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Bousrtofedon /ˌbaʊstrəˈfiːd(ə)n,ˌbuːstrəˈfiːd(ə)n/ is a style of writing in which alternate lines of writing are reversed, with letters also written in reverse, mirror-style. This is in contrast to modern European languages, where lines always begin on the same side, usually the left. The original term comes from Ancient Greek: βουστροφηδόν, boustrophēdón, a composite of βοῦς, bous, “ox“; στροφή, strophḗ, “turn“; and the adverbial suffix -δόν, -dón, “like, in the manner of“ – that is, “like the ox turns [while plowing]“. It is mostly seen in ancient manuscripts and other inscriptions. It was a common way of writing on stone in ancient Greece, becoming less and less popular throughout the Hellenistic period. Many ancient scripts, such as Etruscan, Safaitic, and Sabaean, were frequently or even typically written boustrophedon. To make it easier to read from one musical staff to another, and avoid “jumping the eye,“ Jean-Jacques Rousseau envisioned a “boustrophedon“ notation. This required the writer to write the second staff from right to left, then the one after from left to right, etc. Thus the musician avoided, he said, to “jump“ a staff while reading. As for the words, they were reversed, every second line.
