Kathryn McConaughy Medill graduated from Geneva College in 2011 with a B.A. in Biblical Languages and Linguistics. After completing an M.A. in Linguistics at Indiana University, she matriculated at Johns Hopkins University in the Department of Near Eastern Studies with a concentration in Hebrew Bible and Northwest Semitic Languages. Her doctoral dissertation, completed in 2020, is entitled "You Will Know Me By My Writing: The Scribes' Choice of Goal-Marking Strategies in the Light of Social, Historical, and Linguistic Correlates." After serving as an adjunct at various universities, she became an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near Eastern Studies program at the University of Washington. Supervisors: Alice Mandell Address: MELC Department, Denny Hall 220-D University of Washington Box 353120 Seattle, WA 98195
While attempting to shed light on Jewish discourse during the first century, many scholars have c... more While attempting to shed light on Jewish discourse during the first century, many scholars have compared the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, seeking evidence of common ground and critical differences (Fitzmyer 2000, Abegg 2006, Wooder 2006). This paper explores Jewish first-century sectarian dialogue (as revealed in the New Testament and the sectarian Qumran documents) through writers’ uses of light and darkness as a metaphor for good and evil; and of ‘sons of X’ as an expression of spiritual membership. This paper shows that the New Testament writers subvert the rhetoric which was previously used by the Qumran sect (‘light/dark,’ ‘sons of’) in order to mark their own sectarian boundaries. This is done by first establishing that this rhetoric was rooted in the Hebrew Tanakh, with no close parallels in other Ancient Near Eastern cultures; second, by demonstrating that although this rhetoric was rooted in the Old Testament it had acquired additional resonances, including a slogan or code status, by the time it was taken up by the Qumran writers; third, by showing that this rhetoric is indeed shared by the Qumran and New Testament corpora; and fourth, by explaining how various New Testament writers show awareness of and reaction to this rhetoric’s provenance. This paper contributes to the study of Judeo-Christian religion, sectarianism, language and power, and linguistic boundary-marking.
Several scholars (e.g., Joüon and Muraoka 2006:§93e) have proposed that the directive he appears ... more Several scholars (e.g., Joüon and Muraoka 2006:§93e) have proposed that the directive he appears with a static location-marking function in expressions dealing with sacrifice “on the altar” ( המַּזִבְּחֵָה ; e.g., Exod 29:13) although this suffix is usually terminative (e.g., Van der Merwe, Naudé and Kroeze 2017:§28.1), since the most commonly associated verb, הִקטְִיר (“turn into smoke”), has not been understood to include motion in its semantics. However, analysis shows that in expressions dealing with sacrificing on the altar, the altar is overwhelmingly treated as the semantic Goal of motion, and that in these and other expressions הִקטְִיר is a motion verb. This has consequences for the interpretation of the spatial conceptualization of sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible.
In most cases, the directive he suffix in Biblical Hebrew indicates objective movement toward a p... more In most cases, the directive he suffix in Biblical Hebrew indicates objective movement toward a physical goal. However, Hebraists have also identified a substantial number of examples in which the directive he is not associated with objective movement, as for example in Leviticus 1:11, where the word “northern” in “He shall kill it on the northern side of the altar” is marked with the directive he. These examples have been described either as irregular uses of the clitic or as evidence of a location-marking function for the directive he. However, a close examination of these clauses shows that almost all are expressions of fictive motion to a goal – an environment in which the use of the goal-marking he would be expected.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our un... more The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our understanding of Late Bronze Age Syria since it was published by Sidney Smith in 1949. However, it is notorious for its non-standard Akkadian grammar and paleography. While recent studies have explained individual problems in the inscription, a systematic framework for the verbal system has been lacking. Following a suggestion from Manfred Dietrich and Oswald Loretz (1981), I examine three types of non-standard verb forms in the inscription and argue that these are best understood as reflexes of a scribal code similar (but not identical) to the Canaano-Akkadian code of the Taanach and Amarna Letters. These non-standard verb forms are limited to the first part of the inscription while standard Akkadian verbs appear in the second part of
the inscription, suggesting that the scribe was switching between orthographic codes in order to achieve his rhetorical goals. I end by considering some of the questions raised by the inclusion of the Idrimi inscription’s code in the orthographic and linguistic repertoire of Syro-Palestinian scribes.
Please note: For a thoroughly revised and expanded treatment of this research question, see Medil... more Please note: For a thoroughly revised and expanded treatment of this research question, see Medill 2020 "You Will Know Me By My Writing" (Ph.D. diss.)
An Educator's Handbook for Teaching about the Ancient World, 2020
A role-playing teaching activity set in Canaan during the Amarna age. Published in An Educator's... more A role-playing teaching activity set in Canaan during the Amarna age. Published in An Educator's Handbook for Teaching about the Ancient World (Archaeopress, 2020), an open-access collection edited by Pinar Durgun.
