Transcript File - History of Graphic Design

The invention of writing
Prehistoric art: first appears 40,000 BCE…
Sumerian tokens are used between 8,500 BCE to
3,100 BCE and cuneiform writing on clay (and
stone) is used between 3,400 BCE to 75 CE
Egyptian hieroglyphs and hieratic writing are used
between 3,300 BCE to 394 CE
Lionesses from Chauvet Cave, France, c.
31,000 BCE (Prehistoric—no writing)
Complex counting tokens (oil
jar and textiles), Mesopotamia
(Sumerian), 4,000 to 3,200
BCE, 2 cm each
Bulla with
string of
complex
counting
tokens,
Mesopotamia
(Sumerian),
3,500 to 3,200
BCE; bulla is
2.5 x 6.5 cm
The “Edwin Smith”
medical papyrus,
written with black and
red ink in Egyptian
hieratic script in about
1600 BCE
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE,
Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall—the oldest
surviving object that includes writing
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an Egyptian
papyrus scroll using hieroglyphs, c. 1275 BCE
Cuneiform
Tablet,
Mesopotamia
(Neo-Sumerian),
c. 2029 BCE, 4
5/8 x 2 1/8 x 1 in
Code of
Hammurabi,
Mesopotamia
(Babylonian), c.
1772 BCE, diorite,
7' 5" x 1' 10"
Rosetta Stone, c. 196 BCE, with Egyptian
hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek scripts
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE,
Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
The “Edwin Smith” medical papyrus, written with
black and red ink in Egyptian hieratic script in about
1600 BCE
Rosetta Stone, c. 196 BCE, with Egyptian
hieroglyphs, demotic, and Greek scripts
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an
Egyptian papyrus scroll using hieroglyphs,
c. 1275 BCE
Mesopotamia and Egypt
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian,
slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
The Egyptian civilization lasted
over 3,000 years, and was was
remarkably consistent for all
that time. But there were
periods of greater stability and
periods of collapse, usually the
result of invasion and/or famine.
The eras of the ancient
Egyptian civilization are usually
described as:
•
Old Kingdom
•
Middle Kingdom
•
New Kingdom
•
Late Dynastic
•
Ptolemaic
The object on the left comes
from before the Old Kingdom
and includes the earliest
example of writing to survive
from anywhere.
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian,
slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
Pre-dynastic Palette of Narmer
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian,
slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
earliest surviving “historic” (includes writing) artwork
anywhere in the world, c 3,100 BCE
includes some text
ceremonial palette used to prepare and apply eye
makeup
depicts ceremony reenacting a battle that unified
upper and lower Egypt
features hieroglyphs (pictographs) of catfish + chisel
• uses rebus principle before the Mesopotamians
• pronounced n’r + m’r, therefore a rebus for King
Narmer.
bas (low) relief carving on slate, 2’ tall
two-sided, it shows Narmer on one side as ruler of
Upper Egypt and on the other side as ruler of Lower
Egypt
discovered in 1898 by the archaeologist James E.
Quibell in the Upper Egyptian city of Nekhen (today,
Hierakonpolis)
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate
siltstone, 2 feet tall
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate
siltstone, 2 feet tall
Lower Egypt
Upper Egypt
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE
http://www.musesrealm.net/egypt/gods.html
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate
siltstone, 2 feet tall
The god Horus is symbolically
represented as the falcon. Horus’s
wife, Hathor, is the cow with horns.
Narmer with the crown of lower Egypt and his rebus name, catfish + chisel
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
Narmer’s name appears three times. Egyptian writing with images is known as “hieroglyphs” (which means “sacred carvings” in Greek)
because the ancient Greeks, who could not read them, recognized that they were most often carved onto the surface of religious buildings.
Much like Sumerian writing from the late 4th century BCE, they were composed of pictographs.
