DOCSLIB.ORG

Transfer of Egyptian Phonological Features Onto Greek in Graeco-Roman Egypt

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Transfer of Egyptian Phonological Features Onto Greek in Graeco-Roman Egypt Department of World Cultures Greek Language and Literature University of Helsinki Outcome of long-term language contact Transfer of Egyptian phonological features onto Greek in Graeco-Roman Egypt Sonja Dahlgren ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented, with the permission of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Helsinki, for public examination in lecture room 6 (Metsätalo building), on 3 June 2017, at 12 noon. Helsinki 2017 ISBN 978-951-51-3217-8 (pbk.) ISBN 978-951-51-3218-5 (PDF) Helsinki University Printing House Helsinki 2017 Cover image: OGN I: 42, The Cairo Egyptian Museum (pictures taken from the originals by Dr. Angiolo Menchetti). Abstract In this work I have studied the language contact situation between Egyptian and Greek in Roman period Egypt. I have analysed the language use of a corpus written by Egyptian scribe apprentices, OGN I, rich with nonstandard variation due to the imperfect Greek learning of the young scribes. I concentrated on finding Egyptian phonological influence from the misspellings of the vowels that displayed variation atypical for native language writers. Among the nonstandard features were e.g. underdifferentiation of foreign phonemes, the reduction of word-final vowels, allophonic variation that matched Coptic prosodic rules, and coarticulation of consonants on vowels. All of these linguistic characteristics can be found also in the near-phonetic spellings of Greek loanwords in Coptic, which I used as parallel reference material. Studying the similarly phonetically-based orthographic variants in Arabic loanwords in Coptic from a later period gave me information on Coptic vowel qualities, by which I could confirm that most of the nonstandard vowel variation in the texts of OGN I was not related to Greek internal phonological development but Egyptian influence. During the project I began to suspect that there might have been an independent Egyptian Greek variety in existence, similarly to e.g. Indian English, with transfer features from especially the phonological level of Egyptian. I found enough conclusive evidence of a variety of this type to be able to continue research on it after the doctoral dissertation. In order to be able to obtain knowledge of the spoken level of these languages which are no longer spoken, I used modern phonetic research as my aid, and especially concentrated on loanword phonology. I believe I have found enough evidence of the methods of integration of these loanwords and foreign words into Egyptian to be able to contribute to the ongoing debate about whether loan adaptation is based on the phonological level or the phonetic one. I found evidence of both, quite often working simultaneously. Acknowledgements I am in debt of gratitude for many people for providing help and assistance in a number of ways in writing this book; as the number of people whom I wish to thank is great, I may have forgotten someone in my rush and stress; do accept my apologies if this has happened, it does not mean your help would have been forgotten! I consider myself very lucky for having had such a wide and generous scholarly community on whose help I could always rely both in Helsinki as well as abroad. First and foremost I would like to thank my opponent Brian Joseph for his many insightful comments and corrections that greatly improved the quality and accurateness of this work; I am especially grateful to him for keeping me on my toes about distinguishing between Greek internal development and Egyptian-induced variation. Brian made a great impact on me during the doctoral defence of my colleague Max Wahlström with his relaxed demeanor and easy academic conversation, as well as his great dancing skills at the afterparty. Second, I would like to thank my other external reviewer Sebastian Richter for his critical comments especially on the Egyptian/Coptic distinction; without his remarks the reader would have been left with a degree of confusion regarding e.g. the dating and existence of Coptic proper. Additionally, I would like to thank Sebastian for all the help given to me in the previous years in the form of providing me with crucially important references, including his own unpublished material, access to the DDGLC (Database and Dictionary of Greek Loanwords in Coptic, FU Berlin) project database, and preliminary comments on my analysis of the phonologically-induced nonstandard orthography in Greek loanwords in Coptic. This book would