1. Ancient Writing

2. Pre-requisites for Civilization
Agriculture developed in the Fertile Crescent around bce
Mining and use of copper around 6000 bce
Growth of villages and towns
Division of labor
Smelting of tin and copper to make bronze around 3000 bce > Bronze Age

3. Invention of Writing
Writing developed on the basis of earlier existing pictographs and ideographs-- pictures began to be used to denote syllables of sound, not meaning alone
Modern humans began drawing pictures 40,000 years ago (San in SW Africa, Australian Aborigines, Cro-Magnon in southwest Europe).
True writing is thought to have been invented independently at least twice and perhaps three times in different places and times in human history:
in ancient Sumeria by 3200 bce -- where cuneiform developed
in ancient Mexico by the Olmecs before 400 bce--the precursor to the Maya glyphs (used 200—1500 ce)
Writing may have been invented a third time independently: in North China by 1200 bce - -the precursor of modern Chinese characters

4. Stimulus Diffusion
After the Sumerians, the idea of writing seems to have diffused to many peoples of Southwest Asia and Egypt.
The Egyptians, the Cretans, the Elamites, and the Indus Valley peoples developed writing.
Clay inscriptions dating back as far a 2500 bce have been found in these areas.  As yet none of the inscriptions from Crete or the Indus Valley have been deciphered.
It is virtually certain that these peoples borrowed the idea of writing syllables of sound by using pictures.

5. THE FERTILE CRESCENT

6. Divine Invention
In Mesopotamia, the Sumerians credit either the god Enlil or Ningizzida, Lord of the Tree of Truth, as the creator of writing.
Later during Assyrian, and Babylonian periods, the god Nabu was credited as the inventor of writing and scribe of the gods.
Mesopotamian scribal gods also exhibit the power of creation via divine speech.
In Mesopotamia, among the Sumerians the god Enlil was the creator of writing. Later during Assyrian, and Babylonian periods, the god Nabu was credited as the inventor of writing and scribe of the gods. And similar to Thoth, Mesopotamian scribal gods also exhibit the power of creation via divine speech.
Enki' youngest son was Ningizzida, Lord of the Tree of Truth, in Mesopotamia. He was revered as Thoth in Egypt and Hermes in the West. Thoth is the ancient Egyptian Scribe. As Hermes who is the Magician - the Alchemist. The ancient Mystery School Teachings of Thoth were past down to his Initiates who became the priests. They hid the secret knowledge of creation - and passed it down through the ages. This knowledge of creation is now called Sacred Geometry. It shows reality as a grid program - not unlike the movie matrix - in which we project our consciousness in rder to experperience 2 things - emotions and linear time- for in truth there is no time.
Nabu - Is the Babylonian god of writing and wisdom. He is the son of Marduk and Sarpanitum. He is the grandson of Ea. His patron city is Borsippa and his temple is called E-zida. He was known as the scribe and minister of Marduk. He is the Babylonian patron of scribes. He was entrusted with the Tablets of Destiny.

