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A Typographic Workbook a primer to history, techniques, and artistry

Second Edition

Kate Clair Cynthia Busic-Snyder

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Introduction.indd 1 6/24/2005 10:11:18 AM This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Copyright © 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN-13: 978-0-471-69690-2 ISBN-10: 0-471-69690-0

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2

Introduction_2.indd ii 3/9/2006 12:02:26 PM TABLE OF CONENTS

Table of Contents

Preface...... v 4: Typography During Colonization Acknowledgments...... vi and Industrialization...... 61 Colonial Era Typography; A Mathematically Perfect 1: Ancient Writing Systems...... 1 Font; Rococo Era Typography; Letterpress Printing; Prehistoric Societies; Development of Oral Typography During Colonial Expansion; Type Fashion Communication; Early Writing Societies; Pictograph- in England; Writing Master Turns Typographer; Based Writing Systems; From Pictographs to Typography in Italy; The Dawn of Industrialization; Ideographs; The Semitic Languages; Sumerian Printing Gains Momentum; Introduction of Sans Serif ; Minoan Writing; Written Languages Fonts; A New Era in Typography: Advertising; The Remain Undeciphered; Egyptian Hieroglyphics; Practical Writing Machine; Stone Chromolithography Hieratic ; Script; Ancient Writing Printing; The Victorian Era Influences Typography; Systems Evolve; The Rise of Ancient Greece; and and Documenting the American Civil War Recovering Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics 5: Early Twentieth-Century Typography...... 77 2: Lettering During the Roman Empire The Arts and Crafts Movement; Kelmscott Press; Page and Middle Ages...... 23 Type Composition Speeds Up; Art Nouveau; Type for Impact of the Roman Empire; Roman Triumphal Mass Production; Offset Lithography; An Aesthetic Arches; Roman Lettering; Capitalis Quadrata to Revolution; Post-War Typographer: Rudolph Rustica; Constantine Ends Christian Persecution; The Koch; Frederic Goudy’s Inspired Private Press in Roman Empire Divided; The Scroll versus the Codex; the United States; Edward Johnston and Eric Gill: Roman Script; Christianizing of Ireland and the Celtic Classic Letters; The Roaring Twenties; Dada Rejects Lettering; The Crumbling Empire Leads to Feudalism; Typographic Messages; Art Deco; The Bauhaus Celtic Round Uncials; Lettering as a Declaration of Aesthetic: Kandinsky and Bayer; DeStijl Movement Faith; A Unifying Force in Lettering; The Romanesque in the Netherlands; Russian Constructivism: El Hand Invites Innovation; The Development of the Lissitzky and Kurt Schwitters; Minimal Typographic Gothic Textura Hand; Mediterranean Expansion of Design: Jan Tschichold; A Geometric Typeface: Paul Muslims; Development of Rag Paper in Europe; The Renner’s Futura; The Great Depression; Type for Late Gothic Period; Rotunda Compared to Gothic Daily Newspapers; and The United States at War Lettering; and Setting the Stage for the Renaissance 6: Technology Changes the Designer’s Role.. 99 3: Renaissance Typography Transitioning from Hot Type to Cold Type; and Printing...... 43 Technology Changes the Designer’s Role in the The Renaissance; The Beginning of Printing; Production Process; Fitting Copy; Type Specification; Gutenberg: The Metal Craftsman; Movable, Reusable Proofreading Tips; Proofreader’s Marks; Type Design Type; Imitation of a Hand-Copied Book; The First During the Second Half of the Twentieth Century; Printing ; Composing a Page; Printing the 42- Type Design in the 1960s; Type Design During the Line Bible; Assembly-Line Book Production; Early Radical 1970s; Wolfgang Weingart; and The Dawning Typefaces; The Spread of Printing: Jenson in Italy; of the Digital Age Printing in England; The Religious Reformation; The Pinnacle of the Renaissance; Intertwining Printeries: The Estienne Family and Simon de Colines; Aldus Mantius as Publisher; The Letter as Art; Geofroy Tory Establishes Bookmaking as an Art; France Offers a New Look in Type: Garamond; Prevalence of Italic and Script Faces; Handwriting as a Status Symbol; and Printing Innovations i i i

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7: Contemporary Typography and 11: Selecting and Combining Digital Technology...... 123 Fonts Creatively...... 215 Émigré Magazine; Dot Matrix, Daisy Wheel Font Selection Considerations; Typographic and Ink Jet Printing; Zuzanna Licko; Laser Personality: Denotation, Connotation, and Printer Technology; Jeffery Keedy; Max Kisman; Resonance; Determining Compositional Importance; Letterror; Neville Brody; Matthew Carter; Digital Spacing and Grouping Type; Weight, Proportion, Font Technology; Adobe and the Development Value and Texture; Positive and Negative; Varying of PostScript; PostScript Type I; PostScript Type Position and Orientation; and Varying Font Structure 2; PostScript Type 3; and Font Availability and and Style Distribution 12: Organizing Typographic 8: Character Characteristics...... 141 Compositions...... 229 Upper- and Lowercase Letterforms; Measuring Type; Basic Page Layout Considerations; Typical Layout Distinguishing Font Styles; Fonts, Faces and Families; Considerations; Establishing a Grid; Margins, Gutters Typeface Design; Type for Use in Different Sizes; and Alleys; Mastheads; Headlines and Subheads; Design of an Italic Font; Designing Font Variations Headers and Footers; Body Copy; Callouts and Pull of Weight and Proportion; Lining Figures, Small Quotes; Tables, Lists, and Forms; Captions, Bylines Caps, Superscript, Subscript, and Dingbats; Type and Credits; and Sidebars and Initial Caps Anatomy; Arms and Tails; The Spine and Shoulder; Serifs, Brackets, Terminals, and Finials; Counters Appendix A: Font sample charts...... 249 and Bowls; Apices, Crotches, and Vertices; Swashes and Flags; Horizontal Spacing and Measurement; Vertical Spacing; Type Alignment; Spacing Type Appendix B: Key concepts...... 347 and Punctuation in Display Sizes; Uppercase versus Mixed Upper- and Lowercase Type; and Optical Appendix C: Key players...... 375 Character Alignment in Headlines Credits...... 380 9: Type Identification and Classification..... 167 Black Letter; Old Style; Modern Style Typefaces; Bibliography...... 381 Square or Slab Serif; Sans Serif; Script and ; Display and Decorative; and The Search for a Modern Classification System Index...... 383

10: Setting Text Type...... 183 Legibility and Readability; Font Design Characteristics; Letterform Proportions; Letter Spacing, Word Spacing, and Line Spacing; Arrangement of Text Type; Background Value, Color, and Contrast; Type Enclosed by Boxes and Bars; Single Spaces Following Punctuation; Typesetting Abbreviations; Using Bullets to Emphasize Listed Information; Prime Marks, Quotation Marks, and Apostrophes; Adding and Omitting Quoted Content Correctly; Using a Virgule; Hyphenation and Justification; and Widows and Orphans i v

