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The Birth of Writing

The Birth of Writing. FOH 7 and Podony and McGee, The Ancient Near Eastern World. Before we can talk about the birth of WRITING, we need to consider two other important means of conveying information in ancient societies of the Fertile Crescent: SPOKEN LANGUAGE METHODS OF RECORD-KEEPING.

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The Birth of Writing

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  1. The Birth of Writing FOH 7 and Podony and McGee, The Ancient Near Eastern World

  2. Before we can talk about the birth of WRITING, we need to consider two other important means of conveying information in ancient societies of the Fertile Crescent: • SPOKEN LANGUAGE • METHODS OF RECORD-KEEPING

  3. Languages spoken in ancient times in the Fertile Crescent?

  4. In Mesopotamia?

  5. In Mesopotamia: • Sumerian • Akkadian Relationship to other languages? (language family?)

  6. In Mesopotamia: • Sumerian • Akkadian Relationship to other languages? part of the Semitic family of languages

  7. The Semitic language family tree

  8. Where were these languages spoken?

  9. So keep in mind that the basis for creating other ways of communicating is the fact that people living in the Fertile Crescent were already using spoken language and living in a context marked by significant linguistic and cultural diversity.

  10. Before they had an actual system of writing, people in the ancient Fertile Crescent (specifically Mesopotamia) had METHODS OF RECORD-KEEPING. When and why did they need methods of record-keeping?

  11. From c. 8000 BCE on…

  12. From c. 8000 BCE on, with the discovery and spread of AGRICULTURE they had…

  13. From c. 8000 BCE on, with the discovery and spread of AGRICULTURE they had SURPLUS which they treated as PRIVATE PROPERTY…

  14. From c. 8000 BCE on, with the discovery and spread of AGRICULTURE they had SURPLUS which they treated as PRIVATE PROPERTY – so they needed ways to keep track of what they had, and to communicate what they wanted when they conducted trade, especially through a middleman (servant, child, caravan driver…).

  15. Early methods of record-keeping? [See charts filled out in class.]

  16. Over time, what drives these changes in methods of record-keeping?

  17. Over time, what drives these changes in methods of record-keeping? - Effort to keep track of tokens and goods - Effort to create a reliable and easy-to-consult record of the transaction - Desire to communicate more information clearly (perhaps by use of shared symbols)

  18. actual WRITING systems? • What makes them different from mere methods of record-keeping? • When do historians think they developed in Mesopotamia?

  19. actual WRITING systems • when people started using reed pens (instead of tokens) to draw on tablets of clay -- representing words/things/ideas instead of imprinting tokens on clay Podony & McGee: Butler: c. 3200 BCE c. 3500-3000 BCE

  20. STAGES in the development of WRITING SYSTEMS Podony & McGee: Butler: • pictograms - pictographs • [ideo-grams] - ideographs • syllabaries - rebus writing - concrete sign - abstract sign - phonetic alphabet

  21. Podony & McGee c. 3200 BCE pictograms a concrete sign stands for the thing it looks like (nouns only) = bread

  22. Podony & McGee c. 3200 – 3000 BCE pictograms gradually come to stand for related ideas (“ideo-grams?”) a concrete sign stands for the thing it looks like OR a similar verb or adjective = bread OR to bake OR baked

  23. Podony & McGee c. 3000 BCEsyllabariesdevelop a sign stands for the SOUND of a syllable or a word  = ‘ti’ which can mean arrow OR life OR to take

  24. Podony & McGee c. 3000 BCEsyllabariesdevelop a sign stands for the SOUND of a syllable or a word at first, signs are concrete (look like recognizable things  = ‘ti’ (arrow, life, to take, or just the sound ‘ti’)

  25. Podony & McGee c. 3000 BCEsyllabariesdevelop a sign stands for the SOUND of a syllableor a word at first, signs are concrete (look like recognizable things)  = ‘ti’ (arrow, life, to take, sound ‘ti’) c. 3000 – 700 BCE but over time, signs become more abstract (less and less recognizable) ѱ  ῳ  W = ‘ta’ (wheat) ‘ta’ (wheat, joy, to buy) ‘ta’ (sound)

  26. Podony & McGee Examples of syllabaries?

  27. Podony & McGee Examples of syllabaries: - cuneiform (in Mesopotamia  elsewhere in the Fertile Crescent) - hieroglyphics (in Egypt)

  28. STAGES in the development of WRITING SYSTEMS Podony & McGee: Butler: • pictograms (3200 BCE) - pictographs (3500 BCE) • [ideo-grams] - ideographs (3000 BCE) • syllabaries (3000 BCE) - rebus - concrete sign writing (2100 BCE) - abstract sign --------------------------------------------------------------------- - phonetic alphabet (c. 1000 BCE)

  29. Difference between a syllabary and a phonetic alphabet?

  30. Syllabary vs. phonetic alphabet • How many signs (symbols) have to be learned hundreds vs. twenty-some li L mi M ni N se I si E

  31. Learning to read/write in the ancient Near East • Who? • Where? • What kinds of work?

  32. What if you couldn’t read/write?

  33. Once actual WRITING SYSTEMS were developed, what kinds of things were people able to do thanks to writing that they could not have done previously?

  34. SPOKEN LANGUAGE AGRICULTURE  SURPLUS (private property) METHODS OF RECORD-KEEPING ACTUAL WRITING SYSTEMS, with different stages over time  kind of sign and what it stands for

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