abecedarium

Sanctuary complexes of Phoenician-Syrian affiliations in the Transjordan at Kuntillet 'Ajrud (9th/8th c.) in the east Sinai and at Deir 'Alla Phase M / IX, for instance, appear to have been textile production centres and have yielded plenty inscriptions, while abecedaries have also been found (Boertien 2007), though a religious function for the latter cannot be excluded (8).

Typically, abecedaria (or abecedaries) are practice exercises.

Otherwise, local languages enjoyed a furtive textual existence as mere snatches of alphabetic writing in the interstices of imperial power: abecedaries, objects scribbled with indications of private ownership, etc.

Alden begins by discussing how these and other similar sources may have been used as both functional books and as objets d'art, considering the chansonniers in the context of books of hours, abecedaries, and other diminutive volumes.

She then classifies Hebrew epigraphic sources as `Short Texts' (abecedaries, graffiti, the Ketef Hinnom amulets, many ostraca), `Letters' and `Monumental Evidence' (the Siloam Tunnel, Mesha and Deir `Alla inscriptions) to reinforce her view of writing as a tool for brief communications or monumental icons.

(8.) Additional epigraphic evidence that Mendenhall could have cited in support of his theory, but which he elected not to, is forthcoming from the discovery of two Ugaritic abecedaries (one found at Beth Shemesh in 1933 [KTU 5.24] and one found at Ugarit in 1988) arranged in the order of the Old South Arabian alphabet.

The grammar begins with an overview of the history and culture of Ugarit, including brief accounts of the discovery and identification of the site, the decipherment of the alphabetic script, the discovery of particular collections of tablets and of the abecedaries and other scripts and languages, the types of Ugaritic texts, the history and geography of the kingdom, and the language and writing system.

Demsky, "Abecedaries," in The Context of Scripture, vol.

49-55) deals with "Names and Nicknames at Masada." She notes that some of the lists of names are arranged in alphabetical order, citing the long tradition of abecedaries as background.