Download WRITING SYSTEMS

EARLY CIVILIZATIONS AND
THE DEVELOPMENT OF
WRITING SYSTEMS IN THE
WORLD
Prof. M. M. Ninan
Cave paintings
The oldest known cave painting is that of the Chauvet Cave, dating to
around 30,000 BC.
Petroglyphs
Petroglyphs from Häljesta, Scandinavia. Nordic Bronze Age.
The next step in the history of communications is petroglyphs, carvings into a rock
surface. It took about 20,000 years for homo sapiens to move from the first cave
paintings to the first petroglyphs, which are dated to around 10,000 BC
Four Rivers – Four World Cultures
Humankind is defined by language; but civilization is defined by writing
Indus Script
2600 BC to 1900 BC
Very short and brief texts.
The average number of symbols on the seals is 5,
and the longest is only 26.
Dravidian?
3,500 B.C. Indus Script
?
They developed a system of writing with around 250 symbols. They carved
their writings on soft soapstone. No one has yet deciphered their language.
This civilization died out, whereas the other two continued to grow.
Around 4100-3800 BCE, the tokens began to be symbols
that could be impressed or inscribed in clay to represent a
record of land, grain or cattle and a written language was
beginning to develop.
Summerian Accounting
On Clay Tablets
Evolution of Writing?
• Writing itself undergoes changes
before and after the invention of
cuneiform.
• Tokens-precursors of numeration
• Pictograms
• Ideograms
• Syllabary
• Alphabets
Pictograms
Pictograph from 1510 telling a story of coming of missionaries to Hispaniola
Pictograms were used by various ancient cultures all over the world since around 9000 BC,
when tokens marked with simple pictures began to be used to label basic farm produce,
and become increasingly popular around 6000-5000 BC.
pictographs of Sumeria
head
foot
sun "day"
hand
woman
Eventually, the pictographs were stylized,
rotated and in impressed in clay with a wedge shaped stylus
to become the script known as Cuneiform.
The pictograph for woman, as seen above became
.
Sumerians
and the first writing system
in the world
4000 - 3500 BC
The Sumerians developed a form of
pictographic writing
that used word pictures
like
bird, fish, ox or grain etc.,
Early pictographic tablet (3100 B.C.).
Ideograms
The beginning of the Lord's Prayer in Míkmaq hieroglyphic
writing. The text reads Nujjinen wásóq – "Our father / in
heaven"
Geometric signs (dots, squares, etc.) with no apparent
depicted object = ideographs
( symbols to represent ideas or concepts.)
Egypt
where
picture writing
had developed
4000 BC
Nowadays there is more-or-less consensus on a few
points concerning the origin of writing.
First of all, writing was invented independently in at
least three places,
Mesopotamia,
China,
Mesoamerica.
Recent discoveries might also provide evidence that
writing was invented in
Egypt
Indus
independently of Mesopotamia.
I LOVE YOU
.However, there are no wrong answers to this puzzle.
Both of the other choices could also be correct.
To eliminate confusion, the writer might use a determinative.
These were special characters which had a special meaning
and acted to clarify the statement
Egyptian hieroglyphs such as
r'i
which was pronounced
meaning "mouth"
became the pictograph for the sound of R with any vowel.
The pictograph for "water"
pronounced nu
became the symbol for the consonantal sound of N.
This practice of using a pictograph to stand for the first sound
in the word it stood for is called
acrophony
and was the first step in the development of an
ALPHABET
or
the "One Sign-One sound" system of writing.
A glottal stop
similar to the
Hebrew Alef
W or U,
corresponds to
Hebrew Waw
Consonantal Y,
like the Hebrew
Yod
Sound of B
Sometimes
abbreviated as \ \,
sound of Y or ee
used in the last
syllable
Gutteral sound
corresponding to
Hebrew Ayin
Sound of P
Sound of F
Sound of M
Acrophonic pictograms make excellent phonograms because they establish a
meaningful connection between the shape of the mark and the associated
sound category. The technique is often used in literacy programs because
paired associate learning is easier with a connected picture.
