Transcript Out of the Euphrates: Origins of Writing

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Out of the Euphrates:
Origins of Writing
Mass Cultural Council
Creative Schools
Professional Development
Grant Year 2
Petrographs to Pictographs
 Most languages were never written down
 Spoken language predates written language
 The earliest 'writing'
 pictographic symbols
 Pictographs date to at least 5000 BCE
Ideographic / logographic
 First true writing system date
 3500 BC
 they consist of logographic or logophonetic
symbols etched on clay tablets
 abstract form of writing
 represent ideas and abstract objects
 The best way to think of an ideographic system
is that each symbol represents a word
 Egyptian is both logographic and logophonetic
syllabic system
Syllabary
each symbol represents a syllable
Less symbols required to write the
language
Japanese (the Katakana Syllabary) has
seventy-five basic symbols, three of which
combine to form an additional thirty-six
symbols.
alphabetic
 Last writing system developed
 Each symbol represents a sound
 Roman Alphabet
 English, Spanish, French, German,
 Cyrillic Alphabet
Greek, Russian and many languages of Eastern Europe
 Arabic and Hebrew are also alphabetic
 the earliest alphabetic system we know of is
from modern-day Syria
North Semitic language group
Theories on the advent of writing
 invention for complex cultures with large populations
 record keeping to correctly count agricultural products
 for keeping the calendar to plant crops at the correct time
 religious purpose i.e.: divination, communicating with deities
 socio-political functions i.e.: reinforcing power of the ruling elite
 Writing was invented independently
 Mesopotamia, China, and Mesoamerica
 Recent discoveries suggest that writing was invented in Egypt
and Indus independently of Mesopotamia
Writing, Creation and the Gods
 Sumerian
 god Enlil was the creator of writing
 Assyrian and Babylonian
god Nabu was credited as the inventor of writing and
scribe of the gods
 Similar to the Egyptian god Thoth,
 Mesopotamian scribal gods also exhibit the
power of creation via divine speech
Cuneiform denotes not one but several
kinds of writing systems
 Sumerian
 Akkadian/Assyrian/Babylonian (Eastern Semitic)
 Elamite
 Eblaite
 Hittite
 Hurrian
 Utartian
 Ugaritic
8000 BCE
Prehistoric
35003000 BCE
Proto-literate, Sumer (Uruk)
30002350 BCE
Early Dynastic
23502200 BCE
Old Akkadian
21002000 BCE
Ur III or Neo-Sumerian
20001600 BCE
Old Babylonian
2000-1400
BCE
Old Assyrian
16001100 BCE
Kassite
14001000 BCE
Middle Assyrian
1000612 BCE
Neo Assyrian
625-539 BCE
Neo Babylonian
539-331 BCE
Persian
331 BCE 250 BCE
Hellenistic
Bullae and Tokens
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Part of a number system
Bulla find from Nuzi (Northern Iraq)
Dated to1600 B.C.E.
Contained 49 small tokens
The lengthy cuneiform inscription on
the outside translates to:
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21 ewes
6 female lambs
8 adult rams
4 male lambs
6 female goats
1 male goat
3 female kids
 The Seal of the shepherd
 Cylinder Seals make a repeating
pattern
The Philadelphia Tablet
Found near Baghdad, Iraq
3100-2900 BC
 This tablet is one of the earliest on record
 Records the transfer of 300 acres of land between two parties.
 illustrates the transition from token oriented record keeping to cuneiform.
 The tablet is divided into 3 columns, which are further subdivided in panels.
 Solid lines mark both the columns and the panels.
 Reading begins at the top left (column 1), moves down the three panels on
that side. and continues around the bottom edge and on to the reverse
side.
 The text picks up again on the front at the top of column 2, which continues
down and around to the back. Column 3 does the same.
 Column 1 describes the acquisition of 180 iku (63.5 hectares) of land by a
person or temple household of a deity.
 Columns 2 and 3 describe how the 180 iku is divided into 4 fields.
 The round holes in the tablet count the bur (or field size).
The Round School Tablet
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Babylonian city of Nippur
Hammurabi Dynasty
"lentil" or "bun" shape
4 rows of signs on the front of the tablet.
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The teacher inscribed the signs in rows 1 and 2.
The student then copied the text into rows 3 and 4.
Sumerian signs were already 1000 years old
The signs in row 1 were pronounced gi-gur
 "reed basket."
 Row 2 reads gi-gur-da
 large reed basket.
 This lesson was both for handwriting and vocabulary.