definitely not be what it is without his help; furthermore, I had the distinct pleasure of learning Chrismas carols in Coptic in the DDGLC Christmas parties into which I was invited – an academic skill not easily attained, nor forgotten. Next, I would like to thank my supervisor Martti Leiwo. I have known Martti a long time, and he has an integral part in my interest in the topic as he suggested the material of Narmouthis Greek ostraca for my M.A. thesis and also supervised it. The writing of the M.A. raised more questions on the nature of the material than could be answered within it, and the project moved onward to the PhD level. It is therefore very clear that without Martti’s contribution to my studies this book would never have seen the light of day. I would also like to thank my second supervisor Fred Karlsson for his impeccable professional touch; as he was already retired during the writing of this dissertation, I only met him a few times for advice but when I did, he managed to resolve an acute crisis related to the treatment of the material in addition to having put me in the right theoretical path from the very beginning. I also owe thanks to Jaakko Frösen who has very kindly taken on the additional task of reading and commenting on my material from the very beginning of the project, also providing me with my very first funding in his project Ancient Greek Written Sources (a Centre of Excellence of Academy of Finland). Many valuable suggestions and corrections of his have found their way into this final version, and have ultimately made it that much clearer in e.g. terminology used. I owe my most hearfelt thanks to my project colleagues Marja Vierros and Hilla Halla- aho for their myriad of comments, advice and peer support over the years. I am especially grateful to Marja for her phone service on papyrological information, often during the morning coffee break (in Finnish kahvipuhelu, lit. ‘coffee call’) - sometimes just a chat was needed, and always given. I would like to thank Hilla first and foremost for her efforts in helping me organise the structure of the work; Hilla is one of the master organisers in the world, and thankfully I could benefit from that. I would most sincerely like to thank Carsten Peust, my main reference for Coptic phonology, for answering my many questions and giving me comments on my ideas. I am equally grateful for the comments, advice, references, again including unpublished studies of their own, provided by Eitan Grossman and especially Anne Boud’hors; when I asked the papyrological community for references on Coptic phonology in my presentation at the Warsaw papyrological congress in 2013, Anne looked me up me after the presentation and told me to contact her after the congress for references. I am very thankful for this act of scholarly kindness on her part. I am likewise grateful for Geoffrey Horrocks for taking the time to meet me in summer 2013 to evaluate my preriminary results; an act of encouragement that was very much needed at the time. Needless to say, during the course of one’s academic career one is affected by many teachers, professors and colleagues. The inspiring Greek drama lectures provided by my former Greek professor Maarit Kaimio kept me interested in Greek even when it seemed like it was all Greek to me. I am also immensely grateful to my current Greek professor Mika Kajava for all his help with my studies over the years, and especially for being the fastest replyer to emails in the Western Hemisphere. Similarly, my wonderful fellow students, especially during the Greek study trip, have had a huge impact on me. Thank you especially Marja, Marja “Ritza” Oksanen, Miira Tuominen and Hilla for your company and friendship on that trip and through all these years. It goes without saying that accurate data is important for a succesful dissertation and I am grateful to those who have helped me with it. I am most deeply indebted to the DDGLC project for letting me use their database for my work. Without the aid of analysed data in electronic form the compiling of nonstandard lemmata of the Coptic material would have taken me indefinitely longer. But more than that, not only was the project useful for my purposes, the project members always made me feel warmly welcome on my visits. I would especially like to thank Dylan Burns for outstanding academic benevolence and Frederic Kruger for many valuable suggestions for references and conversations on the Coptic language, and answering questions on Coptic and Egyptian grammar when the grammars available to me could not: Freddie’s online Coptic support was priceless toward the end when time was scarce. I am equally grateful to Joanne Stolk and Mark Depauw for letting me use the Trismegistos Text Irregularities test database for my phoneme searches. The incredible possibility of searches based on grapheme-phoneme correspondences throughout the vast material linked to the Papyrological Navigator provided the parallel analysis for Narmouthis Greek material in the Greek use of the whole of Egypt, the like I would not have had a chance to compile if done solely on my own. Due to time limitations, I would have had to satisfy myself to a selection of a few key corpora of Greek, within the scope of balanced geographical distribution in the attempt to form a picture of the Greek usage in Egypt as a whole.