Chapter 14 - Excursus

Summary

The hieroglyphic sign known as L.326 and supposedly picturing a tablet has been interpreted as the title “scribe” since 1956. Given the fact that it is the most frequently attested title on seals from the Hittite kingdom this would mean that literacy was widespread among the ruling elite of the Hittite state. It is argued in an excursus that both the iconographic rendering and the interpretation as “scribe” are flawed. Instead, it is proposed to portray a seat, indicating a high status for the person carrying the symbol on his seal. First, all Late Bronze Age evidence is passed in review, then the Iron Age evidence. As a consequence, some well-known Iron Age passages need to be re-interpreted.