3 ms·
Yes, that was my understanding of TFA too - but the question remains, unless more than a handful of authors are easily distinguishable, and there's a different
by Jedd 6y ago
Yes, that was my understanding of TFA too - but the question remains, unless more than a handful of authors are easily distinguishable, and there's a different and reliable way to identify those distinct authors (did they sign their work?) then we have a very small sample set.
Writing was not a common skill, so my naive extrapolation of that fact is that there would be few teachers, and consequently more likelihood that two random authors would present material that, prima facie, looked similar.
It's fascinating work, to be sure, though I do wonder about the usefulness of identifying how many authors were involved in penning these various parchments.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- FridayoLeary 6y ago>Writing was not a common skill, so my naive extrapolation of that fact is that there would be few teachers was it? I think the society back then was pretty advanced, i.e. literate.
- Jedd 6y agoI can't find many authoritative sources, but it stands to reason that in a mostly agrarian society, there'd be fewer people who could write, would have access to good writing materials, specifically materials with longevity, and get those materials into hermetically sealed environments that would ensure their integrity for a couple of millennia.