Comments on: Aleph Bet http://savageminds.org/2005/11/09/aleph-bet/ Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog Wed, 23 May 2012 09:11:47 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog » Aleph Bet http://savageminds.org/2005/11/09/aleph-bet/comment-page-1/#comment-2521 Savage Minds: Notes and Queries in Anthropology — A Group Blog » Aleph Bet Fri, 16 Dec 2005 08:43:05 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=293#comment-2521 <!--%kramer-ref-pre%-->[...] Wed 9 Nov 2005 Aleph Bet Posted by Kerim under Regions , Middle East , Language , The Other Three Fields  [...]<!--%kramer-ref-post%--> [...] Wed 9 Nov 2005 Aleph Bet Posted by Kerim under Regions , Middle East , Language , The Other Three Fields  [...]

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]]> By: Seth L. Sanders http://savageminds.org/2005/11/09/aleph-bet/comment-page-1/#comment-2028 Seth L. Sanders Fri, 11 Nov 2005 15:10:49 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=293#comment-2028 Alas, there isn't much out there that's both historically rich and theoretically interesting; my first attempt to change that was a conference on ancient Near Eastern writing where I had the U of Chicago's John Kelly, Michael Silverstein and Sheldon Pollock respond to philologists' arguments. http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/OIS/MARGINS_2005/Margins_2005.html Mirable dictu it's already in press and it'll be out early next year: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1885923392/002-9453217-4960032?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance And I just finished The Invention of Hebrew and the Formation of Ancient Israel, which looks at the early history of writing from a kind of Michael Warner POV... Alas, there isn’t much out there that’s both historically rich and theoretically interesting; my first attempt to change that was a conference on ancient Near Eastern writing where I had the U of Chicago’s John Kelly, Michael Silverstein and Sheldon Pollock respond to philologists’ arguments.

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IS/OIS/MARGINS_2005/Margins_2005.html

Mirable dictu it’s already in press and it’ll be out early next year:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1885923392/002-9453217-4960032?v=glance&n=283155&s=books&v=glance

And I just finished The Invention of Hebrew and the Formation of Ancient Israel, which looks at the early history of writing from a kind of Michael Warner POV…

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]]> By: Kerim http://savageminds.org/2005/11/09/aleph-bet/comment-page-1/#comment-2027 Kerim Fri, 11 Nov 2005 12:40:52 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=293#comment-2027 Thanks Seth. I'd love to read that "richer" and "more complex" history if you have any sources, or are writing one yourself! Thanks Seth. I’d love to read that “richer” and “more complex” history if you have any sources, or are writing one yourself!

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]]> By: Seth L. Sanders http://savageminds.org/2005/11/09/aleph-bet/comment-page-1/#comment-2025 Seth L. Sanders Fri, 11 Nov 2005 04:27:11 +0000 http://savageminds.org/?p=293#comment-2025 And it was deciphered by my dissertation advisor! Unfortunately, the story as told has a crucial error. The oldest abecedaries are from the 13th century B.C.E. at Ugarit, on the coast of Syria, not in good old Israel. However, they are written in the cuneiform alphabet and preserve two different alphabetic orders--one ancestral to "our" alphabet, the other only preserved in the Epigraphic South Arabian alphabet. There's also a cuneiform abecedary, in the South Arabian order, found in Israel, from the same time or perhaps a century or two later (so 13th-11th centuries BCE; this is my best guess, as I have just re-edited it for publication). The oldest linear abecedary is the Isbet Sartah ostracon, found in Isarel, but probably a century or two older than Tell Zayit. This alphabet does have some interesting possible ramifications for the history of semiotic technologies and literacy, but probably ones a bit richer and more complex than one will read in the NYT or Biblical Archaeology Review. And it was deciphered by my dissertation advisor!

Unfortunately, the story as told has a crucial error. The oldest abecedaries are from the 13th century B.C.E. at Ugarit, on the coast of Syria, not in good old Israel. However, they are written in the cuneiform alphabet and preserve two different alphabetic orders–one ancestral to “our” alphabet, the other only preserved in the Epigraphic South Arabian alphabet. There’s also a cuneiform abecedary, in the South Arabian order, found in Israel, from the same time or perhaps a century or two later (so 13th-11th centuries BCE; this is my best guess, as I have just re-edited it for publication).

The oldest linear abecedary is the Isbet Sartah ostracon, found in Isarel, but probably a century or two older than Tell Zayit.

This alphabet does have some interesting possible ramifications for the history of semiotic technologies and literacy, but probably ones a bit richer and more complex than one will read in the NYT or Biblical Archaeology Review.

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