A World Inscribed – Introduction

Abstract

The Introduction argues that written documents must be examined not just as historical testimony, but as historical objects in their own right. The use of writing in any given society is a key to its workings and power structures. The history of scribal culture must treat written objects in three dimensions: as material object, as social practice and as text. This book emphasises the materiality of writing, and sees literacy as a social practice embedded in everyday life.