The Key to Deciphering Cuneiform: inscriptions on a cliff
Sir Henry Rawlinson found
inscriptions on a cliff at
Behistun in 1835
Translated to the King Darius of
Persia (522-486 BC)
identical texts in three
languages: Old Persian,
Babylonian and Elamite
After translating the Persian,
Rawlinson began to decipher
the others. By 1851 he could
read 200 Babylonian signs
Cylinder Seals
 Developed as part of Ancient Near Eastern numerological system
 tokens and bulla: perhaps representing barley and wheat
 later these were flattened out and became pillow tablets
 Amulet-like cylinders worn on cords
 Depictions of mythological events and mighty deities bring the
wearer under the protection of personal deity
 Personal identity
 many temples had seals
 Priests or administrators had seals for their positions
 each individual clan or tribe had their own seal
 individual family member seals
 The impressions are the important research aid
 depictions are regionally specific
 inscriptions and pictures showing dress styles, mythology and kings.
Archaeological Record
 Cylinder Seals were
made of wood, bone,
stone, faience, and
ivory
Which do you think
survived?
 Found buried with
owners
 Millions of sealings
Less Cylinder Seals
Earliest Cylinder Seals
Sumerian Period
Early Sumerian steatite seal showing a god in a boat with a river
scene of reeds and plants, birds or chevrons, star of divinity, three
dots and an early inscription in a panel that is turned 90 degrees.
The script is nearly pictographic, and the short, wide seal form is
more characteristic of Jemdat Nasr than the Dynastic period. The
engraving style is also in a Jemdat Nasr wheel-cut style.
Uruk Period
Neo-Assyrian Period
Banquet scene.
Serpentine cylinder seal and impression
Akkadian Period
Property and Personal Identity
 Cylinder seals occupy a 3000 year time frame
 closely linked to the use of cuneiform.
 Some examples carved to look like the distal end of a bone
 The stones are rounded to allow a repeating pattern over a large or
small area
 Seals can be made of any stone
 Uruk period they were of softer stones such gypsum, later they were
made of harder stones.
 Lapis attests to trade between the Afghanistan area and Mesopotamia
 They are carved in the reverse of cameo called intaglio.
 Seals are considered rare and a fine art form
Personal Identity
 First time individuals can be identified
 Owner wore on bracelet or necklace
 Seals can tell a story
 I am Anu, son of Enki, servant of Uttu
 Ianna, intercedes on my behalf
 Some known identities: Scribe, Female Scribe,
Weaver, Stone Cutter, Accountant, Metalworker
 “Nintur, Shepherd”
What did they Seal?
 Clay tablets & envelopes
 Doors
 Storage jars
 Worn as amulets
 Bales of commodities  Signed legal contracts
 Cloth
How did they do it?
Carved in reverse, so it will read correctly
when rolled out
Carved into the cylinder – intaglio
A pattern repeats when rolled on wet clay
Modern Cylinder Seals
Iranian artist Ahmad Nadalian
Tools for making your seal
Air-dry clay
Plastic knife
Tooth pick
Plastic straw
Wooden skewer
Scissors
12-18 inch length of cord
Design Time
You have five minutes to lay-out a design
for your seal on the worksheet
Remember that the carvings are reversed
Think about your identity and what you
want the seal to say about you
You can use letters, pictures, numbers,
designs or any combination
Method for making seals
Roll out clay to make it smooth give shape
Punch into clay
Crave out clay
Incise clay
Press into clay
They are carved into the stone called
intaglio.
Make your Cylinder Seal
Cut piece of clay
Roll clay into shape and form small cylinder
Decorate cylinder - letters are formed in reverse, scenes, motifs
Pierce clay with wooden skewer
Let dry overnight
Thread cord through straw
Remove stray leaving the cord in place
Roll out your seal in paint on paper.
Looting in modern Iraq
 Larsa
 Sumerian capital
Phoenician
Ugaritic
Written in a alphabetic cuneiform
Clay tablets written in Ugaritic provided the
first evidence of the "modern" ordering of
letters
This writing system was employed in the
city of Ugarit, located in western Syria
from around 1300 BCE
Epigraphy
 Punic
 Neo-Punic
 Phoenician proper
 Late Phoenician cursive
 Phoenician papyrus
 Siloam Hebrew
 Hebrew seals
 Ammonite
 Moabite
 Proto-Canaanite
Phoenician alphabet
 developed from North Semitic prototype
 was in use until about the 1st century BCE
 trade spreads alphabet
 All corners of the Mediterranean
 ancestor of the Greek alphabet
 of all Western alphabets.
