prof. W. Schniedewind (UCLA): The Finger of the Scribe: The Emergence of Scribal Curriculum in Ancient Israel and How it Shaped the Hebrew Bible

This talk illustrate the development of scribal curriculum in ancient Israel at the end of the Late Bronze Age and early Iron Age using comparative evidence from cuneiform scribal curriculum from the periphery including Egypt, Canaan, and Ugarit. It shows that the categories of cuneiform scribal curriculum were adapted in early Israel and in alphabetic writing systems. These categories of early scribal curriculum can be illustrated from early Hebrew inscriptions, especially the recently (completely) published corpus from Kuntillet ʿAjrud. Attention to these types of early scribal curriculum used in training Hebrew scribes will illustrate some of the forms and techniques of biblical literature.