Chapter 1 The Invention of Writing
Why did writing systems develop?
Communities need to Communicate!
Figure 1-1 Cave Painting from Lascaux, France c. 15,000-10,000 BCE
Figure 1-3 Fremont rock painting from San Raphael Swell, c. 2000-1000 BCE The Fremont people lived in southern Utah
Pictographs elemental pictures that represent exactly what they depict (people, animals, objects)
Petroglyphs Signs carved or scratched into rock
Figure 1-2 Petroglyphic figures found in the western United States are similar to images found all over the world
Ideographs Symbols that represent an idea or concept
Ziggurat A stepped temple compound where priests and scribes controlled the inventories of the gods and the king.
Early Sumerian pictograph tablet, c. 3100 BCE Information is structured into grid zones by horizontal and vertical division.
This clay tablet demonstrates how the Sumerian symbols for “star,” “head” and “water” evolved from early pictographs. 3100 BCE
Cuneiform tablet, c. 2100 BCE This clay tablet lists expenditures of grain and animals
Cuneiform Abstract writing system (from the Latin for Wedge-Shaped)
Phonograms Graphic symbols for sounds
Edubba (Tablet House) A writing school for children selected to be scribes (also a storage house for tablets)
Stele bearing the Code of Hammurabi, initially written between 1792 and 1750 BCE At the top is King Hammurabi with the sun god Shamash, who orders the king to write down the laws for the people of Babylon.
Detail from the Code of Hammurabi
Hittite cylinder seal, thought to portray a ritual, possibly with a sacrificial o ff ering on the right.
Hieroglyphics Ancient Egyptian picture-writing system (Greek for Sacred Carving)
Ivory tablet of King Zet, First Dynasty. The 5.000 year old tablet is possibly the earliest example of Egyptian pictographic writing that evolved into hieroglyphics
Figure 1-22 The Rosetta Stone, c. 197-196 BCE From top to bottom, hieroglyphics, demotic and Greek inscriptions provided the key to the secrets of ancient Egypt.
Cartouche A bracket-like plaque containing the symbols which stand for a name
Alphabet characters placed beside each hieroglyphic in the cartouches of Ptolemy and Cleopatra demonstrate the approximate phonetic sounds deciphered by Champollion
These Egyptian Hieroglyphics illustrate the rebus principle. These symbols mean bee, leaf, sea and sun. The sound of the objects they represent would be close to the name being communicated. As rebuses (using the English language) they could also mean belief and season.
Paul Rand’s Rebus poster for IBM
Sarcophagus of Aspalta, King of Ethiopia, c. 593-568 BCE The inscriptions carved into this granite sarcophagus demonstrate the flexibility of hieroglyphics
Detail from the Book of the Dead of Tuthmosis III, c. 1450 BCE. Written hieroglyphics were simplified but maintained their pictographic origin
The Hieroglyphic for scribe depicted the Old Kingdom palette, the drawstring sack for dried ink cakes, and a reed brush holder.
Figure 1-31 Detail from the Papyrus of Hunefer, c. 1370 BCE Hunefer and his wife are worshipping the gods of Amenta.
Figure 1-32 Vignette from the Papyrus of Ani, c. 1420 BCE Ani, a royal scribe, temple accountant, and grainery manager from Thebes, and his wife arrive for his final judgment.
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