The Refuge of Scribalism in Iron I Palestine

The standardization of scribal products often admits of institutional patronage. Scribal variegation, on the other hand, sometimes suggests the decentralization of sponsorship or commission. As both a craft and a technology, writing had restricted cultural functions in the ancient Near East. These c...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Byrne, Ryan (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: The University of Chicago Press 2007
In: Bulletin of ASOR
Year: 2007, Volume: 345, Pages: 1-31
Online Access: Volltext (JSTOR)
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Parallel Edition:Non-electronic
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Summary:The standardization of scribal products often admits of institutional patronage. Scribal variegation, on the other hand, sometimes suggests the decentralization of sponsorship or commission. As both a craft and a technology, writing had restricted cultural functions in the ancient Near East. These cultural particulars speak to the agency of political programs to foster refinement and systemic customization. Where and how did scribes in Canaan ply their trade in the political interregnum between the ebb of cuneiform and the rise of the Iron II states? A survey of the early linear alphabetic corpus suggests that this medium largely appealed to prestige interests before the Iron II states harnessed its potential and instrumentalized its professionals. Elite posturing offered refuge to scribes on the periphery of the Iron I political economy. Scribal curricula may hold clues touching on the relationships between institutions and technological refinement, between the cognitive potential of technology and its cultural application, and between the respective scribal intelligentsias of cuneiform and the linear alphabet.
ISSN:2161-8062
Contains:Enthalten in: American Schools of Oriental Research, Bulletin of ASOR
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1086/BASOR25066987