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317859

Structuring of Punctuation Devices in the Middle Kingdom Letters

Article

Last updated: 04 Jan 2025

Subjects

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Tags

EGYPTOLOGY

Abstract

Structuring of punctuation devices, of paramount importance in written texts in ancient Egypt, is a system for highlighting and differentiating the various parts of the texts, which modifies forms, linguistic, and semantic in the texts. It received little attention due to the hieratic lack of modern punctuation, the scribe utilized other techniques and structures to a genuine conception of the written texts. Although some studies have been conducted about punctuation marks in ancient Egypt, there is a scarcity of studies exploring this part in the hieratic letters.
Therefore, drawing on the Middle Kingdom hieratic letters which treat some punctuation systems, this paper outlines the ways the conventions of textual division are demonstrated in the Middle Kingdom letters. This was clearly evident from the form and layout of the papyri, the set of formulae and expressions used, the method of moving from one topic to another in a single message, and the way this idea was communicated by using formulae that replaced the punctuation marks currently known. The division of the letter into paragraphs as well as the use of capital signs to express the beginning of the letter, vacat, and the various techniques indicated in the letter are punctuation features.
More specifically, the study seeks to answer these questions: 1) Does the punctuation system exhibit in the hieratic letters? 2) what are the different systems of punctuation in the hieratic letters during the Middle Kingdom?3) Are the punctuation marks manifested in hieratic letters represent the same role as current punctuation in Arabic, English, or another?

DOI

10.21608/shedet.2023.317859

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Nassar

MiddleName

Ali

Affiliation

Faculty of Archaeology, Fayoum University, Egypt

Email

man00@fayoum.edu.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

12

Article Issue

12

Related Issue

44494

Issue Date

2024-01-01

Receive Date

2023-09-19

Publish Date

2024-01-01

Page Start

78

Page End

93

Print ISSN

2356-8704

Online ISSN

2536-9954

Link

https://shedet.journals.ekb.eg/article_317859.html

Detail API

https://shedet.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=317859

Order

317,859

Type

research articles

Type Code

1,264

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Shedet

Publication Link

https://shedet.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Structuring of Punctuation Devices in the Middle Kingdom Letters

Details

Type

Article

Created At

25 Dec 2024