A=avian/apple/ape, B=boot/book, C=cup/cat... The technique would even
be more powerful if the name of the associated picture was also related to
the letter name and letter shape. In Egyptian and the early Semitic scripts
they were.
"Hieroglyphic writing was an offshot of direct pictorial
representation. In this respect it resembled the original
Babylonian script (circa 3200 B.C.) and indeed it is not
improbable that there was an actual relationship
between them, though it may have amounted to no
more than a hearsay knowledge that the sounds of
language could be communicated by means of
appropriately chosen pictures. The subsequent
development, however, differed very considerably in the
two cases. Babylonian writing, using cuneiform (wedgeshaped) characters, quickly ceased to be recognizable as
pictures, whereas the Eg. hieroglyphs retained their
pictorial appearance... By virtue of this fact, the signs
continued to mean what they represented." (p. 22f.,
Egypt of the Pharaohs, 1961).
Amduat - The Book of the Secret Chamber
The oldest of the royal funerary books is the Amduat. Amduat literally means "That Which Is In
the Afterworld" - is an important Ancient Egyptian funerary text of the New Kingdom. Like many
funerary texts, it was written on the inside of the tomb for reference by the deceased. Unlike
other funerary texts, however, it was reserved only for pharaohs or very favored nobility.
It tells the story of Re, the sun god, traveling through the underworld, between the time the sun
sets in the west and rises again in the east. It is understood that the dead pharaoh is taking this
same journey, ultimately to unify with the sun god and become immortal.
The underworld is divided into twelve hours of the night, each presenting various allies and
enemies for the pharaoh/sun god to encounter.
The Amduat names all of these entities, totalling many hundreds of gods and monsters. In fact, a
prime purpose of the Amduat to provide the names of these creatures to the spirit of the dead
pharaoh, so he can call upon them for aid or use their name to defeat them.
The earliest complete version of the Amduat is found in KV34, the tomb of Thutmose III in the
Valley of the Kings.
Pyramid Texts
The Pyramid Texts are a collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts from the time of the Old Kingdom, mostly
inscriptions on the walls of tombs in pyramids. They depict the Egyptain view of the afterlife, and the ascent into the sky
of the divine Pharaoh after death. They were written upwards of five thousand years ago; thus, they are some of the
oldest known writings in the world.
The Pyramid Texts are also the oldest collection of religious spells known to us from ancient Egypt. This collection forms
the basis of much of the later religious theology and literature of ancient Egypt. The passages were eventually separated
and categorized, as well as illustrated and eventually evolved into the Book of the Dead, or more properly, The Book of
the Coming forth by Day.
The oldest of these text come from that Pyramid of Wenis, or more popularly these days, Unas at Saqqara. However, the
first Pyramid Text that were actually discovered were from the Pyramid of Pepy I.
This collection forms the basis of much of the later religious theology and literature of ancient Egypt.
The Book of the Dead
Papyrus of Ani
Ani (man with his wife bowing to the gods), while Anubis weighs his heart
against Maat's feather of truth, and Thoth records the event, and Ammit the
devourer waits patiently.
The scene depicted here shows the climax of the journey to the afterlife. Nany
is in the Hall of Judgment. Holding her mouth and eyes in her hand, she stands
to the left of a large scale. Her heart is being weighed against Maat, the
goddess of justice and truth, who is represented as a tiny figure wearing her
symbol, a single large feather, in her headband. On the right, Osiris, god of the
underworld and rebirth, presides over the scene. He is identified by his tall
crown with a knob at the top, by his long curving beard, his crook, and by his
body, which appears to be wrapped like a mummy except for his hands.
Book of Gates
The Book of the Heavenly (Celestial) Cow
symbol of life
This is the alphabet that was the
precursor to
Phoenician,
Greek
and
Roman
The hieroglyphics
Egypt.
HIEROGLYPHS symbols on Gerzean pottery resemble hieroglyphic writing.
4000 BC
Earliest known hieroglyphic inscription was the Narmer Palette, at Hierakonpolis
3200 BC.
Egyptians borrowed the idea of pictorial writing from Sumerians.