Introduction.indd 4 6/24/2005 10:11:19 AM Preface

The study and practice of type and typography the wide range of typeface choices and the visual is both art and science combined with a rich social results, and help with the development of an aesthetic and technological evolution over the last five and understanding and appreciation for foundation-level a half centuries, poised for an interesting and typography. Extensive examples illustrate both the innovative future. Although the rules of typesetting preferred methods and techniques, contrasted with are old and the technologies for the creation and numerous examples of undesirable settings with distribution of printed materials continue to change, explanations of the differences. the primary intent remains: quality typography that This edition of the text includes short exercises supports the meaning and understanding of the words intended to support the information presented by it represents. Great typography often results from encouraging the learner to refer to contemporary a strong foundation in the historical development internet resources; skill-building exercises of writing and printing, the clear ability to identify encouraging the exploration of the concepts, rules, subtle characteristics of typeform design according to and theories discussed; review questions that a defined context, and the successful mastery of the emphasize the important facts and test understanding almost infinite number of minute details involved in of the content; a detailed historical perspective specifying and setting text. of typography as a communication medium; and Typography has become a subject area of comprehensive set of three appendices. specialized study—a subset of the general practice Included in the historical perspective is a of graphic design. Digital technologies have shifted revised approach to copy fitting with a character-per- the responsibility of quality typesetting from the pica chart and expanded exercises. The approach professional service bureau typesetter to the designer to learning typographic layout has been expanded to who is also responsible for the overall design aesthetic, include information on standard paper and envelope print production management, and often the client size charts as well as industry standard folds for communication and coordination. Whereas less than publications. Appendix A illustrates numerous two decades ago the designer was able to focus on the fonts indicating the designer(s) and design context. composition and leave the minutiae to someone else, Appendix B lists and defines the key concepts this is no longer the case in the digital age of personal presented in the text. Appendix C lists the key players computers and publication design. The graphic design in the abridged typographic history presented, with student must now take responsibility for expanding a concise bibliographic description when possible. It their experiences and expertise in a number of is my hope that the information provided, a mesh supporting subjects related to design. of the old and the new, sparks a special interest A Typographic Workbook integrates historical towards creating functional and beautiful typographic and technical typographic information into a single compositions while laying the foundation for publication with the intent to provide a learning intermediate and advanced studies in graphic design. guide for students and a reference for practicing professionals. Various faces are used from one chapter to the next, intended to illustrate a small portion of Cynthia Busic-Snyder



Introduction.indd 5 6/24/2005 10:11:20 AM Acknowledgments

Special thanks to my family and close friends for their patience as I pursued this tangent endeavor. Your encouragement made this project possible.

Thanks go to my good friend and mentor, Charles Wallschlaeger who knows when to pat me on the head and send me on my way. I am especially appreciative to Kimberly Elam who continues to provide professional inspiration and quiet encouragement.

Special thanks to my good friend and mentor Stan Harris who continues to enlighten me on the ways of life and letterpress printing.

Thanks to my parents, who taught me that “good enough” isn’t, I think.

The students I see daily give this project meaning and substance as they continue to teach me new things with their creative questions and innovative solutions. Thank you for challenging me to do my best as I attempt to keep up with each of you.

The professionalism exhibited by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Senior Editor Margaret Cummins, Senior Editorial Assistant Rosanne Koneval and Senior Production Editor Leslie Anglin have been exemplary. I appreciate their consistent patience, support and encouragement.

MPB This one is for you. ICNLYLOM.

v i

Introduction.indd 6 6/24/2005 10:11:20 AM Ancient Writing Systems

Ancient is generally defined by Western culture as “before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 CE.” Few remember to consider the highly developed societies of the ancient Egyptians,

Greeks, and Romans with their magnificent Key Concepts architecture, legal systems, epic plays, elaborate ancient boustrephedon religious rituals and myths, comfortable homes cartouche cuneiform with indoor plumbing, and carefully developed demotic script writing systems. Many believe that these societies’ hieratic script hieroglyphics technological developments would not have iconography been possible without written communication. ideograph mnemonics 1.1 Cartouche of Egyptian The study of written communication is somewhat queen Cleopatra II, who ruled approximately 69–30 BCE. synonymous with the study of the history of civili- parchment A cartouche (called shenu in ancient Egyptian) is a series phaistos disk of hieroglyphics enclosed by zation. In prehistoric times, before writing systems phonemes an oval or rectangular band representing the name of a were developed, there was no recorded history; phonetic royal or divine persona. phonogram knowledge of past events was orally communi- pictograph rebus cated from generation to generation. It is possible Rosetta Stone Semitic languages that if there had never been written records, the syllable history of the world would be condensed to the typography point that one human could commit it to memory.

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Already subjective in nature, the experi- to enunciate a spoken language evolved. Fact Find! Archeological ence and recollection of events are further Archeological evidence of fire use, tool evidence indicates the use affected by personal interpretation and making, and cooperative activities predates of fi re, tool making, and editing; if there were no written record, it the evolution of a biological capacity for cooperative activities before would be impossible to know any of the speech, indicating the probable use of the evolution of either a verbal details of the earliest cultures and the the extensive nonverbal communication. or written language. What lives of ordinary people who lived in them. As verbal communication developed, are examples of nonverbal Because lettering and typography (the it became easier for humans to interact communication used today? Log style, arrangement, and appearance of type) with and assist one another in organized on to to your favorite search are tied closely to available manufacturing activities, as well as structure their lives engine and fi nd an Internet reference to help you answer technology, writing substrates (clay, stone, or communally to achieve more comfort- the question. Correctly cite your parchment) reflect the raw materials and able, more predictable, and safer lives. source(s). mechanical abilities of a particular society. Much knowledge of ancient cultures comes Development of Oral Communication to us via secondhand parchment copies of Oral communication allowed humans to papyrus scrolls, made by monks during the communicate feelings, thoughts, concepts, Middle Ages. Most original papyrus texts techniques, and procedures. It brings forth no longer exist, as they deteriorated in the the question of whether thought as we moist Mediterranean climate, while many conceive of it today was even possible before of the copies on parchment (which is made humans developed the capacity to express from animal skins) survived. Contemporary it in words, or whether the expression of translations, therefore, are based on cop- thoughts, hopes, and fantasies become pos- ies that are assumed to be fairly accurate sible because humans developed the means reproductions of the original texts. of expression through refined speech. The earliest evidence of agriculture occurs Prehistoric Societies in the Nile River valley in Egypt, the Tigris Trying to imagine human existence and Euphrates River valleys in Mesopotamia, prior to oral and written communication is and the Yangtze River valley in China. Since difficult. Scientists debate when the ability the first civilizations developed in these

P ALEOLII Aboriginal rock Venus of Hand axe Sharpened Namibian cave engravings Willendorf stone tools paintings URL: http:// 30,000 BCE 29,000 BCE 28,000 BCE 27,000 BCE 26,000 BCE 25,000 BCE 24,000 BCE 23,000 BCE 22,000 BCE 21,000 BCE 21,000 BCE

URL: http://

Date visited:

