Hittite scribal circles

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Learned Hittite scholars, akin to medieval monks, dedicated their time to copying texts in Hittite cuneiform onto clay tablets, often creating unique colophons for their manuscripts. Shai Godin’s study focuses on the information related to various scribes, their colleagues, families, and writing practices found in these manuscripts. It begins with an insightful overview of Hittite scholarly culture, particularly in the capital, Hattusa, covering archives, text genres, tablet types, writing mediums, and aspects of layout and reading. The author identifies personal signatures of over 60 scribes across approximately 130 manuscripts, which include names, titles, and kinship ties. This allows for connections between the production of specific manuscripts and particular scribal offices or families. By isolating unique elements from over 40 signed manuscripts and comparing them with hundreds of photographed cuneiform signs, the study offers a fresh perspective on Hittite scribes and serves as a reference guide for the writing traditions of the 13th century BCE, which are often challenging to date or identify. The findings illuminate the transmission of textual traditions and the graphic and orthographical conventions prevalent within specific scribal schools or families over time.