viewsproject Posts on writing

Sacred, Auspicious, and Fleeting: A Journey Through the Visual Worlds of Rebus Writing

Do you know what a rebus is? If not, read this: 👁️ 🐝 🍁. If you can spell out “I believe,” congratulations! You’ve mastered the rebus.A rebus is a very curious thing because it has two contradictory natures. It is a vital device in the history of writing because it allowed the ancient Sumerians, Egyptians, … Continue reading Sacred, Auspicious, and Fleeting: A Journey Through the Visual Worlds of Rebus Writing

viewsproject Endangered Writing Network, Posts on writing

Book review: An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets

I'm very excited to tell you about a new book that will be of interest to anyone who loves writing systems, especially if you are are interested in endangered writing and minoritised cultures: The Atlas of Endangered Alphabets. I'll be up front and make it clear that I know the author, Tim Brookes, well, and … Continue reading Book review: An Atlas of Endangered Alphabets

viewsproject Posts on writing, VIEWS research

Practical Experiments with Ancient Pen and Ink

I’ve done a lot of practical writing experiments over the years, but they’ve almost always been in clay, whether trying to write in Linear B, Mesopotamian cuneiform or the alphabetic cuneiform they used in Late Bronze Age Ugarit. What I’d never tried until recently was writing on perishable materials with ink. This is an important … Continue reading Practical Experiments with Ancient Pen and Ink

viewsproject Endangered Writing Network, VIEWS research

Reflections from a conference on endangered languages

I spent last Friday at the 10th Cambridge Conference on Language Endangerment (Language Endangerment and Revitalisation: The decade ahead), where I was giving a paper. As an ancient languages person wading into the world of today's endangered, minoritised and indigenous languages, I did feel a bit of an imposter at first. But I had a very … Continue reading Reflections from a conference on endangered languages