Observing the Scribe at Work: Scribal Practice in the Ancient World

Scribes are paradoxically both central and invisible in most societies

before the typographic revolution of the 15th century, witnessed by

every manuscript, but often elusive as historical figures. The act of

writing is a quotidian and vernacular practice as well as a literary

one, and must be observed not only in the outputs of literary copyists

or reports of their activities, but in the documents of everyday life.

This volume collects contributions on scribal practice as it features on

diverse media (including papyri, tablets, and inscriptions) in a range

of ancient societies, from the Ancient Near East and Dynastic Egypt

through the Graeco-Roman world to Byzantium. These discussions of the

role and place of scribes and scribal activity in pre-typographic

cultures both contribute to a better understanding of one of the key

drivers of these cultures, and illuminate the transmission of knowledge

and traditions within and between them.