Email for full. Ancient scribes writing Biblical Hebrew could mark a Goal argument (the place to... more Email for full. Ancient scribes writing Biblical Hebrew could mark a Goal argument (the place to which one is moving) with the directive he suffix, with a directional preposition, or as an accusative of destination. Previous studies have explained this alternation in terms of a few historical or linguistic variables at a time. In this study, I use a comprehensive dataset (all factive Goals from prose Biblical Hebrew texts), a broad set of potential explanatory variables coded for each Goal and the clause in which it appears (including more than thirty diachronic, social, and linguistic variables, with a particular focus on previously-understudied syntactic-semantic variables), various statistical tools (especially multinomial logistical regression), and comparative data (from Epigraphic Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Akkadian) to explore the influences on and choices of the ancient scribes. Important findings of this study include indications that 1) scribes of the Late Biblical Hebrew corpus consciously promoted the use of directive he despite the convergence of the Late Biblical Hebrew goal-marking system with that of Aramaic, as evidenced in the behavior of the goal-marking prepositions across time (a conclusion not consistent with purely stylistic explanations of the linguistic differences between Classical and Late Biblical Hebrew); 2) due to educational and social disruptions during the exile, the scribes originating texts described as Transitional Biblical Hebrew mobilized fewer prestigious linguistic features than scribes of the Classical and Late corpora, as evidenced by limitations in their goal-marking repertoires and paralleled by data from other Semitic corpora; 3) the scribes’ choices between goal-marking strategies are largely driven by sensitivity to a Prototypical Intransitive Motion Construction (in which a salient Affected Agent moves successfully and completely to an inanimate single-point Goal that contains inherent, specific geographic information) and other Motion Construction prototypes (Caused-Motion, Pursuit, etc.), with the directive he and the accusative of direction being strongly correlated with more-prototypical environments; and 4) individual prepositions may encode the type of Goal location (single-point or divisible), the place of the Goal in the information structure of the text, the mover’s configuration with respect to the Goal, or Goal animacy.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our un... more The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our understanding of Late Bronze Syria since it was published by Smith in 1949. However, it is notorious for its non-standard Akkadian grammar and paleography. While recent studies have explained individual problems in the inscription, a systematic framework for the verbal system has been lacking. Following a suggestion from Dietrich and Loretz (1981), I examine three types of non-standard verb forms in the ISI and argue that these are best understood as reflexes of a scribal code similar (but not identical) to the Canaano-Akkadian code of the Taanach and Amarna Letters. These non-standard verb forms are limited to the first part of the inscription while standard Akkadian verbs appear in the second part of the inscription, suggesting that the scribe was switching between orthographic codes in order to achieve his rhetorical goals. I conclude by considering some of the questions raised by the inclusion of the code of ISI in the orthographic and linguistic repertoire of Syro-Palestinian scribes.
William Melancthon Glasgow originally finished this manuscript in 1901. I have transcribed, proo... more William Melancthon Glasgow originally finished this manuscript in 1901. I have transcribed, proofed, and re-indexed it. Glasgow's Record is a source useful for the study of church history, genealogy, the history of American westward expansion, and more.
David Metheny was a medical missionary, pastor, and American consular official in Syria and Asia ... more David Metheny was a medical missionary, pastor, and American consular official in Syria and Asia Minor during the Ottoman Empire. This paper outlines the last eight years of his life, with extensive reference to missionary publications and a large archive of private family letters. This paper constitutes a preliminary draft of a section of a much larger project. Many personal letters of Dr. Metheny and his family are made accessible here for the first time; these may be quoted. Otherwise, please cite, but do not quote, this paper.
The fruit of the abortive proceedings publication project, this draft includes two lectures each ... more The fruit of the abortive proceedings publication project, this draft includes two lectures each from Gregory Stump and Anne-Marie di Sciullo, as well as the posters of all but one of the MorphologyFest poster presenters. Lectures were transcribed from audio recordings; figures come from the Power Point presentations given by the speakers. More information about the proceedings is available at <http://www.indiana.edu/~mrphfest/home.html>. Transcribed and edited by Kathryn Medill on behalf of Indiana University Linguistics Club Publications.
