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Development and the Importance of Writing. SSUSH 1d SSUSH1e. Writing of the Sumerians. The Sumerians are credited with inventing the oldest form of writing, cuneiform. Cuneiform means wedge shaped. Used primarily for record keeping Texts of cuneiform used to train scribes
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Development and the Importance of Writing SSUSH 1d SSUSH1e
Writing of the Sumerians • The Sumerians are credited with inventing the oldest form of writing, cuneiform. • Cuneiform means wedge shaped. • Used primarily for record keeping • Texts of cuneiform used to train scribes • Scribes came to hold the most important positions in Sumerian society • The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Sumerian writing
Writing and Education • Writing in Egypt emerged around 3000 BCE • The Greeks called this earliest writing hieroglyphics, meaning sacred writings. • Eventually a simplified version called hieratic script came into being. • Written on stone and then papyrus • Scribes were the masters of the art of writing and its teaching. • At the age of 10, boys of upper classes went to schools run by scribes
The Phoenicians • Lived in the area of Palestine along the Mediterranean coast on a narrow band of land 120 miles long. • After the downfall of the Hittites and Egyptians the political independence of the Phoenicians helped them expand their trade.
The Phoenicians • Chiefcities- Byblos, Tyre, and Sidon- ports on the Eastern Mediterranean • Produced a number of goods including purple dye, glass, and lumber • Improved their ships, became great international sea traders and created a trade empire • Charted new routes and set up colonies in the Western Mediterranean • Carthage was their most famous colony.
The Phoenician Alphabet • The Phoenicians are best known for their alphabet. • They spoke a Semitic language • 22 different signs to represent the sounds of their speech • These characters, or letters, could be used to spell out all the words in the Phoenician language. • Eventually passed on to the Greeks. • From the Greek alphabet was derived the Roman alphabet we still use today.