Guardians of Letters: Literacy, Power, and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature

GUARDIANS
OF LETTERS: Literacy, Power, and the Transmitters of Early Christian Literature......Page 4
Preface......Page 6
Contents......Page 8
Abbreviations......Page 10
GUARDIANS OF LETTERS......Page 12
INTRODUCTION......Page 14
THE STUDY: EVIDENCE AND METHODOLOGY......Page 19
Ancient Literature......Page 21
Papyri......Page 23
Archaeology......Page 24
Early Christian Evidence......Page 25
THE STUDY: ARGUMENT AND STRUCTURE......Page 27
Two Caveats......Page 30
1 "I COPIED EVERYTHING LETTER BY LETTER": Locating the Copyists of Early Christian Literature......Page 32
PUBLIC PROFESSIONAL SCRIBES......Page 33
Literary Copyists......Page 34
PRIVATE SECRETARIAL SCRIBES......Page 40
MULTIFUNCTIONAL SCRIBES......Page 43
NONPROFESSIONAL COPYISTS......Page 45
EARLY CHRISTIAN LITERATURE......Page 46
2 "GIRLS TRAINED FOR BEAUTIFUL WRITING": Female Scribes in Roman Antiquity and Early Christianity......Page 52
ROHAN-PERIOD EVIDENCE FOR FEMALE SCRIBES......Page 55
Melania the Younger......Page 59
Caesaria the Younger......Page 60
"Thecla" and the Codex Alexandrinus......Page 61
3 "FOR I COULD NOT FIND THE SYLLABLES": The Education and Training of Early Christian Scribes......Page 64
Channels of Education and Training......Page 66
The Processes of Learning to Write......Page 72
Conclusions......Page 74
A MATERIALIST AND SOCIOHISTORICAL APPROACH TO EARLIEST CHRISTIAN PAPYRI......Page 75
Handwriting and Abbreviations......Page 76
Harmonizations......Page 79
Other Features......Page 85
4 "MAKE AND SEND ME COPIES": Private Scribal Networks and the Transmission of Early Christian Literature......Page 88
THE PRIMACY OF INDIVIDUAL AND PRIVATE CHANNELS OF TEXT TRANSMISSION......Page 90
THE MYTH OF CHRISTIAN SCRIPTORIA IN THE SECOND AND THIRD CENTURIES......Page 94
Calligraphy......Page 95
Corrections or Recensional Activity......Page 96
Stichometrical Markings......Page 98
Critical Notes and Markings......Page 99
The Witness of Eusebius......Page 100
EXCURSUS: NOMINA SACRA AND THE CODEX FORM......Page 102
PRIVATE SCRIBAL NETWORKS AND A THIRD-CENTURY CHRISTIAN MISCELLANY......Page 107
5 "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF LETTERS": Contested Readings, Authoritative Texts, and Early Christian Scribes......Page 116
ERASURES AND REINSCRIPTIONS......Page 118
CONTESTS OVER READINGS......Page 122
Singular Readings Indicating Ideological Modifications......Page 124
Mark 6:3......Page 128
Mark 15:34......Page 129
Luke 23:34a......Page 130
THE AUTHORITY OF TEXTS IN EARLY CHRISTIANITY......Page 135
CONCLUSION......Page 140
INTRODUCTION......Page 144
CHAPTER 1......Page 153
CHAPTER 2......Page 160
CHAPTER 3......Page 164
CHAPTER 4......Page 174
CHAPTER 5......Page 186
CONCLUSION......Page 196
Selected Bibliography......Page 198
Index......Page 222