Introduction:

The Wider World of Writing. Networks of People, Practice and Culture Underpinning Writing in Late Bronze Age Ugarit

“…It functions, and acquires meaning, not just according to the internal logic of its own system, but in relation to this wider, ever-changing social context. In this respect it is no different from any other human practice—art, literature, religion, work and so on (Boyes 2021a; Boyes et al 2021).…”

“…How does the meaning of that writing change if the lintel is now ancient and eroded, incorporated into a garden wall? To understand these kinds of meanings requires not just epigraphy but, as I have argued before (Boyes 2021a,b), a much further-reaching archaeology of writing practices, which is fundamentally integrated with archaeology more broadly, as well as with other disciplines such as anthropology and cultural history.…”