Thesis (M.A.)--Northern Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 128-133).

Akademisk avhandling--Institutionen för svenska språket--Göteborg, 1997. / Résumé en anglais. Bibliogr. p. 256-266.

This thesis examines the phenomenon of numerals as they were written by early New Testament scribes. Chapter 1 briefly introduces the two basic ways that early scribes wrote numerals, either as longhand words or in alphabetic shorthand (e.g., δύο or β̅), and summarizes the fundamental research question: how did early Christian scribes write numerals and why? The need for such a study is described in chapter 2, which reviews past discussions of the phenomenon of scribal number-writing in New Testament manuscripts. While scholars are aware of the feature and have been eager to draw it into a variety of important discussions, this has been done without any systematic or thorough study of the phenomenon itself. After these introductory chapters, the thesis proceeds in two basic parts: the first isolates the relevant data in question and the second aims to examine those data more fully and from several different angles. Part one is a systematic examination of all numerals, both cardinal and ordinal, that are extant in New Testament manuscripts dated up through the fifth century CE (II–V/VI). The principal concern is when and where numerical shorthand occurs in these manuscripts. Can we discern a Christian style of number-writing that can be distinguished from contemporary scribal customs, and, if so, what is the nature of that style? One aim is to discern the function of number-writing within individual codices, and so its relation to other codicological and scribal features is also considered. Chapter 3 examines numerals in papyrus witnesses and chapter 4 examines them in majuscules written on parchment. Part two then comprises a more thorough investigation of some important issues that arose in part one. Chapter 5 approaches the feature of number-writing from the angle of textual genealogy. Did scribes ever mimic the particular numberforms as they were written in their exemplars or did they choose between them at their own leisure? In either case, what implications does this have for our understanding of textual relationships? Chapter 6 takes a brief detour to evaluate a commonly repeated axiom: that, in Greek copies of the Old Testament scriptures, Jewish scribes consistently used longhand numerals and avoided numerical shorthand. I argue that this idea is invalid and has distorted our understanding of the provenance of some early manuscripts. Chapter 7 then considers whether theological reflection ever influenced a scribe’s decision to employ numerical shorthand. In the same way that devotional practice seems to lie at the origin of the nomina sacra, the group of scribal contractions for divine names and titles, can we detect similar patterns of number-writing that relate to theologically significant concepts and/or referents? I argue that, aside from a handful of isolated yet intriguing examples, no coherent system similar to the nomina sacra can be detected—a conclusion that nonetheless sheds a great deal of light on devotional practices among early Christians. In chapter 8, I describe a hypothesis that seeks to make sense of much of the data observed in part one. In our examination of the numerals in the early manuscripts, four curious features are identified that distinguish Christian scribal practice from that found in other corpora, all relating to numerals (or kinds of numerals) that Christian scribes, as a rule, wrote longhand rather than in shorthand. I argue that this unique adaptation of numerical abbreviation in New Testament manuscripts reflects an awareness and intentional policy to avoid forms that were potentially ambiguous in the reading of those texts, and especially in their public reading. The final portion, chapter 9, then summarizes the thesis, draws out some implications of the study, and suggests areas in which more research would be potentially fruitful.