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BACTRI A

Caspian Adriatic Sea Sea Black Sea HURRIAnS Rome Bosporus ARmEnIAnS PARTHIAnS ETRUSCAnS THRACE KASSITES Constantinople Herculaneum mACEDOnIA Pompeii Troy HITTITE Tyrrhenian Aegean Tepe Gawra Sea Corfu Sea (Istanbul) EmPIRE Khorsabad GREECEGREECE Nineveh Mycenae Sardis mEDES (PERSIAnS) Delphi mITAnnI Nimrud Carthage Ionian Thebes Ashur LYDIA Euphrates T Corinth Catal i Sicily Sea R g iv r Hüyük e i s Olympia Athens IOnIA r Tell R ELAm Sparta AKKAD ive Halicarnassus Kish r Rhodes PHOEnICIA Babylon Nippur Knossos Cyprus mInOAn Byblos mmESOPOTAmIAESOPOTAmIA Susa Mediterranean Sea Phaistos Crete Sidon Tyre Jordan River SUmER Lagash Persepolis Cyrene Uruk Larsa PALESTInE Jericho Ur Jerusalem Tanis G a z a Persian Canopus JUDEA Alexandria S Gulf SO Giza H Y K Memphis

EGYPT Mount Sinai

Hermopolis Red Sea N ARABIA

i

l Tell el Amarna

e R

i v e r Thebes Luxor Karnak

1.2 Early language centers and writing are areas, it may be safe to assume that a hos- ments and gathering food, they could devote believed to have evolved in areas surrounding pitable climate and agricultural knowledge more time refining their living conditions.Red the Mediterranean Sea, from Greece to were two of the most significant contribut- Anthropologists believe that the domesti-Sea Mesopotamia.

ing factors to the development of human cation of animals was a strong factor in the 1.3 Timeline illustrating the development civilization. Because humans no longer spent development of human societies. Nomadic period of prehistoric tool making, cave the majority of their time battling the ele- tribes used domesticated animals to help painting, and agriculture from 30,000 BCE to 9000 BCE. Gulf of Aden

P P A A L L E E O O L L I I T T H H I I C C m Em S E O S L O I L T I H T I H C I C Aboriginal rock VenusAboriginal of rockHandVenus axe of HandSharpened axe Sharpened namibian cave namibian cave Venus of Wild grainsVenus of Wild grains Bison cave paintings, Bison cave paintings, Cave paintings, Cavemammoth paintings, spear Indianmammoth animal spear Indian animal Bison Clay cord vases,Bison BeginningClay cord vases, Beginning engravings Willendorfengravings Willendorf stone tools stone tools paintings paintings Lespugue gatheredLespugue gathered Altamira, Spain Altamira, Spain Lascaux, France Lascaux,thrower France cave paintingsthrower cave paintings hunted Japan huntedagricultureJapan agriculture 19,000 BCE 19,000 BCE 18,000 BCE 18,000 BCE 17,000 BCE 17,000 BCE 16,000 BCE 16,000 BCE 15,000 BCE 15,000 BCE 1,000 BCE 1,000 BCE 13,000 BCE 13,000 BCE 1,000 BCE 1,000 BCE 11,000 BCE 11,000 BCE 10,000 BCE 10,000 BCE 9000 BCE 9000 BCE 30,000 BCE 30,000 BCE 9,000 BCE 9,000 BCE 8,000 BCE 8,000 BCE 7,000 BCE 7,000 BCE 6,000 BCE 6,000 BCE 5,000 BCE 5,000 BCE ,000 BCE ,000 BCE 3,000 BCE 3,000 BCE ,000 BCE ,000 BCE 1,000 BCE 1,000 BCE 0,000 BCE 0,000 BCE Domestication Domestication of dogs & goats of dogs & goats

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them more easily transport food and shelter Puzzling Evidence resources. In both nomadic and agrarian societies, domesticated animals could be Archeologists have long held that written slaughtered as necessary for sustenance. language was first developed in Mesopotamia, With the basic necessities of life attended where cuneiform tablets date from 3200 BCE. to, humans turned their attention to refining New evidence emerging from China, however, raises a new question of who may have been tools, maintaining the political organiza- first to their thoughts. tion of the tribe, perfecting healing arts, Tortoise shells etched with symbols have defending against predators and pondering been excavated from the Jiahu site in Henan the stars, skies, nature, and spiritual ide- province in central China. The shells found 1.4 Simple pictographs are somewhat als. When information was communicated appear to be part of a funerary ritual in representative in appearance. At top is by word of mouth, certain people were Neolithic graves that have been dated to a pictograph for an ox, and below is the entrusted with the “memory” of the tribe. 7000–5800 BCE. If the incised symbols can pictograph for mountains. They were chosen by the tribe’s elders to be taken as a written language, they will pre- memorize the myths, legends, and genealo- date what was previously the earliest known gies of the community. Sacred knowledge written language in China by more than three and techniques of healing were passed thousand years, and the written language of down orally as well. Mnemonics, the use of Mesopotamia by more than two thousand reminder devices used to help recall large years. The tortoise shells, some stone tools, and amounts of information, were developed by several bone musical instruments have been these ritual specialists and historians. Often incised with up to sixteen different symbols relieved of the menial tasks of fulfilling and geometric shapes either identical or very the basic day-to-day needs of the tribe, such similar to the jiaguwen pictographs used in the individuals were invested with social power second millennium BCE and found at the Yinxu and political status in the community. archeological site, generally accepted as The tribal historians and other specialists evidence of the first written language of China. often had the exclusive power to choose their Some archeologists point to the great successors, deciding to whom they would pass similarity of the symbols and their artifactual the knowledge of the tribe for the next gen- context between the Jiahu and Yinxu sites eration. This prestigious position required and argue that the Jiahu symbols were part great accuracy in the recall and telling of of early attempts at an organized information important information, so many years were system. Others hold that the symbols are isolated devoted to training and memorization. Most geometric decorations, and although they 1.5 Cylinder seals were rolled into wet clay to of these specialists were respected elders show ownership, to indicate the contents of may have had religious significance, they do by the time they assumed the position. containers, and/or to commemorate events not represent an early written language. or for ceremonial purpose. The wet clay Respect for elders in the community was What are your thoughts? At what point could be wrapped over the top of a vessel to unquestioned. Some indigenous peoples would religious or decorative iconography (the prevent tampering. These seals were used in associate the various stages of aging (com- Mesopotamia as early as 1500 BCE. pictorial illustration or set of illustrations rep- monly based on hair color) with status within resenting a subject) begin to be recognized as the tribe. In fact, in some Native American a pictographic written language?