While attempting to shed light on Jewish discourse during the first century, many scholars have c... more While attempting to shed light on Jewish discourse during the first century, many scholars have compared the texts of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the New Testament, seeking evidence of common ground and critical differences (Fitzmyer 2000, Abegg 2006, Wooder 2006). This paper explores Jewish first-century sectarian dialogue (as revealed in the New Testament and the sectarian Qumran documents) through writers’ uses of light and darkness as a metaphor for good and evil; and of ‘sons of X’ as an expression of spiritual membership. This paper shows that the New Testament writers subvert the rhetoric which was previously used by the Qumran sect (‘light/dark,’ ‘sons of’) in order to mark their own sectarian boundaries. This is done by first establishing that this rhetoric was rooted in the Hebrew Tanakh, with no close parallels in other Ancient Near Eastern cultures; second, by demonstrating that although this rhetoric was rooted in the Old Testament it had acquired additional resonances, including a slogan or code status, by the time it was taken up by the Qumran writers; third, by showing that this rhetoric is indeed shared by the Qumran and New Testament corpora; and fourth, by explaining how various New Testament writers show awareness of and reaction to this rhetoric’s provenance. This paper contributes to the study of Judeo-Christian religion, sectarianism, language and power, and linguistic boundary-marking.
Several scholars (e.g., Joüon and Muraoka 2006:§93e) have proposed that the directive he appears ... more Several scholars (e.g., Joüon and Muraoka 2006:§93e) have proposed that the directive he appears with a static location-marking function in expressions dealing with sacrifice “on the altar” ( המַּזִבְּחֵָה ; e.g., Exod 29:13) although this suffix is usually terminative (e.g., Van der Merwe, Naudé and Kroeze 2017:§28.1), since the most commonly associated verb, הִקטְִיר (“turn into smoke”), has not been understood to include motion in its semantics. However, analysis shows that in expressions dealing with sacrificing on the altar, the altar is overwhelmingly treated as the semantic Goal of motion, and that in these and other expressions הִקטְִיר is a motion verb. This has consequences for the interpretation of the spatial conceptualization of sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible.
In most cases, the directive he suffix in Biblical Hebrew indicates objective movement toward a p... more In most cases, the directive he suffix in Biblical Hebrew indicates objective movement toward a physical goal. However, Hebraists have also identified a substantial number of examples in which the directive he is not associated with objective movement, as for example in Leviticus 1:11, where the word “northern” in “He shall kill it on the northern side of the altar” is marked with the directive he. These examples have been described either as irregular uses of the clitic or as evidence of a location-marking function for the directive he. However, a close examination of these clauses shows that almost all are expressions of fictive motion to a goal – an environment in which the use of the goal-marking he would be expected.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our un... more The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our understanding of Late Bronze Age Syria since it was published by Sidney Smith in 1949. However, it is notorious for its non-standard Akkadian grammar and paleography. While recent studies have explained individual problems in the inscription, a systematic framework for the verbal system has been lacking. Following a suggestion from Manfred Dietrich and Oswald Loretz (1981), I examine three types of non-standard verb forms in the inscription and argue that these are best understood as reflexes of a scribal code similar (but not identical) to the Canaano-Akkadian code of the Taanach and Amarna Letters. These non-standard verb forms are limited to the first part of the inscription while standard Akkadian verbs appear in the second part of
the inscription, suggesting that the scribe was switching between orthographic codes in order to achieve his rhetorical goals. I end by considering some of the questions raised by the inclusion of the Idrimi inscription’s code in the orthographic and linguistic repertoire of Syro-Palestinian scribes.
Please note: For a thoroughly revised and expanded treatment of this research question, see Medil... more Please note: For a thoroughly revised and expanded treatment of this research question, see Medill 2020 "You Will Know Me By My Writing" (Ph.D. diss.)
An Educator's Handbook for Teaching about the Ancient World, 2020
A role-playing teaching activity set in Canaan during the Amarna age. Published in An Educator's... more A role-playing teaching activity set in Canaan during the Amarna age. Published in An Educator's Handbook for Teaching about the Ancient World (Archaeopress, 2020), an open-access collection edited by Pinar Durgun.
Email for full. Ancient scribes writing Biblical Hebrew could mark a Goal argument (the place to... more Email for full. Ancient scribes writing Biblical Hebrew could mark a Goal argument (the place to which one is moving) with the directive he suffix, with a directional preposition, or as an accusative of destination. Previous studies have explained this alternation in terms of a few historical or linguistic variables at a time. In this study, I use a comprehensive dataset (all factive Goals from prose Biblical Hebrew texts), a broad set of potential explanatory variables coded for each Goal and the clause in which it appears (including more than thirty diachronic, social, and linguistic variables, with a particular focus on previously-understudied syntactic-semantic variables), various statistical tools (especially multinomial logistical regression), and comparative data (from Epigraphic Hebrew, Biblical Aramaic, Ugaritic, and Akkadian) to explore the influences on and choices of the ancient scribes. Important findings of this study include indications that 1) scribes of the Late Biblical Hebrew corpus consciously promoted the use of directive he despite the convergence of the Late Biblical Hebrew goal-marking system with that of Aramaic, as evidenced in the behavior of the goal-marking prepositions across time (a conclusion not consistent with purely stylistic explanations of the linguistic differences between Classical and Late Biblical Hebrew); 2) due to educational and social disruptions during the exile, the scribes originating texts described as Transitional Biblical Hebrew mobilized fewer prestigious linguistic features than scribes of the Classical and Late corpora, as evidenced by limitations in their goal-marking repertoires and paralleled by data from other Semitic corpora; 3) the scribes’ choices between goal-marking strategies are largely driven by sensitivity to a Prototypical Intransitive Motion Construction (in which a salient Affected Agent moves successfully and completely to an inanimate single-point Goal that contains inherent, specific geographic information) and other Motion Construction prototypes (Caused-Motion, Pursuit, etc.), with the directive he and the accusative of direction being strongly correlated with more-prototypical environments; and 4) individual prepositions may encode the type of Goal location (single-point or divisible), the place of the Goal in the information structure of the text, the mover’s configuration with respect to the Goal, or Goal animacy.
Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, 2019
The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our un... more The Idrimi Statue Inscription from Alalakh (modern Tell Atchana) has added immeasurably to our understanding of Late Bronze Syria since it was published by Smith in 1949. However, it is notorious for its non-standard Akkadian grammar and paleography. While recent studies have explained individual problems in the inscription, a systematic framework for the verbal system has been lacking. Following a suggestion from Dietrich and Loretz (1981), I examine three types of non-standard verb forms in the ISI and argue that these are best understood as reflexes of a scribal code similar (but not identical) to the Canaano-Akkadian code of the Taanach and Amarna Letters. These non-standard verb forms are limited to the first part of the inscription while standard Akkadian verbs appear in the second part of the inscription, suggesting that the scribe was switching between orthographic codes in order to achieve his rhetorical goals. I conclude by considering some of the questions raised by the inclusion of the code of ISI in the orthographic and linguistic repertoire of Syro-Palestinian scribes.
William Melancthon Glasgow originally finished this manuscript in 1901. I have transcribed, proo... more William Melancthon Glasgow originally finished this manuscript in 1901. I have transcribed, proofed, and re-indexed it. Glasgow's Record is a source useful for the study of church history, genealogy, the history of American westward expansion, and more.
David Metheny was a medical missionary, pastor, and American consular official in Syria and Asia ... more David Metheny was a medical missionary, pastor, and American consular official in Syria and Asia Minor during the Ottoman Empire. This paper outlines the last eight years of his life, with extensive reference to missionary publications and a large archive of private family letters. This paper constitutes a preliminary draft of a section of a much larger project. Many personal letters of Dr. Metheny and his family are made accessible here for the first time; these may be quoted. Otherwise, please cite, but do not quote, this paper.
The fruit of the abortive proceedings publication project, this draft includes two lectures each ... more The fruit of the abortive proceedings publication project, this draft includes two lectures each from Gregory Stump and Anne-Marie di Sciullo, as well as the posters of all but one of the MorphologyFest poster presenters. Lectures were transcribed from audio recordings; figures come from the Power Point presentations given by the speakers. More information about the proceedings is available at <http://www.indiana.edu/~mrphfest/home.html>. Transcribed and edited by Kathryn Medill on behalf of Indiana University Linguistics Club Publications.
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Papers by Kathryn Medill
in its semantics. However, analysis shows that in expressions dealing with sacrificing on the altar, the altar is overwhelmingly treated as the semantic Goal of motion, and that in these and other expressions הִקטְִיר is a motion verb. This has consequences for the interpretation of the spatial conceptualization of sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible.
the inscription, suggesting that the scribe was switching between orthographic codes in order to achieve his rhetorical goals. I end by considering some of the questions raised by the inclusion of the Idrimi inscription’s code in the orthographic and linguistic repertoire of Syro-Palestinian scribes.
This paper constitutes a preliminary draft of a section of a much larger project. Many personal letters of Dr. Metheny and his family are made accessible here for the first time; these may be quoted. Otherwise, please cite, but do not quote, this paper.
Drafts by Kathryn Medill
in its semantics. However, analysis shows that in expressions dealing with sacrificing on the altar, the altar is overwhelmingly treated as the semantic Goal of motion, and that in these and other expressions הִקטְִיר is a motion verb. This has consequences for the interpretation of the spatial conceptualization of sacrifice in the Hebrew Bible.
the inscription, suggesting that the scribe was switching between orthographic codes in order to achieve his rhetorical goals. I end by considering some of the questions raised by the inclusion of the Idrimi inscription’s code in the orthographic and linguistic repertoire of Syro-Palestinian scribes.
This paper constitutes a preliminary draft of a section of a much larger project. Many personal letters of Dr. Metheny and his family are made accessible here for the first time; these may be quoted. Otherwise, please cite, but do not quote, this paper.