Scribal Practices and the Social Construction of Knowledge: In Antiquity, Late antiquity and Medieval Islam

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Section one. Deconstructing "scribe", exploring scribal lore and script: the socio-political background of the ancient Egyptian, cuneiform, Syriac, Judeo-Arabic and Arabic scribal practices. Writing practices, people and materials in Egypt to the first millennium BC Stephen Quirke The construction of meaning on the cuneiform periphery Mark Weeden Scribal tradition and the transmission of Syriac literature in Late Antiquity and Early Islam Sebastian P. Brock Arabic documents from the early Islamic period Geoffrey Khan Scribal practice in the Jewish community of Medieval Egypt Esther-Miriam Wagner Scribes as scapegoats: language, identity, and power in Jahshiyārī's Book of Viziers and Scribes Elizabeth Urban Section two. The social context of writing, transcoding and transmitting knowledge in Judeo-Christian, Mandean, Coptic, Syriac, Latin-Arabic, Arabic and Ethiopic traditions. The Rabbinic concept of Holy Scriptures as sacred objects Timothy H. Lim The Aramaic incantation texts as witnesses to the Mandaic Scriptures Charles G. Häberl Social construction of knowledge or intra-communal concerns? Coptic letters from Sasanian Egypt Myriam Wissa Transmitting texts from Latin into Arabic. A Christian culture at risk in the heart of the Islamic rule in al-Andalus Juan Pedro Monferrer-Sala Scribal practices among Muslims and Christians: A comparison between the judicial letters of Qurra b. Sharīk and Ḥenanishoʻ (1st century AH) Mathieu Tillier The earlier Ethiopic textual heritage Alessandro Bausi Conclusion Mapping scribal practices: telling another story Myriam Wissa

Scribal practices across disciplines are often explored through divisions between words, stiches and verses, sections, scribal hands and marks, correction and copying procedures. This volume offers a different perspective: writing as shown here is, at its heart, a deeply social practice connecting narrative to the different categories of knowledge (linguistic, political, administrative, legal, historical and geographic) and literacy. The twelve essays investigate how scribal practices are related to the construction of knowledge and challenge the conventional boundaries. They address various types of knowledge whose potential is triggered by certain needs and values in the context of Antiquity, Late Antiquity and Medieval Islam from al-Andalus through Egypt, Syria to Iraq, Anatolia and Bactria as far afield as Ethiopia. The vast majority of the papers are related thematically and the overall connection between the articles is the salient feature of this volume. The papers also demonstrate how the local context has shaped scribal practices allowing for cross-cultural comparison.

Primarily in English. Preface in French.