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languages the word for “gray-haired” means approximately 3000 BCE; precursors Fact Find! “knowledgeable” and the term for “white- to the Chinese system of writing date to What other languages can you find that haired” means “close to the knowledge of around 1800 BCE; and Sanskrit is dated to use other ? What the gods.” This linkage between thought and approximately 1500 BCE. The introduction about Greek? Cyrillic? Log word is one example of how language and of writing allowed these cultures to more on to to your favorite search our perceptions of reality are connected. rapidly develop complex sociopolitical engine and find an Internet Since all communication was verbal, it organizations, as it enabled them to reference to help you create was contemporaneous. Before the inven- record codes of law, history, literature, your comparison. Print out the tion of writing, no one could speak directly philosophy, medicine, mathematics, scientific results for discussion. List some to anyone not living at the same time. For discoveries, and religious practices. of your ideas in the space ideas, concepts, and practices to have lasting The single expression of an idea in a visual provided below. Be sure to cite influence, they had to be restated by each form cannot be considered an . For your sources correctly! succeeding generation and could not help instance, the cave paintings in Lascaux, but be influenced and altered by personal France, dating back to somewhere between interpretation, inaccuracies, embellish- 30,000 and 12,000 years ago, communicate ments, and memory lapses. As a result, there the form of animals but do not qualify is a limitation to the accuracy of nonwrit- as pictographic communication. Because ten transmission of information over time. they do not add up to a codified system of Still, today many spoken languages exist standardized symbols, and they are not that have no written form. It may seem used repeatedly in a consistent, standard- logical to use an existing alphabet (Roman, ized manner to represent the same concept Cyrillic, Arabic, etc.) to transcribe them. over a period of time, they are considered But because of broad historical associa- images and not a system of writing. tions among certain societies, political and Repetition of agreed-upon shapes is the economic and cultural features of those essence of a . In order to societies, the languages used in those societ- communicate, the simplified drawings ies, the languages used in those societies and must be recognizable and easily inter- the alphabets used to write those languages, preted by larger numbers of a population. the choice of an existing alphabet to tran- scribe a previously nonwritten language Pictograph-Based Writing Systems may be fraught with political consquences. Early picture writing employed simpli- Ultimately, the written form of a language fied drawings to represent objects. This is must develop out of the culture of the people assumed to be the first step in developing who practice it for it to make total sense. most written languages. Called pictographs (the simplified drawings of objects), these Early Writing Societies drawings may have been introduced into Developed writing systems have been use for a variety of reasons. Some histori- URL: http:// discovered in Sumeria, Egypt, China, and ans assume that writing began with small URL: http:// India. Cuneiform is dated to approximately tags of clay inscribed with pictographs that 3200 BCE; hieroglyphics are dated to were attached to jugs by string intended to Date visited:

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represent the contents of the vessels during alphabets developed in different ancient shipping. Others have speculated that writing cultures in different geographic locations was used to record gifts to the temples, as within a relatively short period of time. people were required to give offerings each Pictographs are appropriate for the repre- year. Another theory posits that writing sentation of people, places, and things but are evolved as a means to indicate ownership; a not efficient for communicating complex and small distinctive mark or series of marks on abstract ideas, emotions, concepts, and actions. an object designated to whom it belonged or Modern examples of pictographs indicate by whom it was crafted. Still others theorize gender-separate restroom facilities, overnight that pictographs developed out of drawing lodging, eating areas, acceptable smoking 1.6 The combination of the as a means to record memorable and nonsmoking environments, and eating top two pictographs, an ox events. Exactly how and why writing systems establishments. Pictographs are vital in com- and mountain range, results were developed is unclear. What is clear, municating simple meaning in the absence in the final ideagraph on the bottom, meaning “wild ox.” however, is that distinct but possibly related of a common language or script. As the

m I n O A n m I n O A n PERSIAn EmPIREPERSIAn EmPIRE EGYPTIAnEGYPTIAn EmPIRES EmPIRESASSYRIAn EmPIRE ASSYRIAn EmPIRE mESOPOTAmIAnmESOPOTAmIAn EmPIRES EmPIRES HEBREW HEBREW ROmAn EmPIRE ROmAn EmPIRE S T S O T n O E n E A G A E G E GREEK EmPIREGREEK EmPIREmEDIEVAL PERIODmEDIEVAL PERIOD nEOLITHICnEOLITHIC ERA ERAB R OB n R Z O E n ZA EG E AI R G O E n I A R G O E nBYZAnTInE A G E EmPIREBYZAnTInE EmPIRE Wall paintings, Wall paintings,mother goddess, Domesticationmother goddess, Sahara caveDomestication paintings DomesticationSahara cave paintings maize Domestication Domesticationmaize of Ziggurat SumeriansDomestication settle of EgyptianZiggurat SumeriansSumerian settle Egyptian Sumerian Phoenician Birth of BirthPhoenician of Birth of Birth of Birth of Birth of Catal Hüyük Catal HüyükCatal Hüyük of cattle Catal Hüyük of cattleof cattle of pigsof cattle grown of pigs camels and llamasgrown at Uruk camelsin mesopotamia and llamas hieroglyphicsat Uruk in mesopotamiacuneiform hieroglyphics cuneiform alphabet Zoroaster Buddhaalphabet Zoroaster Buddha mohammed mohammed

Shellfish and fish Shellfish and fish 500 BCE 500 BCE 000 BCE 1500 BCE 000 BCE 1000 BCE 1500 BCE 500 BCE 1000 BCE 1 CE 500 BCE 500 CE 1 CE 1000 CE 500 CE 1500 CE 1000 CE 000 CE 1500 CE 3000 CE 000 CE 3000 CE 8000 BCE 7500 BCE 8000 BCE 7000 BCE 7500 BCE 6500 BCE 7000 BCE 6000 BCE 6500 BCE 5500 BCE 6000 BCE 5000 BCE 5500 BCE 500 BCE 5000 BCE 000 BCE 500 BCE 3500 BCE 000 BCE 3000 BCE Ts-ang3500 BCE Chieh 3000 BCE Ts-ang Chieh China: paper China: paper gathered by gathered by invents Chinese invents Chinese invented invented coastal people coastal people calligraphy calligraphy Greek alphabet

Egyptian pyramids built Egyptian pyramids built Etruscan art Etruscan art Early Christian art Early medievalEarly Christian art Early medieval Egyptian art Egyptian art Greek art Greek art Byzantine art Byzantine art Roman art Roman art Islamic art Islamic art

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uses for written communication expanded, it was necessary for the written language to express a greater variety of concepts.

From Pictographs to Ideographs Pictograph-based languages evolved into written systems that allowed the representation of abstract thought rather than simply representing objects. As pictographs were assigned meaning that went 1.8 The timeline below beyond a simple visual representation of a shows the expansion of tangible thing, they were transformed into 1.7 Modern pictographs and ideographs literacy, the dissemination a slightly more complicated form of writing communicate simple messages across of knowledge, and the multiple languages and cultures. growth of typographic forms known as an ideograph. An ideograph (or over the centuries.

m I n O A n m I n O A n PERSIAn EmPIREPERSIAn EmPIRE EGYPTIAnEGYPTIAn EmPIRES EmPIRESASSYRIAn EmPIRE ASSYRIAn EmPIRE mESOPOTAmIAnmESOPOTAmIAn EmPIRES EmPIRES HEBREW HEBREW ROmAn EmPIRE ROmAn EmPIRE S T S O T n O E n E A G A E G E GREEK EmPIREGREEK EmPIREmEDIEVAL PERIODmEDIEVAL PERIOD nEOLITHICnEOLITHIC ERA ERAB R OB n R Z O E n ZA EG E AI R G O E n I A R G O E nBYZAnTInE A G E EmPIREBYZAnTInE EmPIRE Wall paintings, Wall paintings,mother goddess, Domesticationmother goddess, Sahara caveDomestication paintings DomesticationSahara cave paintings maize Domestication Domesticationmaize of Ziggurat SumeriansDomestication settle of EgyptianZiggurat SumeriansSumerian settle Egyptian Sumerian Phoenician Birth of BirthPhoenician of Birth of Birth of Birth of Birth of Catal Hüyük Catal HüyükCatal Hüyük of cattle Catal Hüyük of cattleof cattle of pigsof cattle grown of pigs camels and llamasgrown at Uruk camelsin mesopotamia and llamas hieroglyphicsat Uruk in mesopotamiacuneiform hieroglyphics cuneiform alphabet Zoroaster Buddhaalphabet Zoroaster Buddha mohammed mohammed

