SMC 48

Across the most diverse societies, the reuse of writing surfaces in contexts such as learning to write, note-taking, literary creation, and bookkeeping has been not only desirable but essential to optimising resources. In these contexts, it has been typical to use erasable media of various kinds – a practice which in turn has had important implications for palaeography, literary creation, and virtually every aspect related to writing. Manuscript cultures addressed the quest for rewritability through using permanently recyclable materials such as clay and wax tablets, special technologies such as erasable coatings, and ingenious strategies for reusing papyrus, parchment, paper, wood, and more. This volume systematically explores the fascinating intersection between the potential ephemerality of the written word and the reusability of its supports. It combines a theoretical framework on ‘rewritability’ with case studies on materials, related technologies and their interplay with competing techniques, spanning from ancient Mesopotamia to present-day Nigeria, from Egypt to Japan, from Greece and Rome to the Arab world. In doing so, the volume illuminates a crucial aspect of cultural history relevant to anyone studying the written word.

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FrontmatterI

ContentsV

A Framework for the Analysis of Rewriting Practices, and Three Case Studies: Clay Tablets, Wax Tablets, and Erasable Coatings1
Michele Cammarosano

The Future of the Past: Rewriting as a Cultural Practice from Handwritten Artefacts to the Digital Age63
Marilena Maniaci

CLAY AND WAX

A Restorer’s Look at Rewritable Media: Cuneiform Clay Tablets in Conservation75
Carmen Gütschow

Temporality on Clay Tablets: When the Component Parts of a Cuneiform Document Were Committed to Clay115
Jon Taylor

Erasing Signs and Lines on Old Assyrian Cuneiform Clay Tablets161
Cécile Michel

Ashurbanipal and Objects for Esagil and Ešarra: A Case Study of Erasing, Removing, and Replacing Texts at the Height of the Assyrian Empire191
Jamie Novotny

Refill, Reuse, Recycle? Reusing Wax Tablets in the Roman North-western Provinces217
Anna Willi

Some Remarks on the Lexicon of Erasure between Antiquity and Middle Ages255
Serena Ammirati

From Wax Tablets to Codices: The Possible Influence of the Stylus Holder on the Structure of Early Multi-gathering Codices263
Georgios Boudalis

Wax Tablets as Writing Media during the Middle Ages309
Thomas Wozniak

PAPYRUS, PARCHMENT, PAPER, AND WOOD

Reasons for Papyrus Reuse in Ancient Egypt335
Elena L. Hertel

Coptic Palimpsests: When, Where, and Why?357
Paola Buzi

How to Erase Writing According to Recipes from the Arab World: Textual Analysis of Premodern Technical Recipes373
Sara Fani

How to Erase Writing According to Recipes from the Arab World: Replication and Analytical Report411
Claudia Colini, Giuseppe Marotta, Sowmeya Sathiyamani, Valentina Yañez Langner, Annie Muller, Katerina Grigoriadou und Chen Yu

Transient Texts: Erasable Writing on Wood, Sand, and Metal in Northern Nigerian Islam439
Andrea Brigaglia und Dahir Lawan Mu’az

Writing and Rewriting Wooden Tablets in Seventh- and Eighth-Century Japan: The Mokkan Used for Learning475
Antonio Manieri

Contributors503

Index of Written Artefacts