1. Invention.Of.Writing

11/29/14

AGD 1222 History of Graphic Design

Topic 1 History of The Invention of Writing

By: Puan Rosyida Mohd Rozlan

Topic 1: History of The Invention of Writing WHEN? - Key Moment/Timeline

• The Invention of Writing based on the development of early existing pictographs and ideographs.

• Writing emerged in many different cultures in numerous locations throughout the ancient world.

1 11/29/14

Cave Painting from Lascaux & other places around the world (15,000-10,000 B.C)

WHEN? - Key Moment/Timeline

• 40,000 B.C: Human began to draw visual/ pictures (pictographs & ideographs) in a form of cave painting or rock carving so called petroglyph.

• 15,000 B.C - 10,000 B.C: The first known visual communication with pictographs and symbols or ideographs was found in the the Lascaux cave in Southern France in a form of cave painting.

• 3,300 B.C - 2,900 B.C: The earliest form of writing found with simple pictographs which in form of Cuneiform by the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia.

2 11/29/14

WHEN? - Key Moment/Timeline

• 2,500 B.C - 100 Century: The Akkadian writing/ letter was the ascendancy of the Akkadian dynasty in 2300 BCE that positioned Akkadian over Sumerian as the primary language of Mesopotamia (Cuneiform)

• 1,100 B.C - 300 Century: The Phonecian writing/ letter an important "trunk" in the alphabet tree, in that many modern scripts can be traced through it. Arabic, Hebrew, Latin, and Greek scripts are all descended from Phoenician (Proto-Sinaitic)

• 1,800 B.C - Present: The Alphabet writing/letter is Alphabetic writing with set of characters displayed nearly 4,000 years of transformation until today.

Timeline of The Invention of Writing System

3 11/29/14

Timeline of The Invention of Writing System

4 11/29/14

Timeline of The Invention of Writing System

5 11/29/14

Sumerians (Left), Akkadians and Phoenician writing

The Alphabet:

6 11/29/14

WHERE? - Regions: Classification according to geographical regions

• Evidence from recent discoveries has proved that writing system was invented in at least four important places; Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus River and China.

• West Asia: Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Yemen, UAE, Cyprus, Lebanon…(Sumerian, Akkadian, Old Persian, Alphabet, Phonecian, Aramaic)

• Africa: Egyptian

• Europe: Greek, Etruscan, Gothic

7 11/29/14

WHERE? - Regions: Classification according to geographical regions

• South Asia: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka (Indus Scripts, Brahmi, Gupta, Bengali, Tamil, Kalinga, Telugu)

• Central Asia: Tibetian, Mongolian

• East Asia: Chinese, Korean, Japanese

• Southeast Asia: Javanese, Tagalog, Burmese, Khmer, Thai

• Americas: Maya, Aztec

West Asia Region

8 11/29/14

South Asia Region

Africa Region

9 11/29/14

Mesopotamia Region

WHO? - The Person/People who developed the writing system

• Cuneiform: The Mesopotamian people (Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, etc…)

• Hieroglyphs: The Egyptian

• The Alphabet: The Phoenician,The Greek, The Roman, etc…

10 11/29/14

WHAT? - The writing system

• A writing system is “a set of visible/tactile signs used to represent units of language in a systematic way” (Blackwell Encyclopedia of writing)

• It is encompasses a vastly stylistic and structural characteristics spanning across the many regions of the globe.

• There are several classification of writing system, depending on the way they represent their underlying languages; Logographic, Logophonetic, Syllabic, Consonantal & Syllabic Alphabetic, Consonant & Vowel Alphabet.

WHAT? - Form of writing system

• Pictograph - a pictorial symbol for a word or phrase. Pictographs were used as the earliest known form of writing, examples having been discovered in Egypt and Mesopotamia from before 3,000 B.C.

• Ideograph - a written character symbolizing the idea of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it

• Cuneiform - denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets

11 11/29/14

WHAT? - Form of writing system

• Hieroglyph - a stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound, as found in ancient Egyptian and other writing systems.

• Alphabet - a set of letters or symbols in a fixed order, used to represent the basic sounds of a language; in particular

WHAT? - The Cuneiform

• Cuneiform: Is in Logophonetic form that uses a tremendous number of signs, to each represent a morpheme (actual linguistic form) and sounds.

• Cuneiform is the writing system used by the Sumerian and found in a form of clay tokens or on stones.