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Jssea 42 (2015-2016) 71
    Demotic and Hieratic Scholia in Funerary Papyri and their Implications for the Manufacturing Process1 Foy Scalf Abstract: Many ancient Egyptian papyrus manuscripts inscribed with funerary compositions contain annotations within the text and margins. Some of these annotations relate directly to the production process for illustrating and inscribing the manuscripts by providing instructions for scribes and artists. Two overlooked examples, pKhaemhor (MMA 25.3.212) and pRyerson (OIM E9787), allow for new interpretations of parallel texts previously considered as labels or captions. An analysis of the corpus of scholia and marginalia demonstrates specific manufacturing proclivities for selective groups of texts, while simultaneously revealing a wide variety of possible construction sequences and techniques in others. Résumé: Plusieurs manuscrits anciens de papyrus égyptiens sur lesquels sont inscrites des compositions funéraires contiennent des annotations dans le texte et dans les marges. Certaines de ces annotations sont directement liées au processus de production relatif à l’illustration et à l’inscription des manuscrits en donnant des instructions destinées aux scribes et aux artistes. Deux exemples négligés, le pKhaemhor (MMA 25.3.212) et le pRyerson (OIM E9787), permettent de nouvelles interprétations de textes parallèles précédemment considérés comme des étiquettes ou des légendes. Une analyse du corpus des scholia et marginalia démontre des tendances de fabrication spécifiques pour des groupes particuliers de textes, tout en révélant simultanément une grande variété de séquences et de techniques de construction dans d'autres cas. Keywords: Book of the Dead – Funerary Papyri – Scholia – Marginalia – Hieratic – Demotic Mots-clés: Livre des Morts – Papyrus funéraire – Scholia – Marginalia – hiératique – démotique The production of illustrated funerary papyri in ancient Egypt was a complex and expensive process that often involved the efforts of a team of skilled scribes and artisans.
    [Show full text]
  • Bibliography
    Bibliography Many books were read and researched in the compilation of Binford, L. R, 1983, Working at Archaeology. Academic Press, The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology: New York. Binford, L. R, and Binford, S. R (eds.), 1968, New Perspectives in American Museum of Natural History, 1993, The First Humans. Archaeology. Aldine, Chicago. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Braidwood, R 1.,1960, Archaeologists and What They Do. Franklin American Museum of Natural History, 1993, People of the Stone Watts, New York. Age. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Branigan, Keith (ed.), 1982, The Atlas ofArchaeology. St. Martin's, American Museum of Natural History, 1994, New World and Pacific New York. Civilizations. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Bray, w., and Tump, D., 1972, Penguin Dictionary ofArchaeology. American Museum of Natural History, 1994, Old World Civiliza­ Penguin, New York. tions. HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco. Brennan, L., 1973, Beginner's Guide to Archaeology. Stackpole Ashmore, w., and Sharer, R. J., 1988, Discovering Our Past: A Brief Books, Harrisburg, PA. Introduction to Archaeology. Mayfield, Mountain View, CA. Broderick, M., and Morton, A. A., 1924, A Concise Dictionary of Atkinson, R J. C., 1985, Field Archaeology, 2d ed. Hyperion, New Egyptian Archaeology. Ares Publishers, Chicago. York. Brothwell, D., 1963, Digging Up Bones: The Excavation, Treatment Bacon, E. (ed.), 1976, The Great Archaeologists. Bobbs-Merrill, and Study ofHuman Skeletal Remains. British Museum, London. New York. Brothwell, D., and Higgs, E. (eds.), 1969, Science in Archaeology, Bahn, P., 1993, Collins Dictionary of Archaeology. ABC-CLIO, 2d ed. Thames and Hudson, London. Santa Barbara, CA. Budge, E. A. Wallis, 1929, The Rosetta Stone. Dover, New York. Bahn, P.
