The Kemyt-book, a relevant study-case for a better understanding of New Kingdom cursive scripts?

The Kemyt-book, whose composition date is still unknown, was widely copied in excerpts on ostraca, scribe’s palette, tablets, and walls during the New Kingdom (1552 – 1069 BC) but is also known by a few earlier witnesses. For this presentation, my focus lays on wooden tablets that bear extract(s) of this literary letter. By studying these artefacts and their written material aspects, I aim at exemplifying the potential of the Kemyt-book witnesses for the study of New Kingdom cursive scripts and scribal practices. For this purpose, I consider first the layout and the mise-en-texte of these wooden boards and explore the impact of such an artefact. I then devote my attention to the handwritings recorded on these writing boards, with a specific attention to the shape of the cursive signs used, before offering a comparison with Ramesside witnesses of the Kemyt-book in order to better apprehend this archaizing script.