Palette of Narmer, c. 3,100 BCE, Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
Egyptian writing contains about 700 different symbols that could represent either things (pictograms) or
ideas (ideograms) or sounds (phonograms) or could modify or explain another symbol without being
pronounced (determinatives).
Hieroglyphs could be combined in any direction: most often in columns from top to bottom.
Horrible Histories: Hieroglyphics, 2:22 http://dai.ly/x2n7tkd
Hieratic is a form of cursive hieroglyphics used at the time of the Palette of Narmer forward.
The symbols used are the same as the hieroglyphic symbols, but they are written more
quickly and with less detail—most often with a rush pen on papyrus paper and with ink
made of black soot or red ochre soil mixed with gum Arabic. It was used mainly by the
priestly class. The word papyrus is the source of our own word “paper.”
The “Edwin Smith”
medical papyrus,
written with black and
red ink in Egyptian
hieratic script in about
1600 BCE
Scribe's palette and rush pens, ca. 1000 BCE, From
Thebes, wood, ink (soot and red ochre), and rush pen, 19
1/8 in. The use of red ochre color allowed writers to
“rubricate” (to make a passage red), for emphasis. You
should try this with your own hieratic design. Select a word
for emphasis and make it red.
Detail of the “Edwin Smith” medical papyrus, written with black and red ink in Egyptian hieratic script
in about 1600 BCE
How to make papyrus;
http://www.lib.umich.edu/papyrus_making/lg
_intro.html
The medical historian James P.
Allen believes that this papyrus is a
copy of an even more ancient
“textbook” for healing trauma that
resulted from military battles.
According to Allen’s book, The Art
of Medicine in Ancient Egypt
(Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005),
the treatments described include
closing wounds with sutures (for
wounds of the lip, throat, and
shoulder), bandaging, splints,
poultices, preventing and curing
infection with honey, and stopping
bleeding with raw meat.
Immobilization is advised for head
and spinal cord injuries, as well as
other lower body fractures.
According to Allen, the word ‘brain’
appears for the first time in any
language.
Allen, "The Art of Medicine in
Ancient Egypt". (New York: The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2005)
Detail of the “Edwin Smith” medical papyrus, written with black and red ink in Egyptian hieratic script in about
1600 BCE
Detail of the “Edwin Smith” medical papyrus, written with black and red ink in Egyptian hieratic
script in about 1600 BCE
Seated Scribe from Saqqara, Egypt, 2620–2500 BCE
Scribes were usually the sons of scribes, trained for four to five years in the art of writing.
They were part of the royal court and did not have to pay tax or join the military. A scribe was also
exempt from the heavy manual labor required of the lower classes, and is evident in the Seated
Scribe’s softened flesh.
One of the scribe’s most important tasks was creating a “Book of the Dead” for their King, who
used it to help him navigate the underworld and arrive safely in the afterlife. The Egyptians called
it a “book for coming forth by day.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribe#Ancient_Egypt
Seated Scribe from Saqqara, Egypt, 2620–2500 BCE
Reproduction of an Egyptian scroll.
The dimensions of a Book of the Dead could vary widely. The
longest is 40 meters long while some are as short as 1 meter
Reproduction of an Egyptian scroll. A scroll is a book made from one
continuous sheet of paper that has a spiral or rolled form.
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an Egyptian papyrus scroll using hieroglyphs, c. 1275 BCE, 18 inches high
The scribe Hunefer created a “Book of the Dead” for himself.
Typical of scrolls, the story is told as a continuous narrative, without being broken into panels. The scene reads from left to right, with words written in
columns separated by lines. To the left, Anubis brings the scribe Hunefer into the judgment area. Anubis is also shown supervising the judgment scales.
Hunefer‘s heart, represented as a small pot, is being weighed against a feather, the symbol of the god Maat, or “what is right.” The ancient Egyptians believed
that if the heart did not balance with the feather, then the dead person was condemned to non-existence and consumption by the ferocious beast shown here
as part-crocodile, part-lion, and part-hippopotamus.