    [Show full text]
  • Vocalic Phonology in New Testament Manuscripts
    VOCALIC PHONOLOGY IN NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS by DOUGLAS LLOYD ANDERSON (Under the direction of Jared Klein) ABSTRACT This thesis investigates the development of iotacism and the merger of ! and " in Roman and Byzantine manuscripts of the New Testament. Chapter two uses onomastic variation in the manuscripts of Luke to demonstrate that the confusion of # and $ did not become prevalent until the seventh or eighth century. Furthermore, the variations % ~ # and % ~ $ did not manifest themselves until the ninth century, and then only adjacent to resonants. Chapter three treats the unexpected rarity of the confusion of o and " in certain second through fifth century New Testament manuscripts, postulating a merger of o and " in the second century CE in the communities producing the New Testament. Finally, chapter four discusses the chronology of these vocalic mergers to show that the Greek of the New Testament more closely parallels Attic inscriptions than Egyptian papyri. INDEX WORDS: Phonology, New Testament, Luke, Greek language, Bilingual interference, Iotacism, Vowel quantity, Koine, Dialect VOCALIC PHONOLOGY IN NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS by DOUGLAS LLOYD ANDERSON B.A., Emory University, 2003 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF ARTS ATHENS, GEORGIA 2007 © 2007 Douglas Anderson All Rights Reserved VOCALIC PHONOLOGY IN NEW TESTAMENT MANUSCRIPTS by DOUGLAS LLOYD ANDERSON Major Professor: Jared Klein Committee: Erika Hermanowicz Richard
    [Show full text]
  • Archaic Eretria
    ARCHAIC ERETRIA This book presents for the first time a history of Eretria during the Archaic Era, the city’s most notable period of political importance. Keith Walker examines all the major elements of the city’s success. One of the key factors explored is Eretria’s role as a pioneer coloniser in both the Levant and the West— its early Aegean ‘island empire’ anticipates that of Athens by more than a century, and Eretrian shipping and trade was similarly widespread. We are shown how the strength of the navy conferred thalassocratic status on the city between 506 and 490 BC, and that the importance of its rowers (Eretria means ‘the rowing city’) probably explains the appearance of its democratic constitution. Walker dates this to the last decade of the sixth century; given the presence of Athenian political exiles there, this may well have provided a model for the later reforms of Kleisthenes in Athens. Eretria’s major, indeed dominant, role in the events of central Greece in the last half of the sixth century, and in the events of the Ionian Revolt to 490, is clearly demonstrated, and the tyranny of Diagoras (c. 538–509), perhaps the golden age of the city, is fully examined. Full documentation of literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources (most of which have previously been inaccessible to an English-speaking audience) is provided, creating a fascinating history and a valuable resource for the Greek historian. Keith Walker is a Research Associate in the Department of Classics, History and Religion at the University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
    [Show full text]
  • Part 1: Introduction to The
    PREVIEW OF THE IPA HANDBOOK Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet PARTI Introduction to the IPA 1. What is the International Phonetic Alphabet? The aim of the International Phonetic Association is to promote the scientific study of phonetics and the various practical applications of that science. For both these it is necessary to have a consistent way of representing the sounds of language in written form. From its foundation in 1886 the Association has been concerned to develop a system of notation which would be convenient to use, but comprehensive enough to cope with the wide variety of sounds found in the languages of the world; and to encourage the use of thjs notation as widely as possible among those concerned with language. The system is generally known as the International Phonetic Alphabet. Both the Association and its Alphabet are widely referred to by the abbreviation IPA, but here 'IPA' will be used only for the Alphabet. The IPA is based on the Roman alphabet, which has the advantage of being widely familiar, but also includes letters and additional symbols from a variety of other sources. These additions are necessary because the variety of sounds in languages is much greater than the number of letters in the Roman alphabet. The use of sequences of phonetic symbols to represent speech is known as transcription. The IPA can be used for many different purposes. For instance, it can be used as a way to show pronunciation in a dictionary, to record a language in linguistic fieldwork, to form the basis of a writing system for a language, or to annotate acoustic and other displays in the analysis of speech.
