Overview

Writing, the ability to make language visible and permanent, is one of humanity's greatest inventions. This book presents current perspectives on the origins and development of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt, providing an overview of each writing system and its uses. Essays on writing in China and Mesoamerica complete coverage of the four pristine writing systems - inventions of writing in which there was no previous exposure to texts. The authors explore what writing is, and is not, and sections of the text are devoted to Anatolian hieroglyphs of Anatolia, and to the development of the alphabet in the Sinai Peninsula in the second millennium BC and its spread to Phoenicia where it spawned the Greek and Latin alphabets. This richly illustrated volume, issued in conjunction with an exhibit at the Oriental Institute, provides a current perspective on, and appreciation of, an invention that changed the course of history.

Full Product Details

Author:   Christopher Woods
Publisher:   Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
Imprint:   Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures
Volume:   32
Dimensions:   Width: 22.90cm , Height: 1.50cm , Length: 28.70cm
Weight:   0.870kg
ISBN:  

9781885923769

ISBN 10:   1885923767
Pages:   240
Publication Date:   15 October 2010
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Visible Language: The Earliest Writing Systems, Christopher Woods Iconography of Protoliterate Seals, Oya Topcuoglu The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing, Christopher Woods Adaptation of Cuneiform to Write Akkadian, Andrea R. Seri The Rise and Fall of Cuneiform Script in Hittite Anatolia, Theo van den Hout The Conception and Development of the Egyptian Writing System, Elise V. MacArthur The Earliest Egyptian Writing, Andreas Stauder Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing, Janet H. Johnson Hieratic, Kathryn E. Bandy Demotic, Janet H. Johnson Ptolemaic Hieroglyphs, Francois Gaudard Coptic, T. G. Wilfong Invention and Development of the Alphabet, Joseph Lam The Beginnings of Writing in China, Edward L. Shaughnessy The Development of Maya Writing, Joel Palka Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing, Ilya Yakubovich

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