Visible writing: questions of script and identity in Early Iron Age Greece and Cyprus

Abstract

A number of seemingly intractable problems still surround the introduction of the Greek alphabet some time around the middle of the eighth century BC, after more than four centuries of Greek illiteracy. The question of when this happened, though debated, seems still more or less a matter of consensus on the basis of the date of the earliest extant Greek alphabetic inscriptions, but the questions of where, how and why it did remain largely unresolved. Of these problems, perhaps one of the most intractable is that of why it happened when it did, given that the old idea of an isolated 'Dark Age'Greece, cut off from the literate east during the centuries before 800 BC, is no longer sustainable. On Cyprus, too, there is something of a literacy 'gap' between the early tenth and late eighth centuries, though there is every reason to suppose that an indigenous syllabic script continued in use on the island over this period, and the problem therefore is one of visibility rather than existence. This paper considers the contexts in which alphabetic literacy was introduced to Greece and in which syllabic literacy became visible once more on Cyprus at around the same time, in order to see if these are entirely coincidental or whether some link may be found between them. In particular, it raises some general questions concerning the relationships between script and language and between language and identity in different parts of the ancient world in the later second and early first millennia, and the implications these may have for the role of script in constructing and defining identities in eighth century Greece and Cyprus (both incidentally inhabited by Greek-speakers). It concludes that what we see are analogous, but quite separate, developments, both of them focused on Phoenician activity, but manifesting themselves in different circumstances through parallel but different phenomena. SUSAN SHERRATT OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY

On the Constitution and Transformation ofPhilistine Identity

“…As discussed below, cultural interaction is demonstrated in Philistine culture by the presence of extensive links to many different worlds that served as conceptual and physical sources of material goods and religio‐cultural practices: Cypriot (Cypro‐Minoan script, hearths, bi‐metallic knives, bronze stands, seal styles, pottery styles), Anatolian (hearths, personal names, pottery styles), Mycenaean (cooking jugs, preference for hearths, pottery styles, personal names, loom weights, figurine styles), Minoan (sacrificial practices and ritual activity, seal use, iconography, pottery motifs, plaster technology), south‐central European (e.g. Edelstein and Schreiber ; Wachsmann ; Sherratt ) and possibly even Italian (handmade burnished ware (‘barbarian ware’), e.g. Karageorghis ; Pilides and Boileau ).…”

Colonial Engagements in the Global Mediterranean Iron Age

“…Shared practices during this period should not really come as a surprise given the long history of common discourse between the Greeks and Phoenicians that can be traced back to at least the tenth century (recently Hodos 2006;Coldstream 1998;. During this earlier period, Cyprus must have served as a lynch pin with its Greek, Phoenician and Cypriot residents, and there is substantial evidence for elite interaction and exchange between Cyprus and both the central and eastern Mediterranean at this time (Crielaard 1998;Sherratt 2003;Knapp 2008, 281-97). These contacts gave rise to a shared language of ritualized gift-giving that required knowledge of the cultural codes of one another (Crielaard 1998;Coldstream 2000;Luke 2003;Hodos 2006).…”

Interações coloniais no Mediterrâneo global da Idade do Ferro

“…Durante esse período mais recuado, o Chipre deve ter servido como um nó (lynch pin), com seus residentes gregos, fenícios e cipriotas, e existe evidência substancial de interação e trocas entre elites do Chipre e do Mediterrâneo central e oriental nessa época (CRIELAARD, 1998;SHERRATT, 2003;KNAPP, 2008, p. 281-297). Esses contatos foram a base para a formação de uma linguagem compartilhada de troca ritualizada de presentes que exigia conhecimento dos códigos culturais uns dos outros (CRIELAARD, 1998;COLDSTREAM, 2000;LUKE, 2003;HODOS, 2006).…”