Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17219
Title: Recognizing Greek Literacy in Early Roman Documents from the Judaean Desert
Contributor(s): Charlesworth, Scott  (author)
Publication Date: 2014
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/17219
Abstract: It is not possible to quantify Greek literacy in early Roman Palestine by counting the number of Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek documents found in the Judaean desert. The three second-century archives of Babatha, Salome Kokhba probably derive from a similar socio-economic level, and most of the documents they contain were written by scribes. What about individual Greek literacy and bilingualism? Someone who could understand, speak, read, and write a second language and someone who could only understand and speak it were both bilingual, but only one was literate. First-century texts from Masada written in Aramaic, Greek, and Hebrew were produced and used for the same purposes, implying that two or three languages were spoken by many and read by some. Some witnesses in the second-century archives signed their names in Greek in practised hands. Some or even many who lacked literacy probably could understand and speak Greek. Law courts, dealings with Romans, and business activities required communication in Greek. But it seems that only a few or only some acquired Greek literacy.
Publication Type: Journal Article
Source of Publication: Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, v.51, p. 161-189
Publisher: American Society of Papyrologists
Place of Publication: United States of America
ISSN: 1938-6958
0003-1186
Fields of Research (FoR) 2008: 210306 Classical Greek and Roman History
210310 Middle Eastern and African History
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 430305 Classical Greek and Roman history
430318 Middle Eastern and North African history
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2008: 950599 Understanding Past Societies not elsewhere classified
970121 Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology
970120 Expanding Knowledge in Language, Communication and Culture
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280113 Expanding knowledge in history, heritage and archaeology
280114 Expanding knowledge in Indigenous studies
280116 Expanding knowledge in language, communication and culture
Peer Reviewed: Yes
HERDC Category Description: C1 Refereed Article in a Scholarly Journal
Appears in Collections:Journal Article

Files in This Item:
2 files
File Description SizeFormat 
Show full item record

Page view(s)

942
checked on Jun 11, 2023
Google Media

Google ScholarTM

Check


Items in Research UNE are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.