Shellfish and fish Shellfish and fish 500 BCE 500 BCE 000 BCE 1500 BCE 000 BCE 1000 BCE 1500 BCE 500 BCE 1000 BCE 1 CE 500 BCE 500 CE 1 CE 1000 CE 500 CE 1500 CE 1000 CE 000 CE 1500 CE 3000 CE 000 CE 3000 CE 8000 BCE 7500 BCE 8000 BCE 7000 BCE 7500 BCE 6500 BCE 7000 BCE 6000 BCE 6500 BCE 5500 BCE 6000 BCE 5000 BCE 5500 BCE 500 BCE 5000 BCE 000 BCE 500 BCE 3500 BCE 000 BCE 3000 BCE Ts-ang3500 BCE Chieh 3000 BCE Ts-ang Chieh China: paper China: paper gathered by gathered by invents Chinese invents Chinese invented invented coastal people coastal people calligraphy calligraphy Greek Greek alphabet alphabet

Egyptian pyramids built Egyptian pyramids built Etruscan art Etruscan art Early Christian art Early medievalEarly Christian art Early medieval Egyptian art Egyptian art Greek art Greek art Byzantine art Byzantine art Roman art Roman art Islamic art Islamic art

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) is the combination of two or more of which no longer exist. South Central + = pictographs intended to represent a concept— includes the Arabic language in nearly all for example, the pictographs of a woman and of its dialects, as well as Maltese, which is hand friend a child may combine to represent the idea an offshoot of Arabic. South Peripheral of “pregnant” even though it does not show a includes South Arabic dialects and Amharic, literal interpretation of a pregnant woman. as well as other Ethiopian languages. + = Ideographs, in other words, are picto- woman broom wife graphs that come to mean something other Sumerian Cuneiform than their original intent. For example, The Sumerian culture arose in the pictograph of “hand” changed to Mesopotamia in the region between the + = an ideograph when it is combined with Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, known as the

man bow & arrow enemy other symbols to convey the concepts “fertile crescent” (present-day Iraq). The of “to give,” “to greet,” “to offer,” or “to soil in this area is rich and productive, but take”—actions or concepts associated with much of the surrounding land is limited in the hand in some way. Ideographs mark its ability to sustain agriculture. The land + = boat bow & arrow attack the true beginning of a written language. has low-lying hills surrounding it to the There is an element of abstraction to north that act as a natural barrier prevent- ideographs, so they may not be instantly ing attack from that direction. The regular understood when seen. They often require supply of freshwater from the two rivers + = interpretation and translation. Each cul- enabled the culture to grow its own food and water fire camp on shore ture developed a specific set of ideographs become a sedentary, agricultural society. that reflected it spiritual beliefs and its Eventually the Sumerians developed political, economic, and social structure. written forms of communication. At first + = every character represented one word, but home food storage of food The Semitic Languages many words lacked unique symbols. For The Semitic languages comprise the these, symbols of related objects were used 1.9 Ideographs combine pictographs to languages in the Middle East, an area (a foot could mean both “to go” and “to communicate more complex concepts and messages. today that includes the countries of stand,” in addition to meaning “foot”). Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Abundant clay from local riverbeds Cyprus, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, served many purposes, among them mak- Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, United ing writing tablets. The clay tablets could Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. be inscribed with a while still moist, Semitic languages fall into four groups. then laid in the sun to dry. As both the North Peripheral includes Akkadian, which stylus and the tablet-making processes was spoken in Assyria and Babylonia and developed, the style and form of the writ- which is the oldest Semitic language. It ten messages changed in appearance. By stopped being used as a literary language in 3100 BCE a codified system of pictographic the first century CE. North Central includes symbols called cuneiform, existed. Hebrew (the language of Israel today); By approximately 2500 BCE scribes had Aramaic; and Ugaritic and Phoenician, both shifted from using a pointed stylus to draw

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in the clay tablet to using a triangular stylus pressed into the clay, the hallmark of cunei- Fact Find! What are examples form writing. Characters had evolved into of , other than combinations of wedge-shaped strokes, fur- numerals, used today? Can ther abstracting the symbols composing the you fi nd a modern defi nition or written language. In its early stages cunei- interpretation? Log on to to your form was written from top to bottom. During favorite search engine and fi nd the third millennium BCE this changed into an Internet reference to help you writing from left to right, and also the signs answer the question. Be sure to changed: they were turned on their sides. cite your source(s) correctly! Cuneiform writing developed into a mixture of logograms and syllables. A logogram is a sign that represents an entire word and syllables repre- sent certain sounds. Cuneiform writ- ing mixed these two symbol types. Eventually the Sumerians were con- 1.10 Old Akkadian pictographs of ancient quered by the Assyrians from northern Babylonia, from the time of King Sargon, Mesopotamia. The Assyrians were quick to predate the wedge-shaped cuneiform writing. adopt cuneiform as a practical writing system. Cuneiform writing has been used in several languages, and was in use for about 3000 years. When Aramaic spread as the pre- dominant language in the seventh and sixth centuries BCE, its alphabet (derived from Phoenician script) gradually replacing cunei- form writing. The last example of cuneiform writing dates to 75 CE. Western scholars deci- phered the cuneiform systems in the 1840s. Early cuneiform employed , though later these symbols came to be used as phonograms. Phonograms are signs that rep- resent sounds—either whole words, syllables, or phonemes (a language’s distinctive sounds). A logogram or logograph is a single writ- URL: http:// ten symbol that represents an entire word URL: http:// or phrase. For example, the symbol 8 is 1.11 The wedge-shaped characters of a logogram that is pronounced “eight” in URL: http:// cuneiform are stacked in vertical rows. English. Compared to alphabetical systems, Date visited: logograms have the disadvantage that a large

