Scribal practices across disciplines are often explored through
divisions between words, stiches and verses, sections, scribal hands and
marks, correction and copying procedures. This volume offers a different
perspective: writing as shown here is, at its heart, a deeply social
practice connecting narrative to the different categories of knowledge
(linguistic, political, administrative, legal, historical and
geographic) and literacy. The twelve essays investigate how scribal
practices are related to the construction of knowledge and challenge the
conventional boundaries. They address various types of knowledge whose
potential is triggered by certain needs and values in the context of
Antiquity, Late Antiquity and Medieval Islam from al-Andalus through
Egypt, Syria to Iraq, Anatolia and Bactria as far afield as Ethiopia.
The vast majority of the papers are related thematically and the overall
connection between the articles is the salient feature of this volume.
The papers also demonstrate how the local context has shaped scribal
practices allowing for cross-cultural comparison.