Writing away: mobility and versatility of scribes at the end of the Bronze Age

Silvia Ferrara Oxford Journal of Archaeology 35.3 (2016): 227-245

Abstract

This paper considers the roles played by scribes on Cyprus towards the end of the Late Bronze Age and the organization of the scribal community and its activity, drawing a parallel with the class of scribes at Ugarit-Ras Shamra in Syria. A close analysis of the contexts of the undeciphered Cypro-Minoan inscriptions found at Ugarit, the Cypro-Minoan inscription from Cyprus, and the cuneiform Akkadian tablets from Alashiya found at Ugarit and at Tell el Amarna in Egypt guides the identification of the agents responsible for their creation and their mobility from site to site. It furthermore advances understanding of the relationship of mutual exchange of epigraphic services across cultures and languages, during centuries of lively interaction and multilingual communication at the crossroads of different societies.