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They wrote on wood. The case for a hieroglyphic scribal tradition on wooden writing boards in Hittite Anatolia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

Willemijn Waal
Willemijn Waal
Affiliation:
Leiden University
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Abstract

The wooden writing boards frequently mentioned in Hittite texts have given rise to much debate, mostly regarding the scale on which they were used and the type of script that was written on them (cuneiform or hieroglyphs). In this paper, the evidence for the use of wooden writing boards in Hittite Anatolia will be (re-)evaluated. It will be argued that they were used for private and economic documents, and that they were written on in Anatolian hieroglyphs. Important indications of this are the distinct terms consistently used in connection with writing on wood, which point to a separate scribal tradition. Further, the form and nature of the hieroglyphic script itself and the fact that it survived after the fall of the Hittite empire confirm that the script must have been widely employed. It is thus proposed that two parallel scribal traditions existed in Hittite Anatolia: a (lost) hieroglyphic tradition on wooden writing boards used for private and daily economic records, and a Hittite cuneiform tradition reserved for palace administration.

Özet

Hitit metinlerinde sıkça adı geçen ahşap yazı tahtaları, daha çok kullanıldığı ölçek ve üzerindeki yazıların türü (çiviyazısı veya hiyeroglif) açısından pekçok tartışmaya yol açmıştır. Bu makalede, Hitit Anadolusu'nda ahşap yazı tahtalarının kullanıldığına dair kanıtlar (yeniden) değerlendirilecektir. Bunların, özel ve mali evraklar için kullanıldığı ve Anadolu hiyeroglifi ile yazılı olduğu savunulacaktır. Bunun önemli göstergeleri, farklı bir yazı geleneğine işaret eden, ahşap üzerine yazı yazmayla ilgili sürekli kullanılan belirgin terimlerdir. Ayrıca, hiyeroglifin kendi biçim ve niteliği ve Hitit İmparatorluğu yıkıldıktan sonra da hala var olduğu göz önüne alındığında, bu yazının yaygın olarak kullanılmış olduğu anlaşılmaktadır. Böylece, Hitit Anadolusu'nda iki paralel yazı geleneğinin yaşamış olabileceği önerilmektedir: özel ve günlük mali kayıtlar için ahşap yazı tahtaları üzerine yazılan (kayıp) hiyeroglif geleneği ve saray yönetimi için ayrılmış Hitit çiviyazısı geleneği.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anatolian Studies , Volume 61 , December 2011 , pp. 21 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 2011

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