Observing the Scribe at Work

Scribal Practice in the Ancient World

Edited by R. Ast Edited by M. Choat Edited by J. Cromwell Edited by J. Lougovaya Edited by R. Yuen-Collingridge

Book cover: Observing the Scribe at Work

Extent: 360 pages

Publisher: Peeters Publishers

Subjects: Ancient Egypt, Ancient Near East, Classical Studies

Series: Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta

Series volume number: 301

Language: English

Hardback (Published)

(June 2021)

ISBN: 9789042942868

Price: $138.00

In stock

PDF (Published)

(June 2021)

ISBN: 9789042942875

Price: $138.00

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.


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.

  • Edited by R. Ast
  • Edited by M. Choat
  • Edited by J. Cromwell
  • Edited by J. Lougovaya
  • Edited by R. Yuen-Collingridge