Gospels, Graffiti, Grocery Lists: Writing Culture and Its Material Evidence in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

This is an introductory course to study the variety of textual evidences on papyri, parchment, wax, wood, stone, bronze etc. in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. We will look at the availability of texts, its targeted audiences, modes of transmission or survival etc. What forms existed next to each other, which developments can be detected, etc.? Linguistic skills to decipher and read the various texts are not a pre-requisite but an interest in writing culture as well as material culture.