    [Show full text]
  • Timeline .Pdf
    Timeline of Egyptian History 1 Ancient Egypt (Languages: Egyptian written in hieroglyphics and Hieratic script) Timeline of Egyptian History 2 Early Dynastic Period 3100–2686 BCE • 1st & 2nd Dynasty • Narmer aka Menes unites Upper & Lower Egypt • Hieroglyphic script developed Left: Narmer wearing the crown of Lower Egypt, the “Deshret”, or Red Crown Center: the Deshret in hieroglyphics; Right: The Red Crown of Lower Egypt Narmer wearing the crown of Upper Egypt, the “Hedjet”, or White Crown Center: the Hedjet in hieroglyphics; Right: The White Crown of Upper Egypt Pharaoh Djet was the first to wear the combined crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, the “Pschent” (pronounced Pskent). Timeline of Egyptian History 3 Old Kingdom 2686–2181 BCE • 3rd – 6th Dynasty • First “Step Pyramid” (mastaba) built at Saqqara for Pharaoh Djoser (aka Zoser) Left: King Djoser (Zoser), Righr: Step pyramid at Saqqara • Giza Pyramids (Khufu’s pyramid – largest for Pharaoh Khufu aka Cheops, Khafra’s pyramid, Menkaura’s pyramid – smallest) Giza necropolis from the ground and the air. Giza is in Lower Egypt, mn the outskirts of present-day Cairo (the modern capital of Egypt.) • The Great Sphinx built (body of a lion, head of a human) Timeline of Egyptian History 4 1st Intermediate Period 2181–2055 BCE • 7th – 11th Dynasty • Period of instability with various kings • Upper & Lower Egypt have different rulers Middle Kingdom 2055–1650 BCE • 12th – 14th Dynasty • Temple of Karnak commences contruction • Egyptians control Nubia 2nd Intermediate Period 1650–1550 BCE • 15th – 17th Dynasty • The Hyksos come from the Levant to occupy and rule Lower Egypt • Hyksos bring new technology such as the chariot to Egypt New Kingdom 1550–1069 BCE (Late Egyptian language) • 18th – 20th Dynasty • Pharaoh Ahmose overthrows the Hyksos, drives them out of Egypt, and reunites Upper & Lower Egypt • Pharaoh Hatshepsut, a female, declares herself pharaoh, increases trade routes, and builds many statues and monuments.
    [Show full text]
  • Glossary of Key Terms
    Glossary of Key Terms accent: a pronunciation variety used by a specific group of people. allophone: different phonetic realizations of a phoneme. allophonic variation: variations in how a phoneme is pronounced which do not create a meaning difference in words. alveolar: a sound produced near or on the alveolar ridge. alveolar ridge: the small bony ridge behind the upper front teeth. approximants: obstruct the air flow so little that they could almost be classed as vowels if they were in a different context (e.g. /w/ or /j/). articulatory organs – (or articulators): are the different parts of the vocal tract that can change the shape of the air flow. articulatory settings or ‘voice quality’: refers to the characteristic or long-term positioning of articulators by individual or groups of speakers of a particular language. aspirated: phonemes involve an auditory plosion (‘puff of air’) where the air can be heard passing through the glottis after the release phase. assimilation: a process where one sound is influenced by the characteristics of an adjacent sound. back vowels: vowels where the back part of the tongue is raised (like ‘two’ and ‘tar’) bilabial: a sound that involves contact between the two lips. breathy voice: voice quality where whisper is combined with voicing. cardinal vowels: a set of phonetic vowels used as reference points which do not relate to any specific language. central vowels: vowels where the central part of the tongue is raised (like ‘fur’ and ‘sun’) centring diphthongs: glide towards /ə/. citation form: the way we say a word on its own. close vowel: where the tongue is raised as close as possible to the roof of the mouth.