Their hieroglyphics was as pictography or ideograms.
Old Egyptian (3000 to 2200 BC),
Middle Egyptian (2200 to 1600 BC),
Late Egyptian (1600 to 700 BC),
Demotic (700 BC to 400 AD) and
Coptic (200 AD to about 1500 AD).
Coptic was the only stage of the Egyptian language that had proper vowels and
gave a clear idea of their pronunciations.
But, for a very long time these writings remained unintelligible
2,000 B.C. Shang Dynasty Chinese
The Shang on the Yellow River is the earliest known civilization that
used Chinese writing. They used about 3,000 symbols for words and
actions. The Chinese language of today differs very little from this early
writing. This is because the Chinese civilization was isolated from the
rest of the world for many years
The Assyrians.
Akkadian language
and
Northeastern Semitic language (Aramaic) –
3000 BC to 1000 BC in Mesopotamia.
It had two dialects, Assyrian and Babylonian.
It was written in cuneiform script.
After 700 BC the Aramaic began to replace the
Akkadian language, and died out by 1st century AD.
Historical development
of “Head”
26th century BC Sumerian
cuneiform script in
Sumerian language, listing
gifts to the high priestess
of Adab on the occasion of
her election. One of the
earliest examples of human
writing.
2600 BC Sumeria
Pictographs were turned on their sides (2800 B.C.) and then
developed into actual cuneiform symbols (2500 B.C.) -- as this clay
tablet illustrates
A cuneiform table (c. 2100 B.C.) listing expenditures
of grain and animals.
Letter sent by the high-priest Lu'enna to the king of Lagash (maybe Urukagina),
informing him of his son's death in combat, c. 2400 BC, found in Telloh (ancient
Girsu).
Paper and Pens--input technologies.
Sumerians' input technology was a stylus that could scratch
marks in wet clay.
About 2600 B.C., the Egyptians wrote on the papyrus plant
HEBREW 2000 BC
== A magic spell to keep snakes away from the tombs of Egyptian kings,
adopted from the Canaanites almost 5,000 years ago, could be the oldest
Semitic text yet discovered.
Proto-Sinaitic HEBREW 1900 BC
[The Invention of the Alphabet]
Luxor in upper Egypt, Egyptologists have found limestone inscriptions that they say
are the earliest known examples of alphabetic writing, in a Semitic script with
Egyptian influences, has been dated between 1900 and 1800 B.C. The first
experiments with alphabet thus appeared to be the work of Semitic people living
deep in Egypt
HEBREW 1000 BC
flourished as a spoken language in Israel from the 10th century BC.
Afterward Hebrew continued as a literary language until the Modern Era. when it
was revived as a spoken language in the 19th century.
Phoenician was the immediate
descendent of Proto-Sinaitic.
Excavations of the ancient city of Ugarit, modern Ras
Shamra, has produced texts in a cuneiform script that was also
consonantal. In the order of the Alef-Beyt:
Semitic languages
Northwest Semitic
Aramaic
Northeast Semitic
Akkadian
Canaanite
Babylonian
Southwest
Arabic
Southeast
Ethiopic
Assyrian
In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth Gen 1:1
Old Phoenician
10th-9th cent. BC
Moabite
850 BC
Early Aramaic
800 BC
Siloam Inscription
700 BC
Samaritan *
Lachish Ostraca
600. BC
In the beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth Gen 1:1
Elephantine Payrus
5th cent. BCE
Nabataean Aramaic
1st cent. CE
Great Isaiah Scroll
200-100 BCE
Habakkuk Pesher
150-100 BCE
Codex Leningradensis
1010 CE.
Modern Hebrew
Ten Commandments
in the ancient Hebrew script
of the time of Moses
1446 BC
2007 AD
The five periods of Aramaic
Old Aramaic 1000 BCE to 700 BCE.
Imperial (Official) Aramaic 700 BCE to 200 BCE.
Middle Aramaic 200 BCE to 200 CE.
Late Aramaic 200 CE to 700 CE.
