Variability of Scribal Practices in the Copy of Retrograde Texts during the 21st Dynasty (1069–94 BCE)

Joubert, Emil

doi:10.1163/9789004723405_009

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Variability of Scribal Practices in the Copy of Retrograde Texts during the 21st Dynasty (1069–94 BCE)

Joubert, Emil

2025 • In Geoga, Margaret; Motte, Aurore; Jurjens, Judith (Eds.) Looking beyond the Text - new approaches to scribal culture and practices in ancient Egypt

Peer reviewed

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https://hdl.handle.net/2268/338716

DOI
10.1163/9789004723405_009

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Keywords :

New Philology; Retrograd writing; Papyrus; Book of the Dead; Amduat; Third Intermediate Period; Antic Egypt; Scribal practices

Abstract :

[en] Material study of manuscripts provides a better understanding of the relationship between scribes and their text. It sometimes highlights the individuality of behaviors adopted in response to a similar situation. The texts in retrograde writing from the 21st Dynasty are a revealing case study. Copied at a time when this mode of writing was particularly uncommon, they can be the subject of a variety of writing strategies, revealing a varied range of relationships to the text. Thus, it is possible to discern to what extent a scriptor understood the copied text. After a brief review of retrograde writing and its use in New Kingdom funerary texts, this article focuses on several examples of 21st Dynasty manuscripts that reveal the variability of scribal habits, sometimes within the same papyrus.

Disciplines :

Archaeology
Art & art history
Languages & linguistics

Author, co-author :

Joubert, Emil ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Mondes anciens

Language :

English

Title :

Variability of Scribal Practices in the Copy of Retrograde Texts during the 21st Dynasty (1069–94 BCE)

Publication date :

2025

Main work title :

Looking beyond the Text - new approaches to scribal culture and practices in ancient Egypt

Editor :

Geoga, Margaret

Motte, Aurore ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de l'antiquité

Jurjens, Judith

Publisher :

BRILL

Pages :

142-169

Peer reviewed :

Peer reviewed

Additional URL :

https://shs.hal.science/halshs-05227596

Available on ORBi :

since 18 December 2025

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