Cette recherche s’intéresse à un groupe de 12 scribes de Nuzi ayant écrit pour le compte d’une femme, Tulpun-naya. L’objectif de cette thèse est de conduire une étude prosopographique de ce groupe de scribes et d’identifier les processus de leur formation.Il s’agit pour chacun d’entre eux de déterminer les modalités de l’exercice de leur métier à travers l’analyse des paramètres suivants :– L’identification du cercle des personnes avec lesquelles le scribe travaille (commanditaires, témoins, juges, collègues).– La zone d’activité dans le royaume d’Arrapḫe.– Le type de textes qu’il rédige.– Les habitudes rédactionnelles (orthographe, syntaxe).– Les caractéristiques diplomatiques de la tablette (forme, « mise en page » du texte).– Les usages liés aux sceaux (prêt, transmission, partage, nombre de sceaux utilisés par un même scribe).– Sa position sociale (scribe royal, serviteur) ou son appartenance à d’autres corporations (conducteur de char).En confrontant ces paramètres par rapport à des scribes issus d’une même famille, on vise aussi à identifier les processus de formation au métier de scribe et leurs évolutions.Ces scribes travaillent également pour d’autres commanditaires, des 37 tablettes écrites pour Tulpun-naya, ce terrain d’enquête s’élargit à 460 tablettes. De plus, comme le recours au patronyme est loin d’être systématique, la présence de scribes homonymes a pu être observée parmi les scribes de l’archive de Tulpun-naya. L’étude comparative du corpus de ces différents scribes à partir des critères cités précédemment permet de résoudre ces cas d’homonymie.Une fois le corpus de chaque scribe défini, il convient de fixer la période durant laquelle il a exercé son métier. En l’absence d’indication de date, c’est la présence de membres de grandes familles nuzites dans les documents rédigés par le scribe qui permet de situer les textes les uns par rapport aux autres dans une chronologie relative. Après avoir établi ce cadre chronologique, on est ainsi en mesure de mettre en évidence les différentes phases du déroulement de la carrière du scribe. / The objective of the current thesis is to reach a better understanding of the scribe occupation and their training processes within the Nuzi documentation through the study of 12 scribes who worked for a woman named Tulpun-naya.By creating a descriptive profile for each of these scribes we develop a more precise understanding of their professional practices using the following criteria:– The professional environment (employers, colleagues) and the circle of people involved when the contract was completed (witnesses, parties, judges).– The degree of mobility: the scribe may have focused his activities within a specific city or move to other places in order to broaden his « client base ». – The level of specialization as regard written production.– The syntactical and linguistic aspects, the grammar traits and the variations in style in the scribe corpus.– The external characteristics of the medium (tablet shape and text layout).– The various practices concerning seals such as sharing and lending and transfer as well as the use of several seals by the scribe during his career.– The scribe social position and his secondary occupations if any.Furthermore, by comparing the above mentioned criteria, the present research aims to bring to light the delivery of scribal instruction, its form and evolution between scribes of a same family through several generations.The 12 scribes who worked for Tulpun-naya wrote for her 37 tablets but they were employed by other persons. In order to conduct a thorough investigation, a much vaster corpus (460 tablets) is consulted corresponding to their whole written production, from which various indicators are collected in order to create an accurate descriptive profile. This systematic approach enable to deal with the difficult problem of homonymy.Once the corpus of each scribe is defined, it is possible to identify the period during which he practiced his profession. In the absence of any date notification, the presence of members of wealthy Nuzian families in the documents written by the scribes allows us to place the texts in a relative chronology. Finally, after this chronology has been correctly established, we are able to highlight the various phases of the scribe career.

This dissertation investigates the vocation of politics in the Maratha Empire from the release and restoration of Chhatrapati Shahu Bhonsle in 1708 to the British East India Company’s final victory against the Marathas in 1818. Founded in the mid-seventeenth century by the ambitious general and first Chhatrapati Shivaji Bhonsle, the Maratha Empire encompassed a decentralized web of allied governments stretching from the western Deccan into far-flung parts of the Indian subcontinent. While the Company’s pejorative moniker of “confederacy” has cast a long shadow over historical understanding of the politics of the Maratha state, this dissertation argues that the ascendancy of scribal-bureaucratic networks and their practices of communication enabled Maratha governments to foster a modern diplomatic framework of deliberation, adjudication, and collaboration. The creation of a flexible language and practice of communication transcending linguistic, cultural, religious, and political divisions was the signal achievement of the scribal-bureaucratic networks that increasingly came to dominate politics and government in the eighteenth-century Maratha Empire. Through a case study of individuals and households of the Chandraseniya Kayastha Prabhu sub-caste, this dissertation demonstrates that both non-Brahman and Brahman officials skilled in the arts of verbal and written communication rose from the lower ranks of the Maratha bureaucracy to the highest circles of political decision-making. They not only advanced their socioeconomic claims to wealth, title, and property, but also shaped government agendas, resolved disputes, and forged alliances through the dialogic exchange of oaths, treaties, objects, and sentimental words. Moreover, scribal-bureaucrats drew on this mode of communication to build strategic multilateral coalitions and to pen novel reflections on the meaning and purpose of politics once the dominance of the British East India Company was impossible to ignore. Communicative politics comes into vivid focus through a critical examination of the records and manuscripts that described, evaluated, and enacted relationships between Maratha governments. While the focus is on the critically important governments of Satara, Nagpur, and Pune, close attention is paid to conduits of power, persuasion, and affiliation between them and their rivals and allies in the eighteenth-century Deccan. Over the course of six chapters, this dissertation traces a chronological arc from the re-constitution to the dissolution of Maratha sovereignty as well as a thematic one from the structures and practices, to the personnel, and finally to the shifting meanings of politics. Chapters 1 and 2 explore how the delicate frameworks and practices preserving relationships between governments were made and unmade in the context of Maratha expansion in the Deccan. Turning to the personnel of politics, Chapters 3 and 4 follow the careers of Kayastha Prabhu scribal officials who attained influence at the courts of Satara, Kolhapur, Nagpur, and Baroda. Finally, Chapters 5 and 6 highlight the ways in which the meaning of politics shifted in response to the emergence of Company power. The story of Maratha politics is thus the story of a concatenation of deliberative, pragmatic compromises suited to the realities of a dynamic inter-imperial world.

