The Impact of ductus on script form and development in monumental Northwest Semitic inscriptions

While much ink has been spilled on what monumental stone alphabetic inscriptions themselves say and how the various alphabetic scripts look, there is a near absence of studies on why the scripts look a certain way. Paleographers have generally simply asserted that script variation and development is diachronic and regional. While this is true to a certain degree, it is hardly unequivocal. Moreover, the actual impetus for script development is left to theorizing. With this article, I will show that by studying inscriptions as artifacts themselves and carefully investigating the technology and ductus behind their production it is possible to arrive at a more nuanced understanding of alphabetic script development and variation. I will further demonstrate a link between that technology and the individual agency of the masons themselves, a wholly new aspect in the investigation of ancient Near Eastern monumental inscriptions.