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The Disappearance of Writing Systems
John Baines, John Bennet, Stephen Houston
This volume gathers papers from the first conference ever to be held on the disappearance of writing systems, in Oxford in March 2004. While the invention and decipherment of writing systems have long been focuses of research, their eclipse or replacement have been little studied. Because writing is... Read more
Published: 2008
Pages: 397
eBook: 9781845530136
Cover | Cover | ||
---|---|---|---|
Contents | v | ||
List of Illustrations | vii | ||
Notes on Contributors | xiii | ||
Preface | xvii | ||
Chapter 1 | 1 | ||
Introduction: Background and Issues | 1 | ||
A Brief History of Writing and Administration in the Aegean | 5 | ||
Linear A in Use: Neopalatial Minoan Administration | 8 | ||
The Relationship between Linear A and Linear B | 13 | ||
Knossos and Crete in the Fifteenth Century BC: The Disappearance of Linear A | 19 | ||
Note | 22 | ||
References | 22 | ||
Chapter 2 | 31 | ||
Terminology | 31 | ||
Origin and Development under the Hittite Empire | 32 | ||
The Iron Age | 34 | ||
Neo-Hittite Centres of Literacy | 35 | ||
Style and Content of the Neo-Hittite Inscriptions | 36 | ||
Environment of the Script’s Final Disappearance | 40 | ||
Conclusion | 41 | ||
References | 42 | ||
Chapter 3 | 45 | ||
Introduction | 45 | ||
Historical Background | 46 | ||
Evolution of Elamite Cuneiform Writing | 48 | ||
Characteristics of Elamite Writing | 50 | ||
The Neo-Elamite Phase | 52 | ||
The Achaemenid Period | 54 | ||
The Growth of Aramaic Language and Writing | 58 | ||
Discussion | 61 | ||
Notes | 66 | ||
References | 66 | ||
Chapter 4 | 73 | ||
Postscript | 103 | ||
Notes | 105 | ||
References | 106 | ||
Introduction | 73 | ||
Timeline | 73 | ||
Changes in Macro-Economic Structures | 74 | ||
The Last Texts | 84 | ||
Translations and rivals | 92 | ||
Conclusions | 93 | ||
Notes | 94 | ||
References | 97 | ||
Chapter 5 | 109 | ||
Language and Script in Pre-Roman Italy | 112 | ||
Cultures of Literacy in Early Italy | 116 | ||
Script Obsolescence and the Culture of Writing in Early Roman Italy | 125 | ||
Notes | 130 | ||
References | 132 | ||
Chapter 6 | 139 | ||
The Kharosthī Script | 139 | ||
The Decline and Disappearance of Kharosthī Script | 145 | ||
Causes of the Disappearance of Kharosthī Script | 148 | ||
The Death of Kharosthī and the Principles of Script Disappearance | 149 | ||
Notes | 152 | ||
References | 153 | ||
Chapter 7 | 157 | ||
Script and Civilization in Roman Egypt: A Review of Previous Research | 158 | ||
Scholarly Presuppositions, Cultural Context of Sources, and the State of Publication | 162 | ||
From Simplification to Complexity: The Impact of Religious Compositions on Demotic | 170 | ||
Conclusions | 174 | ||
References | 174 | ||
Chapter 8 | 183 | ||
Meroitic Language: Presentation and General Issues | 183 | ||
The Meroitic Script | 185 | ||
Late Meroitic Texts | 192 | ||
Old Nubian Script: The Meroitic Legacy | 197 | ||
Reconstructing a Scenario for the Disappearance of Meroitic Script | 199 | ||
References | 201 | ||
Chapter 9 | 207 | ||
The Two Alphabetic Traditions | 207 | ||
Written and Unwritten Languages in Ancient Arabia | 210 | ||
The Reincarnation of a South Semitic Alphabet | 215 | ||
Arabic and the Reincarnation of a Phoenico-Aramaic Alphabet | 216 | ||
Notes | 221 | ||
References | 225 | ||
Chapter 10 | 231 | ||
The Script Community | 232 | ||
The Shape of Script Communities | 237 | ||
Unravelling Script Communities: The Terminal Classic Maya | 240 | ||
Conclusions | 248 | ||
Notes | 248 | ||
References | 249 | ||
Chapter 11 | 253 | ||
Characteristics of Preconquest Mexican Pictography | 254 | ||
Colonization by European Script | 259 | ||
A Colonial Vocabulary | 260 | ||
Mimicry of European Script | 266 | ||
Isolated Survivals | 274 | ||
The Process of Extinction | 277 | ||
Notes | 279 | ||
References | 279 | ||
Chapter 12 | 285 | ||
The Khipu Problem | 286 | ||
The Spanish Conquest (1532–1535) and Inka Inscription | 287 | ||
Arenas of Late Khipu Use | 288 | ||
Pseudo-Khipus | 300 | ||
Discussion | 300 | ||
Notes | 302 | ||
References | 303 | ||
Chapter 13 | 311 | ||
Introduction | 311 | ||
A Few Words on the History of the Manchu Script | 312 | ||
Retrospect and Prospect: In Lieu of a Conclusion | 317 | ||
Note | 320 | ||
References | 320 | ||
Chapter 14 | 323 | ||
Revelatory Scripts | 324 | ||
The Appearance and Disappearance of Revelatory Scripts | 330 | ||
References | 333 | ||
Chapter 15 | 335 | ||
Oral and Genealogical Histories | 336 | ||
Landscape, Action and Memory | 340 | ||
Final Thoughts | 344 | ||
References | 345 | ||
Chapter 16 | 347 | ||
Introduction | 347 | ||
Point of Departure | 348 | ||
Disappearance of Language, Culture, and Script | 351 | ||
Persistence, Transformation, and Disappearance | 357 | ||
References | 360 | ||
Index | 365 | ||
Notes | 199 |