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Looking at Cypriot inscriptions found outside the island can tell us a lot about the way Cypriots used writing, as can the gradual adoption of the non-Cypriot Greek alphabet in the latter half of the first millennium BC
There are numerous inscriptions from ancient Cyprus that we cannot read (whether because of the state of decipherment of the script or a gap in our knowledge concerning the language used), but this does not prevent us from understanding the place of these undeciphered inscriptions in society
An examination of the evidence for language variation and contact in ancient Cyprus, looking especially at the distribution of languages and the phenomenon of bilingual inscriptions
An examination of what is often thought of as a period of transition between the earlier Cypro-Minoan and later Cypriot Syllabic writing systems, and associated changes through the Early Iron Age and Geometric period
From its first adoption of writing at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, ancient Cyprus was home to distinctive scripts and writing habits, often setting it apart from other areas of the Mediterranean and Near East. This well-illustrated volume is the first to explore the development and importance of Cypriot writing over a period of more than 1,500 years in the second and first millennia BC. Five themed chapters deal with issues ranging from the acquisition of literacy and the adaptation of new writing systems to the visibility of writing and its role in the marking of identities. The agency of Cypriots in shaping the island's literate landscape is given prominence, and an extended consideration of the social context of writing leads to new insights on Cypriot scripts and their users. Cyprus provides a stimulating case to demonstrate the importance of contextualised approaches to the development of writing systems.
This pioneering volume approaches the languages and scripts of ancient Cyprus from an interdisciplinary point of view, with a primarily linguistic and epigraphic approach supplemented by a consideration of their historical and cultural context. The focus is on furthering our knowledge of the non-Greek languages/scripts, as well as appreciating their place in relation to the much better understood Greek language on the island. Following on from recent advances in Cypro-Minoan studies, these difficult, mostly Late Bronze Age inscriptions are reassessed from first principles. The same approach is taken for non-Greek languages written in the Cypriot Syllabic script during the first millennium BC, chiefly the one usually referred to as Eteocypriot. The final section is then dedicated to the Phoenician language, which was in use on Cyprus for some hundreds of years. The result is a careful reappraisal of these languages/scripts after more than a century of sometimes controversial scholarship.