The first known example of 'modern style' graffiti survives in the ancient Greek city of Ephesus (in modern-day Turkey).

Safaitic dates from the first century BC to the fourth century AD. The only known source of the Safaitic language, an ancient form of Arabic, is from graffiti: inscriptions scratched on to the surface of rocks and boulders in the predominantly basalt desert of southern Syria, eastern Jordan and northern Saudi Arabia. Use of the word has evolved to include any graphics applied to surfaces in a manner that constitutes vandalism. The term graffiti originally referred to the inscriptions, figure drawings, and such, found on the walls of ancient sepulchres or ruins, as in the Catacombs of Rome or at Pompeii. 3.4 Commercialization and entrance into mainstream pop cultureįigure graffito, similar to a relief, at the Castellania, in Valletta.2.2 Level of literacy often evident in graffiti.Graffiti has become visualized as a growing urban 'problem' for many cities in industrialized nations, spreading from the New York City subway system in the early 1970s to the rest of the United States and Europe and other world regions. In most countries, marking or painting property without permission is considered by property owners and civic authorities as defacement and vandalism, which is a punishable crime, citing the use of graffiti by street gangs to mark territory or to serve as an indicator of gang-related activities. Graffiti ranges from simple written words to elaborate wall paintings, and has existed since ancient times, with examples dating back to ancient Egypt, ancient Greece, and the Roman Empire.

Graffiti (both singular and plural the singular graffito is rarely used except in archeology) is a type of art genre that means writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti on a dumpster in the US, depicting a humanoid figure wearing a tricorne hat.

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