Malay seals originate from those parts of maritime Southeast Asia long connected by political, economic, and cultural networks; the lingua franca of the Malay language; and the faith of Islam. Seals make up an important element in the manuscript and literary culture of the region. Defined as seals from Southeast Asia or used by Southeast Asians, with inscriptions in Arabic script, Malay seals constitute a treasure trove of data that can throw light on myriad aspects of the history of the Malay world, ranging from the nature of kingship, the administrative structure of states, the biographies of major personalities and the form of Islamic thought embraced, as well as on developments in the art and material culture of the region. This important reference work describes and analyses the Malay sealing tradition, carefully cataloguing more than 2,000 seals sourced from collections worldwide, primarily seal impressions stamped in lampblack, ink, or wax on manuscript letters, treaties, and other documents, but including some seal matrices made of silver, brass, or stone. These Malay seals originate from the present-day territories of Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, and Indonesia as well as the southern parts of Thailand and Cambodia, and the Philippines, and date from the second half of the sixteenth century to the early twentieth century. Complete transcriptions and translations of the Jawi inscriptions are provided, bringing the seals to light as objects of literary and art historical analysis, and key resources for an understanding of the Malay Islamic world of Southeast Asia in the early modern period.

Studies of seals and sealing practices have traditionally investigated aspects of social, political, economic, and ideological systems in ancient societies throughout the Old World. Previously, scholarship has focused on description and documentation, chronology and dynastic histories, administrative function, iconography, and style. More recent studies have emphasized context, production and use, and increasingly, identity, gender, and the social lives of seals, their users, and the artisans who produced them. Using several methodological and theoretical perspectives, this volume presents up-to-date research on seals that is comparative in scope and focus. The cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approach advances our understanding of the significance of an important class of material culture of the ancient world. The volume will serve as an essential resource for scholars, students, and others interested in glyptic studies, seal production and use, and sealing practices in the Ancient Near East, Egypt, Ancient South Asia and the Aegean during the 4th-2nd Millennia BCE.

Language, Literacy, and Technology explores how technology matters to language and the ways we use it.

Economic behavior is governed by two major sets of boundary conditions: environmental and technological factors on the one hand, and conditions of social organization on the other hand. Indeed, social scientists are often particularly interested in the framework of exchange relationships: exchange of goods, services, personnel, and information. Economic exchanges lend concrete manifestations to social relations that themselves may transcend the economic realm and that otherwise are often difficult to trace. Yet in social science research in Southeast Asia, the area of economic studies has lagged behind, despite the great study potential represented by the tremendous diversity of its physical and human environment. Economic Exchange and Social Interaction in Southeast Asia attempts to take advantage of that opportunity. As a number of the contributions to this volume show, many if not most of the systems organized on very different levels of integration interact with each other. Taken as a whole, they provide evidence of the incredible diversity of economic and social systems that may be investigated in Southeast Asia.