Network analysis of a corpus of undeciphered Indus civilization inscriptions indicates syntactic organization

Archaeological excavations in the sites of the Indus Valley civilization (2500-1900 BCE) in Pakistan and northwestern India have unearthed a large number of artifacts with inscriptions made up of hundreds of distinct signs. To date there is no generally accepted decipherment of these sign sequences and there have been suggestions that the signs could be non-linguistic. Here we apply complex network analysis techniques to a database of available Indus inscriptions, with the aim of detecting patterns indicative of syntactic organization. Our results show the presence of patterns, e.g., recursive structures in the segmentation trees of the sequences, that suggest the existence of a grammar underlying these inscriptions.Comment: 17 pages (includes 4 page appendix containing Indus sign list), 14 figure

Non-scribal Communication Media in the Bronze Age Aegean and Surrounding Areas

This volume is intended to be the first in a series that will focus on the origin of script and the boundaries of non-scribal communication media in proto-literate and literate societies. Over the last 30 years, the domain of scribes and bureaucrats has become much better known. Our goal now is to reach below the élite and scribal levels to interface with non-scribal operations conducted by people of the «middling» sort. Who made these marks and to what purpose? Did they serve private or (semi-) official roles in Bronze Age Aegean society? The comparative study of such practices in the contemporary East (Cyprus, Anatolia, the Levant, and Egypt) can shed light on sub-elite activities in the Aegean and also provide evidence for cultural and economic exchange network

From images to signs: Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A in context

This dissertation adopts a multidisciplinary approach to investigate graphical and formal features of Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A. Drawing on theories which understand inscribed artefacts as an interplay of materials, iconography, and texts, I combine archaeological and philological considerations with statistical and experimental observations. The work is formulated on three key-questions. The first deals with the origins of Cretan Hieroglyphic. After providing a fresh view on Prepalatial seals chronology, I identify a number of forerunners of Hieroglyphic signs in iconographic motifs attested among the Prepalatial glyptic and material culture. I further identified a specific style-group, i.e., the ‘Border and Leaf Complex’, as the decisive step towards the emergence of the Hieroglyphic graphic repertoire. The second deals with the interweaving of formal, iconographical, and epigraphic features of Hieroglyphic seals with the sequences they bear and the contexts of their usage. By means of two Correspondence Analyses, I showed that the iconography on seals in some materials and shapes is closer to Cretan Hieroglyphics, than that on the other ones. Through two Social Network Analyses, I showed that Hieroglyphic impressions, especially at Knossos, follow a precise sealing pattern due to their shapes and sequences. Furthermore, prisms with a high number of inscribed faces adhere to formal features of jasper ones. Finally, through experimental engravings, I showed differences in cutting rates among materials, as well as the efficiency of abrasives and tools unearthed within the Quartier Mu. The third question concerns overlaps in chronology, findspots and signaries between Cretan Hieroglyphic and Linear A. I discussed all possible earliest instances of both scripts and argued for some items datable to the MM I-IIA period. I further provide an insight into the Hieroglyphic-Linear A dubitanda and criteria for their interpretation. Finally, I suggest four different patterns in the creation and diversification of the two signaries

Writing, Literacy, and Textual Transmission: The Production of Literary Documents in Iron Age Judah and the Composition of the Hebrew Bible.

The Iron Age has long been pinpointed by biblical scholars as the period during which the earliest versions of several texts now preserved in the Hebrew bible were composed in Judah. This study finds that the epigraphic evidence can support the latter half of the Iron II period (late eighth through early sixth centuries BCE) as the context for significant Judean literacy, as well as for the presence of archives. An analysis of the comparative materials from the ANE world and ancient Greece, as well as the specifically Levantine material dating to the Bronze and Iron Ages, identifies a subset of the elite, the scribes, as the individuals who had the most direct hand in the process of written transmission. This project proposes that Judah’s scribes were profoundly influenced by the transmission from Israel of Phoenician-Samarian scribal conventions and expertise, and argues that the proliferation of texts in Judah was connected to the expanding number of Judean scribes over the course of the Iron II period. The intensification of scribal activity instigated a process whereby the compiling of specifically Yahwistic incantations and theophanies was gradually being decentralized. The collection of texts addressed to Yahweh, the patron deity of Jerusalem’s royal dynasty, suggests a state-directed initiative designed to unite the region around a single royal dynasty and single cultic tradition. The Levantine data also points to the involvement of Judah’s scribes in the gathering and collecting of oracles, for re-use in royal monumental inscriptions and in literary inscriptions displayed in prominent locations to function as political critiques against other states. To support the state hegemonic project, Judah’s royal scribes also may have combined different sources into one historical account, which would most likely have been a chronicle. These different sources would have included oracles from archival copies of collected prophecies, monumental inscriptions and king lists, and prior literary works in the scribal tradition. This study therefore argues against the prevailing opinion of biblical scholarship by positing the creation of source documents for the Hebrew bible during the Iron II period, and not early versions of the biblical texts themselves.Ph.D.Near Eastern StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/58435/1/jfletcha_1.pd

Piṇḍaśāstra, an Āyurvedic Khotanese text. Critical edition, translation, commentary, glossary, and study of the sources

I manoscritti Pelliot chinois 2893 (Parigi) e Ch. 00265 (Londra), rinvenuti a Dunhuang e un tempo uniti in un unico rotolo cinese, contengono sul verso un lungo testo medico di tradizione āyurvedica scritta in tardo cotanese. L’opera, risalente al X sec. d.C. e oggi convenzionalmente chiamata Piṇḍaśāstra, è una collezione di paste medicate classificate per tipo di malattia o area del corpo su cui il preparato va applicato. Una trascrizione iniziale del testo, la dobbiamo al lavoro di Harold W. Bailey. Una successiva riedizione e una traduzione provvisoria dello spezzone di Londra sono state invece curate da Prods O. Skjærvø. Il contributo più rilevante è stato invece offerto da Ronald E. Emmerick, il quale ha curato una prima fase dell’edizione critica di quasi metà del testo contenuto nel ms. P 2893. La presente ricerca si ricollega al prezioso lascito di questo grande studioso, portando a termine il suo lavoro attraverso l’edizione critica, la traduzione, il commento e la creazione di un glossario del testo

Persian Royal–Judaean Elite Negotiations in the early Teispid and Achaemenid Empire : The King’s Acolytes

Peer reviewe

Siraiki:A Sociolinguistic Study of Language Desertion.

The main focus of this thesis is the phenomenon of Siraiki language maintenance language shift in Multan. This is the first study of its kind carried out on any Pakistani language. The study examines the speech practices of rural and urban Siraiki Multanis in the home domain in the light of various demographic, social, political, and affective factors. It highlights the complex relationship of these factors with regard to change in the language use patterns of the Siraikis. The major sources of data for this study comprise of results from a matched-guise test, recorded speech of Siraikis in the home domain, and interviews. Triangulation of data and methods have been used in this research. The findings suggest that the phenomenon of Siraiki language maintenance/shift is differential in rural and urban Multan and no single factor can be held responsible for any changed or changing speech practices of the Siraikis. The conclusion argues that the attitude of the speakers towards their language is equally important in this process. It also brings to light the inadequacy of both the terminology and the so-called universal models that attempt to account for this complex sociolinguistic phenomenon. This research has educational and social implications and makes a theoretical and methodological contribution to the field of sociolinguistics. It is hoped that it will raise the awareness of Pakistanis in general and Siraikis in particular about the fate and the treatment of their mother tongues by themselves and by the general society. This study also hopes to broaden our understanding of the phenomenon of language maintenance/shift