Magister Educationis - MEd / Learners in mainstream schools have diverse learning needs and experience a variety of learning barriers. Many of the learners struggle to read and write, and are therefore in need of assistance to enhance their academic performance. In addition, schools and teachers tend to assess leaners predominantly through writing methods and prefer text-based approaches in the form of writing over numerous other forms of assessment methods prescribed in the National Policy Pertaining to the Programme and Promotion Requirements (NPPR) (DBE: 2012). However, there are other ways through which learners can be assessed. This study explored the use of scribes as an alternative method to assist learners with learning barriers. The study examined the challenges relating to alternative methods of assessment within the inclusive education paradigm which seeks to accommodate different learning needs in South African schools. The study investigated factors that influence the implementation of alternative assessment to assist learners with diverse learning barriers. This study was conducted within the framework of a qualitative case study research methodology. Data collection methods included the use of questionnaires, document analysis and semi-structured interviews with teachers in Cape Town at a primary school (which constituted the case). The research eek answers to the following research question to understand why the phenomena exist; What factors influence the use of alternative assessment methods such as the use of scribes? The research also aimed to understand teachers‟ views and perceptions regarding the implementation and processes of alternative assessment methods.

Diss.--Sydney--University.

No description available.

Articulant la question de l’existence d’une « région diplomatique », espace culturel saisi à travers les pratiques de l’écrit documentaire, avec celle de l’émergence de centres d’écriture, cette enquête met en évidence dans la Provence des Xe et XIe siècles, une affirmation progressive et contrastée des institutions ecclésiastiques dans l’écrit diplomatique. Par la circulation des modèles et des hommes, la Provence occidentale avait constitué, entre 950 et 1010 environ, un réseau partageant des pratiques communes. Le début du XIe siècle a vu une rupture par le déclin rapide de la diplomatique entre particuliers et la disparition des scribes à la clientèle multiple actifs dans les cités. Contrôlant davantage la rédaction des actes dans la première moitié du XIe siècle, les centres d’écritures n’ont pas infléchi le formulaire de la même manière. Développant une diplomatique profondément originale, Saint-Victor de Marseille a été le monastère le plus enclin à recourir à des formes ornées, par la rhétorique des préambules et les discours pastoraux qui valorisaient l’aumône des aristocrates. Au milieu du XIe siècle, une seconde rupture apparaît à Saint-Victor, par un abandon des formes maison au profit d’un formulaire simplifié. Cette forte propension victorine à décider du profil des actes apparaît comme une attention à la valeur de média de l’acte, par ailleurs tangible par les utilisations des archives et leur valorisation par le classement et la compilation du grand cartulaire. / By the articulation of two main issues, i. e. the existence of a "diplomatic area" understood as a cultural space delimited through the practices of document writing, and the development of centers of writing, this study highlights the increasingly importance and contrasting influence of the ecclesiastical institutions on the diplomatic writing in Provence in the 10th and 11th centuries. The circulation of men and formulaic patterns made of western Provence, from about 950 to 1010, a network that allowed the spreading of common practices. In the early 11th century, one sees a break in this evolution as a consequence of the rapid decline of the use of diplomatics for private interactions and the disappearance of scribes who used to have a large clientele in the cities. Thanks to a better managing of the writing of documents in the first half of the 11th century, the scriptoria have not modified in the same way the formulaic patterns. The scribes of the abbey of Saint-Victor of Marseilles developed a highly original diplomatic practice based on stylistic and rhetorical devices, which are reflected in the preambles and the pastoral references praising the alms of aristocratic families. A second break with the traditions occurred at Saint-Victor in the middle of the 11th century, when the home-made formulas were replaced by simplified ones. The care Saint-Victor took of the appearance of the documents shows a special concern for the media feature of the document, which is also apparent in the use of archives and their valorization through the classification of charters and the compilation of a large cartulary.

The thrust of this work is to study Israelite pre-exilic writing of religious literature. The beginning of literacy is considered from an archaeological perspective; especially, in the pre-exilic Israelite community. The study of scribes and their services assist in the quest for understanding pre-exilic religious writing in Israel. The Bible attests to pre-exilic religious writing despite the often inferred ‘anachronism.’ The issue of post-exilic composition of all Old Testament books is a matter of debate as opposed to pre-exilic writing of some religious sources which is a matter that can be historically verified. / Biblical & Ancient Studies / M.A. (Biblical Archeology)