Course Catalogue

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Scribal culture can be defined as the study of the materiality and mechanics of writing and reading. This course uses the multicultural worlds of the Ancient World, with particular focus on Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, and Rome, as a backdrop to exploring the scribal education, its outputs, and the broader societal effects of the production and consumption of writing in competitive environments. 

Weekly, 2-hour, in-person seminars.

This is one of the options and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on MyCampus.

Available to all students fulfilling requirements for Honours entry into TRS or Classics, and by arrangement to visiting students or students of other Honours programmes who qualify under the University's 25% regulation.

TRS5126 Scribal Culture in the Ancient World 

None

Case study (750 words) - 20%

Case study (750 words) - 20%

Essay (2,500 words) - 60%

Case studies will require engagement with material culture objects. Some can be found online, but others will be located in the Hunterian and University Library's special collections. These will be curated and presented in class, wherein students will have an opportunity to take photographs.

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

This course aims to: 

■ introduce students to the written cultural landscape of the Ancient World with a focus on Egypt, Mesopotamia, Israel, and Rome as case studies, considering in particular the relationship between literacy and orality in those cultures 

■ consider the primary evidence for scribes, their training, and their cultural and social spheres 

■ explore the cultural differences evident in communities using different scripts 

■ situate the study of texts within the context of the physical and intellectual environments in which they were produced. 

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ define the role of the scribe in the multicultural world of antiquity comparing the ways in which this might differ across cultural communities 

■ assess pedagogical practices and educational dynamics in the various cultural communities of Egypt, Israel, and other related ancient societies 

■ explore the relationship of literacy and orality and the ways in which these manifest in texts 

■ review scribal practices associated with different cultural communities in their physical and geographic settings, and identify the ways in which these practices were affected by the multicultural environment  

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.