• Symbols and pictures on the clay token were more photographic in nature → representation of natural objects

• The Cuneiform/Sumerian was used continually from 3,500 B.C to the 100 Century, and making it one of the longest used writing system in history.

12 11/29/14

WHAT? - The Cuneiform

• Cuneiform script was used to produce some of the greatest literary in recorded history.

• Form of Cuneiform can be found in many other writing system in the world but mainly in The Sumerians, The Akkadians, and The Phoenecian.

WHAT? - The Sumerians letter/writing

13 11/29/14

WHAT? - The Sumerians letter/writing

WHAT? - The Akkadian letter/writing

14 11/29/14

WHAT? - The Phoenecian letter/writing

15 11/29/14

WHAT? - The Hieroglyph

• 3,000 B.C - 300 Century : Egyptian Hieroglyphs Is an Egyptian picture-writing system that appears with fully developed phonetic system; in a form of phonetics symbols to clarify meaning (express words in visual form or pictorial symbols)

• Egyptian Hieroglyphs: can be found in a form of rock carving/incised relief and on papyrus with some colored application.

16 11/29/14

WHAT? - Sumerian: The Blau Monument

• 3,600 B.C: The Blau Monument (Early Sumerian) Is the oldest artifacts known to combine words and pictures. Etched writing and craved relief are combined.

17 11/29/14

WHAT? - Sumerian: The Law Code of Hammurabi

• 1,800 B.C: The Code of Hammurabi demonstrated the Mesopotamian masterful control and delicacy in their writing and arrangement skill → strokes in the partitioned space.

WHAT? - Hieroglyph: The Book of The Dead

• 1,580 BC – 1,350 BC: The Book of The Dead (Egyptian Hieroglyphs on Papyrus) Hieroglyph on papyrus by the Egyptian was known as the first illustrated manuscript introduced. Words and pictures were combined to communicate information.

18 11/29/14

WHY? - The purpose/ need of writing system

• Writing system was a very useful invention for complex and high-population cultures.

• The invention of writing was the dawn of the information revolution.

• Great technological advance allowed news and ideas to be carried to distant places without having to rely on a messenger's memory.

WHY? - The purpose/ need of writing system

• In ancient Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt, writing system was used as for three main purposes; record keeping, religious purpose and socio-political function.

• Record-keeping: used for commercial transitions or administrative procedures such as calendar.

• Religious purpose: used for education and as a guide on how certain religious ceremonial should be done and to communicate with supernatural world.

• Socio-political function: Reinforcing the power of the ruling and for the record rules - written rules, literature, medicine, history and other subjects.

19 11/29/14

HOW? - The execution/ technical process of the writing system

• Cuneiform on Clay Tokens: The Mesopotamians impressed pictures/ symbols on wet clay surfaces.

• Since clay is a difficult material on which to draw lines and curves, the Mesopotamian people created wedge-shape signs that they press in clay with a reed (plant) stylus.

• In order to keep all the clay tokens securely together, the Mesopotamian created hallow clay container and started putting the multiple clay token into it and sealed it up.

HOW? - The execution/ technical process of the writing system

• The Stylus: is an ancient writing implement, consisting of a small rod with a pointed end for scratching on soft/wet clay, and blunt end for obliterating them.

20 11/29/14

HOW? - The execution/ technical process of the writing system

• Papyrus paper: is type of paper that was made from Papyrus plant which grew along Nile river.

• The Processes: After the rind layer (the stem) was peeled, The Egyptian pressed or hammered the papyrus until they were a single sheet and the glutinous sap of the papyrus stem acted as an adhesive.

• After drying in the sun, sheets were smoothed with an ivory or stone polisher.

HOW? - The Papyrus

21 11/29/14

HOW? - The Egyptian Paint

• Pigments: Yellow and red ochre, malachite (green),lapis lazuli (blue), charcoal, chalk, cinnabar (vermillion red), orpiment (yellow), smalt (blue) made form Malachite (a bright green mineral), Galena (a bluish, gray, or black mineral of metallic appearance, consisting of lead sulfide) & etc…

• Binders: Mostly watercolour paint using spas (spring minerals) and gums from shrubs (small woody plant) like the Acacia tree, beeswax, eggs, sometimes a casein glue made from milk and lime (Calcium oxide)

• Solvent: Water

• Application/tools: Brushes made from reeds, hair and chewed twigs