Other challenges described in the book include knowing answers to tricky questions, with correct answers provided.
At the top, Hunefer is shown adoring a row of deities who supervise the judgment.
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an Egyptian papyrus scroll using hieroglyphs, c. 1275
BCE, 18 inches high
To the right, Hunefer is shown in the presence of green-skinned Osiris, the god of the afterlife.
Osiris is shown seated under a canopy with his sisters Isis and Nephthys.
The Book of the Dead developed from a tradition of funerary texts
dating back to around 2400 BCE. These texts, now called
“Pyramid Texts” were written on the walls of the burial chambers
within pyramids, and were exclusively for the use of the Pharaoh
and his Queen.
This image below is from the burial chamber of King Teti, who
died in 2333 BCE. The text similar to that found in Hunefer’s
Book of the Dead.
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an Egyptian papyrus scroll using
hieroglyphs, c. 1275 BCE, 18 inches high
The purpose of the Pyramid Texts was to help the dead King
navigate the underworld, take his place among the gods, and
reunite him with his divine father Ra--in the sky.
Around 2000 BCE, the texts migrated from the walls of the
pyramid to the interior of coffins and are known as “Coffin
Texts.” By this time, these coffins could belong to any member of
the court—not just the king of queen.
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an Egyptian papyrus scroll using hieroglyphs, c.
1275 BCE, 18 inches high
No one was able to read or writing using hieroglyphs or hieratic for
almost 1500 years--after 394 CE, when it was outlawed by Christian
Emperors in Rome.
Then, in 1824, the Egyptian language was deciphered by a French
paleographer named Jean-François Champollion, who was able to solve
the mystery of hieroglyphics as a result of the discovery of the Rosetta
Stone, which was carved in 196 BCE and discovered by Napoleon’s
armies in 1798. A paleographer is someone who studies old (paleo-)
writing (-graphy).
Champollion was able to demonstrate that some hieroglyphs were
pictograms, some were ideograms, some were phonograms, and some
were determinatives. Pictographs represent the object depicted; for
example, a hieroglyph that resembles a loaf of bread might just be a sign
for bread. Ideograms represent abstract ideas, such as love.
Phonograms represented a sound, somewhat the way the Sumerians
had. However, the Egyptians had fewer glyphs because they avoided full
syllables and adopted “acrophony,” which uses the first sound of the
image represented rather than the whole syllable.
Determinatives were unspoken glyphs, but provided information about a
nearby word, such as its gender or status.
Rosetta Stone, c. 196 BCE, with Egyptian hieroglyphs,
hieratic and Greek scripts. British Museum
Rosetta Stone, 196 BCE, granodiorite,
and possible reconstruction
Egypt had been conquered by the
Greek-speaking Alexander the Great in
the fourth century BCE, so the text of
the Rosetta Stone was written in three
languages: Egyptian hieroglyphs,
Egyptian late Hieratic (known as
Demotic) and Archaic Greek.
Hieroglyphs
Demotic (late hieratic)
Greek
You can find a hieroglyphic typewriter at:
http://www.discoveringegypt.com/hieroglyphic
-typewriter.html
You can find a Hieroglyphic Typewriter at:
http://www.discoveringegypt.com/hieroglyphictypewriter.html
What are the design conventions?
Then translate your hieroglyphs into hieratic:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/egyptian_hieratic
.htm
Palette of Narmer, both sides, c. 3,100 BCE,
Egyptian, slate siltstone, 2 feet tall
The “Edwin Smith” medical papyrus, written with
black and red ink in Egyptian hieratic script in about
1600 BCE
Rosetta Stone, c. 196 BCE, with Egyptian
hieroglyphs, hieratic and Greek scripts
Book of the Dead for Hunefer, detail of an
Egyptian papyrus scroll using hieroglyphs,
c. 1275 BCE