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Meaning Pictograph Sideways Cuneiform Assyrian

orchard

to walk

star 1.12 Pictographs were transformed into , script hand, hieratic script, goose and demotic script, shown right. sun/day

plowing

fish

ox

boomerang

number of them are needed to be able to of this writing are limited as the Minoan write down a large number of words. An culture is believed to have been decimated advantage is that one does not need to know by a tidal wave caused by a volcanic erup- the language of the writer to understand tion on a neighboring island. Among arti- them—everyone understands what 1 means, facts found in archeological excavations whether they call it one, eins, uno, or ichi. of the ancient city of Phaistos that include 1.13 Drawings of the Phaistos Disk Cuneiform required deciphering for the Minoan alphabet is a clay disk with exemplify the use of early pictographs. The understanding to come about; they could symbols spiraling to or from the center. Phaistos Disk has not yet been deciphered not be intuitively identified and so immedi- Found in 1908 at the ruins of the and translated into a modern language. ately impart understanding to the reader. Minoan palace, the Phaistos Disk is dated to approximately 1700 BCE. The text is Minoan Writing made up of sixty-one words, with forty-five A significant piece of evidence alluding different symbols occurring a total of 241 to early writing outside of Mesopotamia is times. The symbols portray recognizable found on the island of Crete and is attrib- objects such as human figures and body uted to the Minoans (a culture named after parts, animals, weapons, and plants. their ruler, King Minos). The remains

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undeciphered today. Among them is Vinca or Old European, found on many artifacts excavated from archeological sites in south- east Europe, especially near Belgrade. These samples date between 6000 and 4500 BCE. The Indus script, named for the val- What Is a Rebus? ley in India where it was found, dates A rebus is a series of to approximately 3500 BCE. Sometimes pictographs of short words referred to as Harappa script, little is combined to have the reader known about the language or the people verbally sound out longer words who utilized it. Some think it may be or phrases; it is a mode of a form of a Dravidian Language. expressing words and phrases A script that first appeared around by pictures of objects whose name resembles those words, or 2900 BCE in the kingdom of Elam in the syllables from which they are southwest Persia (modern Iran) is named composed. An example might Proto-Elamite and has yet to be deci- include the combination of phered. So does a script used between moon + light = moonlight, or 2250 and 2220 BCE called Old Elamite. eye + ball = eyeball. Linear A is a script used between 1800 and The invention of the rebus 1.14 Ancient clay tablet inscribed with cuneiform. 1450 BCE on the island of Crete. Although allowed the creation of complex it has not been proven, historians believe words. that Linear A may be related to writing, which has been deciphered. Some scholars think the text is a prayer The Etruscan alphabet has been deci- and the language is Greek. Another theory phered, but the Etruscan language remains also suggests that the language of the poorly understood. It is assumed to have disk is Greek, but claims that it contains developed from the Greek alphabet when proof of a geometric theorem. Others the Greeks colonized southern Italy, start- A combination of the feel that the disk contains a magical text, ing in the middle of the sixth century BCE. pictographs of the sea and the possibly a curse, and that the language of Meroitic is an extinct language that was sun results in a rebus meaning the disk in Indo-European. Finally, some spoken in the Nile Valley and northern “season.” The phoenetic sound of believe that this alphabet may provide a Sudan until the fourth century, CE. Although each word combine to sound out link between ancient hieroglyphics and the has been deciphered, little a new word (season) with new ancient Phoenician. The debate continues. is known about the language it represented. meaning (the natural division of Rongo Rong is a script represent- temperate zones, sometimes Written Languages Remain ing the Polynesian language Rapa Nui, marked astrologically). Undeciphered spoken on Easter Island. Knowledge Like the script on the Phaistos Disk, a of the script was lost during the 1860s number of writing systems have been dis- and has yet to be rediscovered. covered but remain partially or completely

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The Voynich Manuscript, named for Object Pictograph Script Hieratic Demotic Wilfred M. Voynich, the antique-book hand script script dealer who acquired it in 1912, is a lavishly illustrated, 234-page codex written in an unknown script. Numerous attempts have been made to decipher the text to no avail. One theory that survives is that the manuscript was written by the Franciscan friar Roger Bacon sometime during the thirteenth century.

Egyptian Hieroglyphics Egyptian pictographic hieroglyphics (a writing system that used pictographs to rep- resent words and sounds) are believed to have originated around 3000 BCE. Magnificent examples of hieroglyphs found in ’s tombs date to approximately 2900 BCE. The highly detailed carved stone tablets 1.16 Pictographs were transformed into hieroplyphs, script hand, hieratic script, and demotic script. required much patience to produce and this level of effort is not seen in everyday writ- ten records from . The hiero- sound could be represented by a variety of symbols glyphs popularly used for historical, legal, depending upon the scribe’s geographic location and business records consisted of simplified or education. Over three hundred symbols had to symbol systems to speed the writing process. be known in order to “read” the story or message. Hieroglyphics commonly run in verti- The Egyptians never simplified the system to the 1.15 The fluid appearance cal columns, read from top to bottom but twenty-four consonant sounds needed to represent of these hieroglyphs was not always starting with the far right the utterances of their spoken language. produced with a reed brush column. All the people and animals face Hieroglyphics evolved into a system of communica- on papyrus. the same direction in any given passage. To tion that was constructed in a rebus-like fashion. This read hieroglyphics, read into or toward transition to the use of the rebus device marks the the front of the human or animal sym- beginning of a phonetic relationship between the bols. The vertical columns are separated spoken word for an object and the objects they repre- by thin rules and delineated by one or two sent; there is a detachment from the physical object of colored horizontal rules across the top the pictograph. A rebus must be deciphered, unlike and bottom of the adjoining columns. pictographs, which need only to be identified. In hieroglyphics the same phonetic Further embellishments to the manner in which a (spelling that corresponds to pronunciation) pictograph was written could add significant meaning to a word or name. For instance, Egyptian were believed to be direct descendents of the gods. Their

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Object Pictograph Hieroglyph Script Hieratic Demotic have often been reserved for the chosen few: hand script script the elite, the scholars, the ruler, and the priests who controlled the religious rituals and early forms of taxation. Those who could read were pursued for advice in all types of disputes and emergencies; their knowledge and judgment were highly respected. In many cultures the scribes—those who could write—were believed to hold power over Papyrus human life; if an Egyptian scribe wrote Papyrus is a paper-like your name in the , it meant material made from the papyrus 1.17 In this example the Egyptian hieroglyphics are organized that your time in this world had expired. bulrush that grew wild along the into vertical columns divided by column rules. Each column banks of the Nile River. Papyrus was read in the direction faced by the symbols. Although ordinary people could use demotic script, the average working per- is made by soaking the bamboo- son did not have access to the education like plant in water, then stripping the inner fibers. These fibers are names were written in hieroglyphs enclosed required to interpret or write the infor- beaten flat and then aligned in a with the ankh to signify immortality. mation using the system. Doubtless the parallel fashion. A second layer scribes did little to remedy this situation, of flat fiber strips is placed cross- 1.16 Pictographs were transformed into hieroplyphs, script hand, hieratic Hieratic Script as it helped to perpetuate the class system script, and demotic script. wise to the first. Layered with Pictorial hieroglyphics became more and ensure their necessity in society. cloth, the fibers are placed under simplified with the invention of papyrus and The transition away from hiero- great pressure to dry. Individual reed brushes. By 1500 BCE a calligraphic glyphics was gradual, eventually giving pieces of papyrus, measuring style known as hieratic script (meaning way to demotic script, and ultimately approximately 9 x 15 inches are “priestly writing”) began to appear. Hieratic there was no one left who was able to joined to create scrolls up to 30 script was used for religious literature read the ancient Egyptian writing. feet in length. exclusively for a time, until its gradual When papyrus became a com- adaptation for commerce and business uses. Ancient Writing Systems Evolve mon writing substrate in about It is characterized and influenced by the A majority of scholars agree that by 2400 BCE, a reed brush was found to be the perfect writing development of the as a writing 1500 BCE ancient Phoenicia had estab- tool. The pictographs took on a tool, so the characters are more abstract and lished a phonetically based alphabet fluid, sinuous, graceful appear- simplified than previous forms of lettering. consisting of twenty-two characters. This ance when drawn using a brush. ancient is believed Corners became rounded as the Demotic Script to be the basis of the Greek and Roman speed of the scribe increased; Around 500 BCE the hieratic script alphabets, and hence of the alphabet used often several hieroglyphics were eventually evolved into demotic script, in much of the Western world today. constructed from one continuous, (demotic means “of the people”). This Phoenicia was considered the gateway flowing stroke. writing style is visually simplified even to the Middle Eastern lands and all the more compared to hieratic script. goods and foods its people produced. Throughout history, the dissemination of The Phoenicians were a seafaring and knowledge and the ability to read and write merchant people located at the crossroads

