Writing habits as identity marker : on sign formation in Papyrus Gardiner II

Abstract

Identifying individual scribes on the basis of handwriting has proven to be more difficult than often assumed. Since the surface, the brush, and even the mood of the scribe can influence personal handwriting, palaeographic idiosyncrasies can often be explained by changes in those conditions or the scribe’s environment, even in the course of writing a single text. The current article will refine palaeographic observations with notes on sign structure and composition, i. e. the individual brush strokes that constitute the building blocks of a hieroglyph, to address levels of standardisation when composing signs and sign groups within a single document. Papyrus Gardiner II (London BM EA 10676) offers numerous opportunities to detect changes in handwriting because of its considerable length. The papyrus’ handwriting will briefly be compared with Papyrus Berlin P. 10480–82 and a small sample of material from across the range of hieratic documents in the papyrus collection of the British Museum.