p186 Because of this, printing methods were never really successful in China, despite their early invention. The black are in traditional Chinese, and the red are in simplified Chinese.Ĭhinese has a huge number of characters: in the region of 50,000. Ancient Greek is well understood, and made possible the interpretation of the other two scripts. This is a granite slab with the same message written in hieroglyphic, demotic and in Greek. The key event in the decipherment of hieroglyphic writing was the discovery of the Rosetta Stone. Many survive, some with the original colours intact. The hieroglyphs were inscribed (carved) into stone ( hammer & chisel) or painted onto stone surfaces. If the material was cloth, then the writing was done by a brush. The two cursive scripts were written with reed pens and carbon inks onto papyrus. The writing tools used varied according to the material which was written on. Demotic: a cursive script used by the people. Hieratic: a cursive ('running') script used by the priests. Hieroglyphic: the famous pictorial language on stone monuments. Egyptians ended up with three writing systems for the same language. It was invented at roughly the same time as cuneiform, yet was quite different in style, and used different materials. This is the most famous of the old forms of writing, or scripts. Hieroglyphs on stone Ramses II statue behind Documents (including stone objects) written in more than one language provided the clues. p71 Each version of cuneiform had to be deciphered separately, because all the languages were different. Thus the system had lasted for more than 3000 years. The last cuneiform inscription was dated as AD75. It was then used by other civilisations in the Middle East, such as the OldĪkkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Elamite, Hittite, Old Persian and Ugaritic empires. This writing system was extremely successful, and outlasted the Sumerian empire. The earliest signs were mostly pictorial, but soon they stood as symbols for objects, ideas and sounds. We know that its first uses were for trade, accounting and administration. Then they were carried somewhere else for others to read. After the clay had dried in the sun the tablets were baked. Triangular marks were pressed into soft clay tablets. The Sumerians developed a form of writing called cuneiform. 5000 years ago this was a fertile region and is now mostly in Iraq. The Sumerians lived in Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is from Tushratta, King of the Mitanni, to the pharaoh Amenhotep III More and more, however, text is created by input on a computer keyboard. Writing is traditionally done using a hand tool such as a pencil, a pen, or a brush. The later invention of paper by the Chinese was a big step forward. The Romans wrote on waxed tablets with a pointed stylus this was popular for temporary notes and messages. Clay, papyrus, wood, slate and parchment (prepared animal skins) have all been used. Many writing materials were invented, long before paper. Television and movie screens can also display writing, and so can computer screens. Writing today is usually on paper, though there are ways to print on almost any surface. Writing dates from about 3,300 BC, which is over 5000 years ago, in the Middle East. It was invented after people settled in towns, and after agriculture started. Writing is one of the greatest inventions of the human species. We can read writing from long ago, and from different parts of the world. Writing differs from speech because the readers need not be present at the time. To be able to read and write is to be literate. Usually, all educated people in a country use the same writing system to record the same language. These are not called writing, but may help the message work. The symbols must be known to others, so that the text may be read.Ī text may also use other visual systems, such as illustrations and decorations. Writing is the act of recording language on a visual medium using a set of symbols.
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