Graffiti

Inscriptions and drawings that often give graphic expression to thought or feeling, made upon whatever convenient surface is available. Some of the most ancient examples appear to be those of mercenaries or forced labor serving in foreign lands; subsequent usage reflected all groups and occupations of society. Ossuary graffiti from Jerusalem, claimed as mid-first century, pray to/for some Jesus, among others, for help, and petition that the bones contained may rise from the dead. Also noteworthy is the crudely drawn anti- Christian sketch with label from the plaster of a wall of the Paedagogium on the Palatine hill of the third century, deriding one Alexamenos about the worship of a crucified figure with an ass's head-the oldest representation of the centrality of the crucifixion.