyptians. These epitaphs are all very much alike, containing simply a statement of the name, family, and condition of the deceased, with a prayer to some deity, generally tlsiris or Anubis. The earliest Greek epitaphs are from the island of Thera, and date from a time as early at least as the seventh century B.C. They contain simply the name of the deceased. The earliest Athenian epitaphs are also very short, containing hardly more than the name of the deceased, together with that of the deceased's father, and are often writ ten in verse, generally in an elegiac distich. The Greek epitaphs that are preserved to us from later times are often of considerable length, and are very various in character. Roman epitaphs were much more meagre than the -later Greek epitaphs. On the Roman urns are the letters D. Al. or D. M. S. (Diis Manibus or Diis Manibus Sacrum), followed by certain particulars with regard to the deceased, as his age, name, and office, and the name and relationship of the person who has had the urn made.
A not uncommon feature of the Roman inscription is the strong adjuration ad dressed to the passers-by not to disturb the tomb. In modern as in ancient times, the epi taph has been made a literary form—as, for in stance, by Ben Jonson and Pope. For Greek epitaphs. consult: Kaibers Epiyranunala Gra 01 ex Lupidibus Collegta (Berlin, 157S) ; Reinaeh, Trait(' d'('piyraphie greeque (Paris, 1885) ; Pre ger, Inseriptiones Grwew Net•iew ex Seriptoribus porter A ntholayium Colleetw (Leipzig. 1891) ; Corpus I nscriptionum Atticarum (Berlin, 1878 82). For Latin epitaphs: Corpus inscriptionum Eatinarum (Berlin, 1863 et seq.) ; Bficheler and Riese, A nthologia Latina, vol. ii. ( Leipzig, 1869 i0) : Cholodniak, Carmina ,S'epuleralia Latina (Saint Petersburg, 1897). For modern epitaphs: K ippa x, Churchyard Literature: a Choice Collec tion of werican Epitaphs (Chicago, 1876) ; Andrews, Curious Epitaphs (London, 1883).