[Buddha-l] Written and oral traditions.

[L.S. Cousins]

Richard,

(As far as I am concerned this issue is relevant to the question of 
the existence of writing at the time of the Buddha.)

>I have followed this debate, which has generated no small amount of intensely
>emotional reaction, but so far I have not encountered any evidence that
>struck me as anything like conclusive. It seems to me we are dealing, on both
>sides of the debate, with quite a large number of speculative assumptions.
>Just out of curiosity, which of Witzel's arguments do you find most
>compelling?

Well, apart from the points already made by Tim Cahill:

1. There are too many signs for an alphabetic script.

2. There are not enough signs for a hieroglyphic script.

3. It is hard to imagine a syllabic script in which syllables do not 
repeat in the same inscription, as is nearly always the case on the 
Indus seals. There seems to be no parallel to that in known syllabic 
scripts.

4. They have also shown persuasively that the use of emblems or seals 
to represent a deity or temple or city or merchant house is 
widespread in the Ancient World. So the existence of the signs is 
adequately accounted for without the hypothesis of writing.

Lance Cousins