 Phoenician colonial scripts
 Cypro-Phoenician (10th-2nd century BCE)
 Sardinian (c. 9th century BCE) varieties
 Punic and neo-Punic alphabets of Carthage, > 3rd century CE
 Punic was a monumental script and neo-Punic a cursive form
no vowels
22-character alphabet
no vowels are used
early inscriptions ran on continuously with
no division between the words
c. 1000 – 700 BC some words have points
or vertical strokes to divide them
c. 700 BC words separated by spaces
Aramaic script replaced old Phoenician
Coffin Lid of King
The earliest Phoenician inscription
 Ahiram epitaph at Byblos in Phoenicia
dating from the 11th century BCE
written in North Semitic alphabet
Trade Records & alphabet
efficient method of keeping records
pen, ink
papyrus, parchment and paper
wax-writing tablet was found in an ancient
Uluburun shipwreck (Canaanite Phoenician)
Uluburun shipwreck
diptych
http://sara.theellisschool.org/~ship
wreck/artifactgallery/ekw737.html
737 Found K15 on map
http://sara.theellisschool.org/~shipwreck/ulusplash.html
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Alphabet Tables
Beth, Bait
Gimel, Gamel
Daleth, Dal
He
Waw
House
Camel
Door
Window
Hook
B
consonant
G
consonant
D
consonant
H
consonant
W semiconsonant
B
represent b consonant.
After 900 B.C. the Greeks
borrowed the sign from
Phoenician and
inverted/reversed its form,
changed its name to Beta
and made the sign stand
for the consonant B.
C,
G
Around 1700 B.C. this
letter was used to
represent g consonant.
After 900 B.C. the Greeks
borrowed the sign from
Phoenician and
reversed/curved its form,
changed its name to
Gamma and made the
sign stand for the
consonant G.
D
Around 1700 B.C. this
letter was used to
represent d consonant.
After 900 B.C. the Greeks
borrowed the sign from
Phoenician and
reversed/curved its form,
changed its name to Delta
and made the sign stand
for the consonant D.
E
Around 1700 B.C. this
letter was used to
represent h consonant.
After 900 B.C. the Greeks
borrowed the sign from
Phoenician and reversed
its form, changed its name
to Epsilon and made the
sign stand for the vowel E.
F
Around 1700 B.C. this
letter was used to
represent w semiconsonant. After 900 B.C.
the Greeks borrowed the
sign from Phoenician and
reversed/altered its form,
changed its name to
Digamma and made the
Oldest Abecedary
Tel Zayit abecedary
 inscribed with an extremely fine point
 limestone boulder
 The boulder was later incorporated into the wall
of a building, with the inscribed side facing the
interior of a stone-paved room.
 firmly datable archaeological context (10th c BCE)
Ancient China
Ancient China
 Chinese civilization
 Yellow River valley
 Recent archaeological discoveries
 complex cultures of Neolithic China
 distinct and independent cultures in various
regions
 interacted with and influenced each other
 Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) of the middle Yellow
River valley, known for its painted pottery,
 Longshan culture (2500-2000 BC) distinguished for its
black pottery.
Invention of writing
In China, the is attributed to an ancient
sage named Ts'ang Chieh,
minister in the court of the legendary
Yellow Emperor - Huang Ti
While not divine, this invention occurred in
mythological times
Served as communication tool between
heaven (realm of gods and ancestors) and
earth (realm of humans)
Archaeological Evidence -China
 Scientifically excavated objects can be placed more
accurately in time and place
 Texts often go through a process of accretion over time
 many passages added later
 Thousands of early archaeological sites have been
excavated in China, most of them graves
Fu Hao's Tomb c1250bce
bce
Oracle Bones
 The earliest surviving
examples of writing
 13th and 14th c. BCE.
 divination records
 results inscribed on
oxen shoulder blades
& turtle shells
 2/3 not deciphered
small seal script
 characters of uniform size and
shape
 move away from the earlier
pictographic forms of oracle
bone script
 text conforms to a regular grid
 arranged in vertical columns
 fairly regular horizontal
alignment
 lack of variation in line quality
 painstaking execution with a
fairly rigid brush
 or the use of a stylus
Calligraphy
European term = "beautiful writing“
ornamenting words on the page
highly stylized, regular, and decorated with
flourishes
lacking in personal expression
 tended to curb spontaneity, producing
fairly static forms
minor art and
Calligraphy is European concept
Chinese culture is embedded in characters.
It was highly regulated
Went through recognized stages
Poets pushed the envelope of character
modifications
It is still considered a major art form and has
been for hundreds of years
most widely practiced writing styles
 favored spontaneity
 the brush was thought to act like a seismograph in
recording the movements of arm, wrist, and hand
 established as a "high art" form
 Prior to Tang dynasty 627 to 649 CE
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continuously enjoyed a high status among the arts
practiced today
calligraphic skill serves as a basis for painting technique
the rise of calligraphy to "high art" status preceded that of
painting by hundreds of years
Drawing exercise
Undeciphered Scripts
Linear A
Indus Valley Script
Most recently deciphered
Mayan Hieroglyphs
Mayan Hieroglyphs
Next meeting
January 7, 2010