Modern Aramaic 700 CE to present
Around 2000 B.C., Phoenicians created symbols that expressed single
syllables and consonants (the first true alphabet).
The Greeks later adopted the Phoenician alphabet and added vowels;
the Romans gave the letters Latin names to create the alphabet we
use today
Of Aramaic derivation
or inspiration, it can be
traced to the
8th or 7th century BC
GREEK 1450 BC
== The first known Greek writings date back to 1450 BC.
Greek has been spoken in the Balkan Peninsula since the 2nd millennium BC.
The earliest evidence of this is found in the Linear B tablets in the 'Room of
the Chariot Tablets', a LMII-context (c. 1500 BC) region of Knossos, in Crete
PERSIAN AVESTAN/VEDIC/PAHLAVI - 1000 BC
1) Old Persian (up to 300 BC) which used cuneiform script;
(2) Middle Persian, also called the Pahlavi,
(3rd century BC to 9th century AD)
which used Aramaic alphabet for writing; and
(3) Modern Persian which used Arabic alphabet
The Old Persian Script
Example of Avestan script
Example of Pahlavi script
Example of Old Persian script
PRAKRIT AND PALI 1000 BC – 500 BC
PALI
is Magadhi, Magadhanirutti, Magadhikabhasa,
that is to say, the language of the region in which
Buddhism had arisen.
PRAKRIT
Vernacular Languages
Brajbuli
dates to 1000 BC
The earliest recorded Prakrit is in Asoka's Inscriptions
500 BC
CHINESE 1200 - 600 BC
IdeogramsOne word, one idea
Bronze Inscriptions
Oracle Bones
late Shang period
(ca. 1200 BC).
Eastern Zhou dynasty
(ca. 1150-771 BC)
Combined Ideograms
TAMIL 1200- 800 BC
The earliest epigraphic records found
date to around 300 BCE
and the Tolkappiyam,
oldest known literary work in Tamil,
has been dated
between 300 BC and 500 CE. written in
Tamil-Brahmi
More than 55% of epigraphical
inscriptions in India were found in
Tamil language.
LATIN 900 BC
1st century BC to the 1st century AD
Cicero, Virgil, Ovid, Livy, and Caesar
legal and governmental language of the
entire
Roman Empire
The Duenos inscription, from the 6th century BC
Development of Language led to Religious Systems
WHY IS IT THAT SO MANY GREAT RELIGIOUS LEADERS
APPEARED AROUND 500 BCE?
Plato and Aristotle taught ~400 BCE
Tao Te Ching (by Lao Tze) composed ~700 BCE
Kung Fu-Tze (Confucius) lived ~600 BCE
Zoroaster's texts (Persia/Iran): ~600 BCE
Gautama Buddha - 550-480 BCE
Isaiah - lived ~700 BCE, book of Isaiah written ~500
BCE
Jeremiah - lived ~500 BCE
SO HUMAN HISTORY AND THE GREAT HUMAN RELIGIONS
BOTH BEGAN WITH THE ONSET OF WRITING!
ARABIC 800 BC
The earliest Proto-Arabic, or Ancient North Arabian, texts
are the Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia,
from the 8th century BC, in variants of the epigraphic
South Arabian musnad.
ARABIC 600 BC
These are followed by 6th century BC
Lihyanite texts from southeastern Saudi Arabia and
Thalmudic texts found in Arabia and Sinai
ARABIC 100 BC
Safaitic inscriptions
beginning in the 1st century BC, written in Aramaic.
CLASSICAL SANSKRIT 150 AD
First Sanskrit Inscription : 150 AD The earliest inscription in Sanskrit is by the
Saka
The oldest coin which bears an inscription in
Sanskrit is a unique coin of Satyad¤man,
belonging to the western Kshatrapa dynasty,
whose approximate date is 200 A.D.
( Rapson in the J. R. A. S. 1899. p. 379. )
All coins previous to this one bear legends either in
Pali or in the vernacular
First century AD
The British Library /
University of Washington
Early Buddhist
Manuscripts Project