    [Show full text]
  • 1Daskalov R Tchavdar M Ed En
    Entangled Histories of the Balkans Balkan Studies Library Editor-in-Chief Zoran Milutinović, University College London Editorial Board Gordon N. Bardos, Columbia University Alex Drace-Francis, University of Amsterdam Jasna Dragović-Soso, Goldsmiths, University of London Christian Voss, Humboldt University, Berlin Advisory Board Marie-Janine Calic, University of Munich Lenard J. Cohen, Simon Fraser University Radmila Gorup, Columbia University Robert M. Hayden, University of Pittsburgh Robert Hodel, Hamburg University Anna Krasteva, New Bulgarian University Galin Tihanov, Queen Mary, University of London Maria Todorova, University of Illinois Andrew Wachtel, Northwestern University VOLUME 9 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/bsl Entangled Histories of the Balkans Volume One: National Ideologies and Language Policies Edited by Roumen Daskalov and Tchavdar Marinov LEIDEN • BOSTON 2013 Cover Illustration: Top left: Krste Misirkov (1874–1926), philologist and publicist, founder of Macedo- nian national ideology and the Macedonian standard language. Photographer unknown. Top right: Rigas Feraios (1757–1798), Greek political thinker and revolutionary, ideologist of the Greek Enlightenment. Portrait by Andreas Kriezis (1816–1880), Benaki Museum, Athens. Bottom left: Vuk Karadžić (1787–1864), philologist, ethnographer and linguist, reformer of the Serbian language and founder of Serbo-Croatian. 1865, lithography by Josef Kriehuber. Bottom right: Şemseddin Sami Frashëri (1850–1904), Albanian writer and scholar, ideologist of Albanian and of modern Turkish nationalism, with his wife Emine. Photo around 1900, photo- grapher unknown. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Entangled histories of the Balkans / edited by Roumen Daskalov and Tchavdar Marinov. pages cm — (Balkan studies library ; Volume 9) Includes bibliographical references and index.
    [Show full text]
  • I) If\L /-,7\ .L Ii Lo N\ C, ' II Ii Abstract Approved: 1'
    AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Asaad AI-Saleh for the Master of Arts Degree In English presented on _------'I'--'I--'J:..=u:o...1VL.c2=0"--'0"-=S'------ _ Title: Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafii: A Non-recognized Voice in the Chorus ofthe Arabic Literary Revival i) If\l /-,7\ .L Ii lo n\ C, ' II Ii Abstract Approved: 1'. C". C ,\,,: 41-------<..<.LI-hY,-""lA""""","""I,--ft-'t _ '" I) Abstract Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafii, a modem Egyptian writer with classical style, is not studied by scholars of Arabic literature as are his contemporary liberals, such as Taha Hussein. This thesis provides a historical background and a brief literary survey that helps contextualize al-Rafii, the period, and the area he came from. AI-Rafii played an important role in the two literary and intellectual schools during the Arabic literary revival, which extended from the French expedition (1798-1801) to around the middle of the twentieth century. These two schools, known as the Old and the New, vied to shape the literature and thought of Egypt and other Arab countries. The former, led by al-Rafii, promoted a return to classical Arabic styles and tried to strengthen the Islamic identity of Egypt. The latter called for cutting off Egypt from its Arabic history and rejected the dominance and continuity of classical Arabic language. AI-Rafii contributed to the Revival by supporting a line ofthought that has not been favored by pro-Westernization governments, which made his legacy almost forgotten. Deriving his literature from the canon of Arabic language, culture, and history, al-Rafii produced a literature based on a revived version of classical Arabic literature, an accomplishment which makes him unique among modem Arab writers.
