| Περιγραφή: |
This dissertation assesses the geographical extent of the Cypro-Minoan ‘scriptworld’ and shows that traders were integral to the transmission of the Cypro-Minoan script within and beyond Cyprus. The term scriptworld refers to the confluence of script, people, and institutions through which a script is transmitted. The central claim of the dissertation is that Cypro-Minoan writing, in the form of the Cypro-Minoan potmarks, was relatively common and widespread within Cyprus and that the transmission of the script was linked to trade. I compare the potmarks to Cypro-Minoan inscriptions to show their commonalities. I demonstrate that their commonalities could most likely have arisen only if the markers of pots and writers of inscriptions were both trained in the Cypro-Minoan script. A review of past scholarly approaches to the potmarks and Cypro-Minoan inscriptions shows that the status of potmarks as writing has hitherto been regarded as ambiguous (Chapter One). This dissertation removes that ambiguity. Moreover, the distinctiveness of the Cypro-Minoan pot-marking and vessel-writing practices in the Late Bronze Age Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean indicates that writing was integral to Cypro-Minoan mercantile strategies, as embodied in the potmarks (Chapter Two). A comparison of the physical features of the Cypro-Minoan potmarks and vessels inscriptions shows that the potmarks and vessel inscriptions belong to the same general socio-economic milieu (Chapter Three). Additionally, a comparison of Cypro-Minoan signs used in potmarks and vessel inscriptions shows that the potmarks and vessel inscriptions were made by people with the same training, who were marking and writing on vessels for the same reasons and in the same contexts (Chapter Four). An analysis of Cypro-Minoan abroad identifies differences in the material features of the inscriptions and potmarks at sites outside of Cyprus, suggesting differences in the circumstances of script transmission at each site (Chapter Five). The geographic spread of the Cypro-Minoan script and the different mercantile strategies used to spread it differentiates the Cypro-Minoan scriptworld from others in the region, giving us a glimpse into the unique strategies employed by Cyprus to survive and thrive during the Late Bronze Age collapse that caused neighboring scripts to go out of use. |