Kemit, writing-boards, and palaeographic studies

This paper is conceived as a case study to examine how relevant the Kemit script is for a better understanding of New Kingdom cursive scripts. In this perspective, I concentrate on the wooden tablets that bear extract(s) of this literary letter. After a concise description of each tablet, I consider its layout and its mise-en-texte. I then devote my attention to the recorded handwriting(s). To illustrate this point, I selected five signs: the yodh, the owl-sign, the hare-sign, the third h (x), and one eye-sign (combination of Gardiner D5-6 and D9). I compare them with earlier, contemporaneous, and later witnesses of the Kemit written on ostraca or papyrus to provide a diachronic perspective and to draw some preliminary conclusions.