    [Show full text]
  • A Very Brief Introduction to Hieratic
    A Very Brief Introduction to Hieratic Joshua Aaron ROBERSON rev 1.0 (Spring 2018) Contents About this document .................................................................................................. 3 General references ..................................................................................................... 4 §1 Introduction .......................................................................................................... 5 §2 Basic Strategies: Context. Mono-literals, Determinatives, and Logograms. Gestalt ... 6 §3 Abbreviated signs. Common bi- and tri-literal signs ................................................ 9 §4 Dissimilar Hieroglyphic signs with similar Hieratic forms ........................................ 12 §5 Similar Hieroglyphic signs with dissimilar Hieratic forms ........................................ 13 §6 Signs with reduced iconicity .................................................................................. 13 §7 Ligatures ............................................................................................................... 14 §8 Regnal dates ......................................................................................................... 15 §9 Numbers ............................................................................................................... 16 ROBERSON, Introduction to Hieratic. - 2 - About this document The present, short Introduction was designed as an overview of the basic principles of the Hieratic script, in conjunction with a representative
    [Show full text]
  • Que Se Sabe De… La Biblia Desde La Arqueología
    La Biblia desde la arqueología Qué se sabe de... Colección dirigida y coordinada por: CARLOS J. GIL ARBIOL La Biblia desde la arqueología Joaquín González Echegaray Editorial Verbo Divino Avenida de Pamplona, 41 31200 Estella (Navarra), España Teléfono: 948 55 65 05 Fax: 948 55 45 06 www.verbodivino.es [email protected] Diseño de colección y cubierta: Francesc Sala Fotografía: Ruinas de la ciudad de Gadara en la Decápolis (hoy Umm Qais, Jordania). © Joaquín González Echegaray © Editorial Verbo Divino, 2010 Fotocomposición: NovaText, Mutilva Baja (Navarra) Impresión: I.G. Castuera, S.A. (Navarra) Impreso en España - Printed in Spain Depósito legal: NA 359-2010 ISBN: 978-84-9945-011-7 Cualquier forma de reproducción, distribución, comunicación pública o transformación de esta obra solo puede ser realizada con la autorización de sus titulares, salvo excepción prevista por la ley. Diríjase a CEDRO (Centro Es- pañol de Derechos Reprográficos: www.cedro.org) si necesita fotocopiar o escanear algún fragmento de esta obra. Para comprender este libro INTRODUCCIÓN urante siglos, nuestros conocimientos sobre la historia anti- gua del Próximo Oriente se fundaban en los datos conteni- Ddos en la Biblia y en algunas fuentes principalmente griegas, como los Nueve libros de la Historia de Heródoto, los fragmentos con- servados de la Aegyptiaca de Manetón, la Ciropedia y la Anábasis de Je- nofonte, así como otras referencias menores de ciertos autores grie- gos y latinos. Nadie discutía su veracidad, ni tampoco existía mayor interés en un conocimiento más profundo del tema. Hay que esperar al siglo XVIII, para que los viajes de europeos a esos países de oriente, la contemplación de las monumentales ruinas aún visibles y el des- cubrimiento fortuito de inscripciones y objetos despertara interés en nuestro mundo occidental.
    [Show full text]
  • The Gentics of Civilization: an Empirical Classification of Civilizations Based on Writing Systems
    Comparative Civilizations Review Volume 49 Number 49 Fall 2003 Article 3 10-1-2003 The Gentics of Civilization: An Empirical Classification of Civilizations Based on Writing Systems Bosworth, Andrew Bosworth Universidad Jose Vasconcelos, Oaxaca, Mexico Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr Recommended Citation Bosworth, Bosworth, Andrew (2003) "The Gentics of Civilization: An Empirical Classification of Civilizations Based on Writing Systems," Comparative Civilizations Review: Vol. 49 : No. 49 , Article 3. Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/ccr/vol49/iss49/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Comparative Civilizations Review by an authorized editor of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. Bosworth: The Gentics of Civilization: An Empirical Classification of Civil 9 THE GENETICS OF CIVILIZATION: AN EMPIRICAL CLASSIFICATION OF CIVILIZATIONS BASED ON WRITING SYSTEMS ANDREW BOSWORTH UNIVERSIDAD JOSE VASCONCELOS OAXACA, MEXICO Part I: Cultural DNA Introduction Writing is the DNA of civilization. Writing permits for the organi- zation of large populations, professional armies, and the passing of complex information across generations. Just as DNA transmits biolog- ical memory, so does writing transmit cultural memory. DNA and writ- ing project information into the future and contain, in their physical structure, imprinted knowledge.
    [Show full text]