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Exercise Objectives life house water woman plant man Upon completion of this exercise, readers will be able to: • Understand the to see/vision knife distant lands lake/body of water hand water snake challenges associated with assigning meaning to images and constructing a system

of visual communication fronds basket cloth mouth tied ground snake

• Identify and discuss some characteristics of pictographic writing

• Outline design decisions vessel courtyard foot horizon hill to support in the combining of images intended to communicate to someone other than themselves

• Explore the possibility of seat tree fire servant vulture reed/writing multiple interpretations of pictographs within different communication contexts

beetle/change to cry to seek or find swallow arm/to give owl/watchful

sun sun’s rays or energy animal halter bread lamp/torch to walk or to go

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Hieroglyph Writing Exercise

Traditionally, hieroglyphs are stacked vertically, with all char- acters facing the same direction (either left or right). Combine life house water woman plant man a number of symbols to create a short story or message. Write your English interpretation along with the hieroglyphic story for later reference in the space to see/vision knife distant lands lake/body of water hand water snake allotted. Copy only your hieroglyphic message onto a blank sheet of paper and exchange messages with another student. Determine fronds basket cloth mouth tied ground snake if each of you can decipher the story as written. Make a note of the difficulties you encounter during your process of interpret- ing the unfamiliar message.

vessel courtyard foot horizon hill to support

seat tree fire servant vulture reed/writing

beetle/change to cry to seek or find swallow arm/to give owl/watchful

sun sun’s rays or energy animal halter bread lamp/torch to walk or to go

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What topic(s) would you like to have written about had you known a greater quantity of symbols?

Was the resulting story interesting and creative or relatively limited and straightforward? Why?

Compare your experience with this exercise and what you imagine to be that of a young person learning to write for the first time. What about learning to pronounce and write a foreign language? What are the similarities between these situations?

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of international trade. The Phoenician language was in use along the coast of Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, as well as in Phoenician colonies all around the Mediterranean Sea, as far west as northern Morocco. The Phoenician language was very close to Hebrew and Moabite. The oldest archeological traces of Phoenician 1.18 Ancient Phoenician characters inscribed date back to eleventh century BCE. on a piece of the interior of a bowl. Because of their diverse trade and travel, the culture of the Phoenicians was influ- enced by many other peoples who lived around the Mediterranean Sea, including the Writing Compared to Greeks, Minoans, Etruscans, and Sumerians. Plowing The Lebanese, Maltese, Libyans, and even some Somalis, along with certain other island For a while, Greek writing read from right to left on the first line, folk in the Mediterranean, still consider then reversed and read from themselves descendants of Phoenicians. left to right on the following line, The Phoenician alphabet was developed and so forth, across the page around 1200 BCE from an earlier Semitic in a snake-like fashion, flipping prototype. The alphabet was a unique asymmetrical letters. This approach to writing. Oral speech was broken structure was named down into a series of sounds and a written “boustrephedon” and comes from symbol was assigned to each sound, freeing the Greek words meaning “as the written communications from the literal ox plows the field.” Although visual translations originally used in other is it eventually that think may you written languages. This simplified the num- just as easy to read backwards, ber of symbols required to write and read still is it practice, some with the message. With fewer symbols to memo- difficult to read text when you have to constantly flip the letters rize, learning to read and write became a to discern them. less arduous task. Literacy spread among the general population. The Phoenician alpha- bet also was used to transcribe other oral languages into written versions, making early 1.19 Comparing the form of translation and cross-cultural communication Phoenician characters, on possible. The Phoenician alphabet and lan- the left, with early Greek guage spread quickly in the region as a result. characters, on the right, From this alphabet the Greek alpha- reveals the resemblance between the two. bet, which forms the basis of all European alphabets, was derived. The alphabets of

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the Middle East and India are also thought to derive indirectly from the Phoenician alphabet. Ironically, the Phoenicians themselves are largely silent on their own history—Phoenician writing has largely perished, since their characteristic writing material was papyrus and has disintegrated. What we know of them comes from their neighbors, the Greeks and the Hebrews. By approximately 800 BCE the use of the Phoenician alphabet had spread to ancient Greece. To write the alphabet the Greeks used an ivory or metal stylus to inscribe wax tablets. The Greeks simply borrowed the original twenty-two characters and adapted them for their own needs. Five consonants 1.21 The Rosetta Stone is believed to have been carved were changed to vowels to account for the around 200 BCE. The same inscription is written in three different alphabets. sounds in the Greek language that had no Phoenician equivalent. The first vowels were alpha, epsilon, iota, omicron, and upsilon. own) as far as Egypt, Mesopotamia, and The Greeks introduced three new conso- India. When Alexander died, his generals nants which were appended to the end of the parceled out the lands of his empire, creat- alphabet in the order in which they were ing smaller kingdoms. Despite the resulting developed. There were several variants of the lack of unification, the effects of the com- Greek alphabet, most important were west- mon language and writing system prevailed.

1.20 Hieroglyphs used in ern (Chalcidian) and eastern (Ionic) Greek; ancient Egypt to depict the former gave rise to the Etruscan alpha- Recovering Ancient Egyptian the seasons, from top to bet and the latter to the Roman alphabet. Hieroglyphics bottom: akhet—winter, a As demotic became more widespread, time of sowing; pert— spring, a time of growing; The Rise of Ancient Greece understanding of hieroglyphics faded shemu—summer, a time of The year 500 BCE is considered the away, and ultimately there was no one left inundation. peak of arts and learning during the who was able to read the ancient Egyptian Golden Age of Greece, approximately three writing. A large portion of the hieroglyphic hundred years after the adoption of the texts were difficult to decipher because Phoenician alphabet. With the expan- of their religious nature, since the names sion of the Greek Empire under the rule of the gods were no longer recognized. of Alexander the Great (from 356 to 323 Until the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, BCE) Greek culture spread. The growth of hieroglyphics had not been completely or the Hellenistic culture caused the spread correctly deciphered. The Rosetta Stone held of the Greek alphabet (precursor to our the key to translating and understanding

