William M. Schniedewind - The Finger of the Scribe

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According to the writer of Exodus, God gave Moses two tablets of the covenant, tablets of stone, written by the finger of God. It is a glorious anthropomorphic image of divine inspiration. In contrast, I write about the finger of the scribe, which depended on education. Scribes depended on teachers and curriculum to learn how to write. Throughout the Bible, a variety of figuresscribes, prophets, priests, kings, and even a young boywrite various things, including both mundane and profound texts. The Hebrew Bible contains lists and letters but also liturgies and stories, all written by scribes. This book explores how the early alphabetic scribes began to learn how to write and, eventually, how they learned to write the Bible. In this book, I am particularly interested in scribal educationor, more specifically, scribal curriculum. What were scribes textbooks? What did they practice? What did they memorize? And, how did this shape the Bible? I believe that I found the key to unlocking these questions in the scribal scribbles at Kuntillet Ajrud as well as in the cuneiform school texts used in Canaan at the end of the Late Bronze Age.

The project was many years in the making and was helped along the way by innumerable people. First of all, I want to thank my colleagues and students at UCLA, from whom I believe I learned and received more than I taught and gave. In particular, I wish to acknowledge Aaron Burke, Bob Cargill, Elizabeth Carter, Kara Cooney, Jacco Dieleman, Brian Donnelly-Lewis, Elizabeth VanDyke, Robert Englund, Tim Hogue, Moise Isaac, Alice Mandell, Roger Nam, Jason Price, Rahim Shayegan, Jeremy Smoak, Matt Suriano, Stephen Ward, and Jonathan Winnerman. I have a special appreciation for Elizabeth VanDyke, whose critical eye working as my Graduate Research Assistant improved this book immeasurably. I also received a great deal of support, encouragement, and critique along this journey from a variety of fellow travelers, including Susan Ackerman, Erhard Blum, David Carr, Aaron Demsky, Dan Fleming, Ron Hendel, Jan Joosten, Anat Mendel-Geberovich, Anson Rainey (zl), Gary Rendsburg, Seth Sanders, Joachim Schaper, Mark Smith, Jeff Stackert, Steve Tinney, David Vanderhooft, Jackie Vayntrub, and Ed Wright. I have presented this material to a variety of audiences who have all shaped my thinking in a variety of ways. It began with the invitation by Gabrielle Boccacini to a conference on early Jewish education in Naples. There, I especially benefited from extended conversations with Steve Tinney about Mesopotamian education. I also wish to thank the Near Eastern Studies Department at Johns Hopkins University for the invitation to give the Samuel Iwry Lecture. I also presented parts of this book to the Biblical Colloquium and its members in the seminar organized by David Vanderhooft. Their interaction and comments were particularly stimulating. Finally, I need thank UCLA, which has given me the resources and support for this research. I appreciate the many people and places at UCLA that made this book possible, including Dean of Humanities David Schaberg, the Center for Jewish Studies, the Center for the Study of Religion and its director Carol Bakhos, and finally our Department chair Kara Cooney. Support for this research was also provided by the Reuben and Norma Kershaw Term Chair in Ancient Eastern Mediterranean Studies. Last but not least, I thank my familymy wife, Jeanne, and my daughters, Tori and Mikaelaand, a special shout-out for Tori, who discussed many things Egyptological with me and spurred my decipherment of the Lachish jar inscription. Nothing was here accomplished alone, but I take credit for all its shortcomings.