The Disappearance of Writing Systems: Perspectives on Literacy and Communication

by John R. Baines (Editor), Stephen Houston (Editor), John Bennet (Editor)

This volume gathers papers from the first conference ever to be held on the disappearance of writing systems, in Oxford in March 2004. While the invention and decipherment of writing systems have long been focuses of research, their eclipse or replacement have been little studied. Because writing is so important in many cultures and civilizations, its disappearance - followed by a period without it or by replacement by a different writing system - is of almost equal significance to invention as a mark of radical change. Probably more writing systems have disappeared than survived in the last five thousand years.Case studies from the Old and New Worlds are presented, ranging over periods from the first millennium BC to the present. In order to address many types of transmission, the broadest possible definition of 'writing' is used, notably including Mexican pictography and the Andean khipu system. One chapter discusses the larger proportion of known human societies that have not possessed complex material codes like writing, offering an alternative perspective on the long-term transmission of socially salient subjects. A concluding essay draws out common themes and offers an initial synthesis of results.The volume offers a new perspective on approaches to writing that will be significant for the understanding of writing systems and their social functions, literacy, memory, and high-cultural communication systems in general.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

John Robert Baines is the oldest son of Edward Russell Baines and his wife Dora Margaret Jean (née O’Brien). He was educated at Winchester College, an all boys public boarding school in Winchester, Hampshire, England. He went on to study Egyptology at the University of Oxford. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree (BA) in 1967, later promoted to Master of Arts (MA). He gained his Doctor of Philosophy degree (DPhil) in 1976.

Baines was Professor of Egyptology at the University of Oxford from 1976 to 2013. He was one of the youngest tenured professors at the university at the age of 30. He is also the author of multiple scholarly articles and publications relating to ancient Egyptian civilization.

His research interests are in Ancient Egyptian art, religion, literature, and biographies; modelling ancient Egyptian society; comparative and anthropological approaches to ancient civilizations.