Ephemeral Writings. Exploring rewritability in manuscript cultures

A twin hands-on workshop at the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’ & University of Hamburg / CSMC

Organised by Michele Cammarosano & Claudia Colini  

Part One: Clay, Wax, Papyrus, and Ink on ‘erasable coatings’  

Naples, 7–9 May 2025

In collaboration with Daniele Ferraiuolo and the SCRIPTVRA project

Co-funded by the Cluster of Excellence “Understanding Written Artefacts” / Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg; the ERC project TabulaRasa (GA 101170566), University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’; and the Fondazione San Bonaventura, Naples

Concept

Since antiquity, the written word has been justly celebrated for its ability to outlast the perishability of human lives, travelling through centuries and millennia. However, writing is also inherently perishable: what can be written down can also be destroyed. While the term ‘destruction’ evokes images of damnatio memoriae and book burnings, texts are most often destroyed in far more trivial circumstances, and by the will of their very creators. Among them are what we may call ‘ephemeral writings’, intentionally created to be temporary: notes, writing exercises, calculations, short-term messages, etc. 

Ephemeral writings have a profound impact on the cultural and material life of literate societies, influencing writing acquisition, palaeography, text composition, transmission, and cognitive history, while linking closely to the reusability of writing supports. Manuscript cultures developed technologies for correcting and reusing surfaces, including clay and wax tablets, erasable wooden boards, and graphite or metal pens on paper. Even papyrus, parchment, ceramics, metals, and stone were reused more than commonly assumed.

While the significance of erasable media is well known, the material functioning of the related writing practices is still poorly understood, and is best investigated by combining the analysis of direct and indirect sources with informed experimentation. The twin workshop Ephemeral Writings aims to shed light on the materiality of re-writing in manuscript cultures bringing together specialists from disciplines such as codicology, palaeography, philology, source research, archaeometry, conservation, and replication to address two key questions:

1. How does ‘rewriting’ work? In particular, what material factors (environmental, physico-chemical, mechanical) influence the ability to repeatedly erase and rewrite text on specific supports (clay, ceramics, wax mixtures, papyrus, parchment, paper) using different techniques (without/with ink, metalpoint) and tools (styli, brushes, pens, quills…)? How do these factors interact with each other?

2. How does rewritability impact ephemeral writings? In particular, what role did the reusability of specific supports play in determining the preference for one technology over another in the context of ephemeral writing practices across exemplary premodern and traditional manuscript cultures?

The initiative is conceived as a twin in-person workshop held in two parts, each focusing on a different group of primary writing materials and related technologies. The first part, to be held in Naples in May 2025, is dedicated to inkless writing on clay and wax, as well as (re)writing with ink on papyrus, ceramics, wood, and ‘erasable coatings’, with a focus on the manuscript cultures of pharaonic Egypt, the ancient Near East, and classical antiquity; for wax tablets a broader chronological framework is considered in order to achieve unity in the investigation of this long-lived medium. The second part, to be held in Hamburg (date TBA), will focus on writing with ink or metalpoint on papyrus, parchment, paper, wood, and ‘erasable coatings’, with a focus on selected manuscript cultures from late antiquity to early modern times. The twin workshop combines (a) kick-off presentations (Impulsreferate), (b) hands-on replication experiments, and (c) roundtables. 

Venue and registration

• Complesso Monumentale San Lorenzo Maggiore, Fondazione San Bonaventura, Via dei Tribunali 316 (May 7–8)

• University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’, Palazzo Corigliano, Sala Conferenze, Piazza S. Domenico Maggiore 12 (May 9)

The workshop is open to everybody. There are no registration fees, but due to space and material constraints, the number of participants who can be admitted is limited, so registration is required (please send an email to Michele Cammarosano with the subject “Registration Ephemeral Writings”). Please note that while everyone will be able to observe the experiments and take part in discussions, active experimentation may be restricted based on availability of materials).

Program

May 7: Impulsreferate, 1st hands-on session, keynote 

(Fondazione San Bonaventura)

Morning

• • • Registration (9:30–9:45)

    • Institutional greetings (9:45-10:00)

      • Roberto Tottoli, Rector of the University of Naples ‘L’Orientale’

      • Daniele Ferraiuolo, Fondazione San Bonaventura

    • Introduction to the workshop (Michele Cammarosano & Claudia Colini; 10:00–10:30)

    • Impulsreferate on historical contexts, & discussion (10:30–12:30 with break):

      • Ancient Near East (Jonathan Taylor)

      • Pharaonic Egypt (Elena Hertel)

      • Classical antiquity (Serena Ammirati)

      • Wax tablets in Medieval & Early Modern Europe (Doris Oltrogge)

Standing lunch

Afternoon: 1st hands-on session: (13:30–17:30 with break)

• • Inkless writing on moist clay/1 (Intro: Maria Verde)

  • Inks on papyrus, pottery, wood and ‘erasable coatings’/1 (Intro: Myriam Krutzsch, Olivier Bonnerot, Andreas Krupa, Doris Oltrogge)

Keynote (18–19): Maartje Stols-Witlox, ‘Personal views on past practices: Reflecting on reconstructions as a research method’

Dinner

May 8: 2nd & 3rd hands-on sessions 

(Fondazione San Bonaventura)

Morning: 2nd hands-on session (9:30–12:30 with break)

• • • Inkless writing on moist clay/2

    • Inks on papyrus, pottery, wood and ‘erasable coatings’/2

Standing lunch

14–15: guided tour to the Neapolis Sotterrata (ancient Forum of Neapolis)

Afternoon: 3rd hands-on session (15–18 with break)

• • Wax mixtures: (Intro: Ester Ferreira)

Conference dinner

May 9: Roundtables and conclusion 

(Palazzo Corigliano, Sala Conferenze; 9:30–13 with break)

• •  Roundtable 1 (moderation: Claudia Colini): Materials, analysis, and preservation of rewritten manuscripts (clay, wax, ink on pottery, papyrus, wood, and erasable coatings): questions, methods, perspectives

  • Roundtable 2 (moderation: Michele Cammarosano): Manuscript rewritability and ephemeral writings in pharaonic Egypt, the Ancient Near East and classical antiquity: contexts, factors, practices

  • Visit to the Oriental manuscripts collection of the University library of L’Orientale at Palazzo Corigliano (led by Antonella Muratgia)

Poster and program (click for download)

Impressions...

... from the workshop (photos by Andreas Krupa; the replica of AO 1630 is by Luba Zhiltsova)