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Chapter One Review

ancient hieroglyphics. The stone was Circle one answer for each definition to indicate the unearthed by Napoleon’s men in 1799 correct key concept term for each. When necessary, when they invaded Egypt. This elaborately determine whether the phrase provided is true or false. inscribed stone displays one message in three different forms: , Egyptian 1. The year 5100 BCE is considered the peak of arts and hieroglyphics, and demotic script. Using learning during the Golden Age of Greece, aproximately the ancient Greek inscription as a map, three hundred years after the adoption of the Phoenician archeologist Jean-François Champollion alphabet. decoded the order and sounds of the a. True hieroglyphs in 1822. Champollion also posed b. False theories, later proved correct, about the 2. Pictures and/or pictographs assembled in an order structure of the demotic script on the Rosetta so as to represent the syllables in a word or words, from Stone. The discovery and transcription which meaning can be deciphered. of the writing led to the deciphering a. Hieroglyphic of other hieroglyphic inscriptions. b. Demotic script c. Cuneiform d. Rebus

3. Anthropologists believe that the domestication of animals was a strong factor in the development of human societies. a. True b. False

4. To sound or utter any of the abstract units of the phonetic system of a language that correspond to a set of similar speech sounds. a. Phoneme b. Semitic languages c. Ideograph d. Syllable

5. Tortoise shells etched with symbols have been excavated from the Jiahu site in Henan province in central China. The shells found appear to be part of a funerary ritual in Neolithic graves that have been dated to approximately 12,000–7800 BCE. a. True b. False

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6. Pictorial material relating to or illustrating a subject 12. An Egyptian script that lasted for about 1000 or the traditional or conventional images or symbols years following hieratic script, and belongs to the last associated with a subject and especially a religious or period of ancient Egyptian history. This script was legendary subject; the imagery or symbolism of a work of used for business and literary purposes. It has a cursive art, an artist, or a body of art. form, signs are more flowing and joined, and the signs a. Iconography themselves are more similar to one another, making it b. Pictograph slightly more difficult to read. c. Mnemonics a. Hieratic script d. Hieroglyphic b. Semitic languages c. Demotic script 7. The Assyrians were quick to adopt cuneiform as a d. Cuneiform practical writing system. Cuneiform writing has been used in several languages, and was in use for about 3000 13. Most original parchment texts no longer exist, as they years. deteriorated in the moist Mediterranean climate, while a. True many of the copies on papyrus survived. b. False a. True b. False 8. The pith of a plant cut in strips and pressed into a paper-like substrate or material to write on. 14. A symbol that is used to wholly communicate a a. Parchment simple message without words, such as in traffic signs and b. Rosetta Stone restroom door signage. This may be used as a signature, c. Papyrus otherwise known as a distinctive mark indicating identity, d. Cartouche such as a corporate logo. a. Hieroglyphic 9. Repetition of agreed-upon shapes is the essence of a b. Pictograph writing system. c. Mnemonic a. True d. Rebus b. False 15. Some historians assume that writing began with 10. A character or symbol used to represent a word, small tags of parchment inscribed with pictographs that syllable, or phoneme. were attached to jugs by string intended to represent the a. Phonogram contents of the vessels during shipping. b. Ideograph a. True c. Rebus b. False d. Parchment

11. Today many spoken languages exist that have no written form. a. True b. False

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16. The oval band symbolizing continuity encloses 21. Around 500 BCE the hieratic script eventually hieroglyphs of a god’s or pharaoh’s name into one evolved into demotic script (demotic means “of the visual entity. people”). This writing style is visually complicated a. Phonogram. compared to hieratic script. b. Cartouche a. True c. Rebus b. False d. Ideograph 22. Representing speech sounds by means of symbols that 17. With the expansion of the Greek Empire under the have one value only; of or relating to spoken language or rule of Frederick the Great (from 356 to 323 BCE), Greek speech sounds. culture spread. a. Phonogram a. True b. Pictograph b. False c. Phonetic d. Ideograph 18. A sign or character that represents and idea or concept, often comprised of two or more pictographs. 23. Found in 1908 at the ruins of the Minoan palace, a. Pictograph the Phaistos Disk is dated to approximately 3700 BCE. b. Cartouche The text is made up of fifty-one words, with eighty-five c. Ideograph different symbols occurring a total of twenty-four times. d. Syllable a. True b. False 19. The Semitic languages comprise the languages in the Far East, an area today that includes the countries of 24. A black basalt stone found in 1799 that bears an Syria, Lebanon, Israel, China, Palestine, Jordan, Cyprus, inscription in hieroglyphics, demotic characters, and Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Greek and is celebrated for having given the first clue to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Yemen. the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphics. a. True a. Hieratic script b. False b. Semitic languages c. Demotic script 20. A name used to designate a group of Asiatic and d. Rosetta Stone African languages, namely: Hebrew and Phoenician, Aramaic, Assyrian, Arabic, Ethiopic (Geez and Ampharic). 25. Hieroglyphics commonly run in horizontal rows, a. Hieratic script read from right to left. All the people and animals face b. Semitic languages the left in any given passage. c. Demotic script a. True d. Hieroglyphic b. False

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26. Of or relating to a time early in history, or to those 31. A writing system developed in ancient Egypt that living in such a period or time; especially of or relating used pictographs to represent words and sounds. to the historical period beginning with the earliest a. Hieroglyphic known civilizations and extending to the fall of the b. Pictograph western Roman Empire in 476 CE. c. Mnemonic a. Phonetic d. Parchment b. Boustrephedon c. Rosetta Stone 32. The style, arrangement, and appearance of typeset d. Ancient matter; typography is sometimes seen as encompassing many separate fields from the type designer who creates 27. A written language of characters formed by the letterforms to the graphic designer who selects typefaces arrangement of small wedge-shaped elements and used in and arranges them on the page. ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and a. Hieratic script Persian writing. b. Logogram a. Cuneiform c. Demotic script b. Hieratic script d. Typography c. Demotic script d. Hieroglyphic 33. A device, such as a formula, verse, or rhyme, used as an aid in remembering; a technique of improving 28. Because of their diverse trade and travel, the culture the memory. of the Phoenicians was influenced by many other peoples a. Mnemonic who lived around the Mediterranean Sea, including the b. Cartouche Greeks, Minoans, Etruscans, and Sumerians. c. Rebus a. True d. Ideograph b. False 34. The smallest conceivable expression or unit of 29. Writing with alternating lines in opposite directions; speech; a unit of spoken language that is next bigger than one line is written from left to write, then the next line a speech sound and consists of one or more vowel sounds is reversed (mirrored) and written from right to left. alone or of a syllabic consonant alone or of either with The Greeks called this Phoenician method of writing in one or more consonant sounds preceding or following. alternating directions a word which means “like the ox a. Ideograph plows a field.” b. Pictograph a. Hieratic script c. Syllable b. Boustrephedon d. Logogram c. Demotic script d. Typography 35. Greek culture spread. The growth of the Hellenistic culture caused the spread of the Greek alphabet 30. Before the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, (precursor to our own) as far as Egypt, Mesopotamia, hieroglyphics had been completely and correctly and India. deciphered. a. True a. True b. False b. False

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