From Single Sign to Pseudo-Script

Book excerpt: Writing is not the only notation system used in literate societies. Some visual communication systems are very similar to writing, but work differently. Identity marks are typical examples of such systems, and this book presents a particularly well-documented marking system used in Pharaonic Egypt as an exemplary case. From Single Sign to Pseudo-Script is the first book to fully discuss the nature and development of an ancient marking system, its historical background, and the fascinating story of its decipherment. Chapters on similar systems in other cultures and on semiotic theory help to distinguish between unique and universal features. Written by Egyptologist Ben Haring, the book addresses scholars interested in marking systems, writing, literacy, and the semiotics of visual communication. "With this publication, the author exemplified how a close familiarity with a subject enables research in areas of Egyptian society that had not been touched until now and how the resulting insight is presented properly." - Eva-Maria Engel, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, in: Bibliotheca Orientalis 76.1-2 (2019) "This work should certainly become a guidebook to scholars wishing to publish ostraca of this sort, who have in the past shied away from the complex task due to the enigmatic nature of the materials. The time has arrived for this study of this hitherto neglected facet of Egyptian writing, to find its fitting place in the history of literacy and script in Ancient Egypt, as well as in the history of workmen’s signs in general." - Orly Goldwasser, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in: Journal of Near Eastern Studies (2019, 78/2) "The technical data and Egyptological scholarship of the book are deliberately made very accessible to be of assistance in the understanding of identity marks in other periods and cultures. This is a remarkable work of social history." - George J. Brooke, in: Journal for the Study of the Old Testament 43.5 (2019)