7. Divine Invention Egypt and Phoenicia
In ancient Egypt, the invention of writing is attributed to the god Thoth or Tehuti (Dhwty in Egyptian), the scribe and historian of the gods, who also kept the calendar and invented art and science.
Taautos of Byblos, the Phoenician precursor of Thoth, was the father of tautology or imitation.
The Greeks associated both gods with their god, Hermes
Among many ancient societies, writing held a extremely special and important roll. Often writing is so revered that myths and deities were drawn up to explain its divine origin.
In ancient Egypt, for example, the invention of writing is attributed to the god Thoth or Tehuti (Dhwty in Egyptian), who was not only the scribe and historian of the gods but also kept the calendar and invented art and science. In some Egyptian myths, Thoth is also portrayed as the creator of speech and possessing the power to transform speech into material objects. This ties in closely with the Egyptian belief that in order for a person to achieve immortality his or her name must be spoken or inscribed somewhere forever.
Taautos of Byblos or Thoth came from Byblos, Phoenicia, ca. 2,000 BC. According to the Egyptians, language is attributed to Taautos4 who was the father of tautology or imitation. He invented the first written characters two thousand years BC or earlier.�� He played his flute to the chief deity of Byblos, the moon-goddess Ba'alat Nikkal. Taautos was called Thoth by the Greeks and Djehuti by the Egyptians. The mythology of Taautos is echoed in the god Dionysus, or Njörth the snake priest who was the consort to the moon-goddess.  The snake priest was also represented by the symbol of a pillar, a wand or a caduceus.  The Greeks equated Thoth with the widely-traveled Hermes.  According to Egyptian tradition, Osiris traveled the world with Thoth. Asklepios a.k.a. as Eshmun is responsible for carrying on the teachings of Taautos on snake priesthood. Under the protective umbrella of Hindu culture, snake charmers playing their nasal punji echo the same tradition. In the early ages of Christianity, some monks, such as Pachomius was a Serapic Priest before he became a Christian. Similarly, Ormus is said to have been a Seraphic priest before being converted by Saint Mark. Some believe that he fused those Mysteries with Christianity and establishing a school of Solomonic Wisdom.

8. Mesopotamian Writing
At first, the Sumerians used stone and clay tokens, which represented various goods and numerical values, to keep track of their mercantile dealings.
Around 3200 B.C. these tokens were replaced by markings made on clay tablets and written language was born.
The first cuneiform writings consisted of pictograms, drawings of the items represented.
Shortly thereafter ideograms, or abstract symbols, were also used.
The increasing complexity of transactions, provoked by the volume of exchanges, was at the origin of the invention of means of recording. At the end of the IVth millenium BC. Appeared the first document written on clay tablets. These are accounting documents on which the figures are shown by notches, and the goods by pictograms. This tablet also mentions the names of Uruk and Dilmun, the present island of Bahrain.
Tablet of pre-cuneiform script South Mesopotamia Uruk III, end of 4th millenium BC. Clay (?sun-baked clay) Louvre

9. Cuneiform Clay Tablet, ca. 1900 bce.
Cuneiform recorded all important activities, from the sale of land to marriage and adoption contracts.
By the middle of the third millennium bce, the Sumerian written language was developed enough to record oral epic poetry, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh

10. Student Practice Tablet
Literacy was a highly valued skill
Sumerians set up first institutions of formal education: edubba
Education included writing and mathematics
Tuition paid for education
Educated were privileged elite: government officials, scribes, etc.

11. Deciphering Cuneiform
Knowledge of cuneiform was lost until AD 1835, when Henry Rawlinson, an English army officer, found some inscriptions on a cliff (shown above) at Behistun in Persia. Carved in the reign of King Darius of Persia ( BC), they consisted of identical texts in three languages: Old Persian, Babylonian and Elamite. After translating the Persian, Rawlinson began to decipher the others. By 1851 he could read 200 Babylonian signs.
1835: Henry Rawlinson, an English army officer, found some inscriptions on a cliff at Behistun in Persia. Carved in the reign of King Darius of Persia ( BC), they consisted of identical texts in three languages: Old Persian, Babylonian and Elamite.

12. ...a flood will sweep over the cult centers; To destroy the seed of mankind... Is the decision, the word of the assembly of the gods. By the word commanded by An and Enlil All the windstorms, exceedingly powerful, attacked as one, At the same time, the flood sweeps over the cult centers After, for seven days and seven nights, The flood had swept over the land, And the huge boat had been tossed about by the windstorms on the great waters, Utu came forth, who sheds light on heaven and earth, Ziusudra opened a window on the huge boat, The hero Utu brought his rays into the giant boat.
Nippur Flood Tablet
The Sumerian flood story is preserved on a six-columned tablet from Nippur (B 10637), only the lower third of which is preserved. The complete original would probably have had 260 lines. The tablet can be dated by its script to the late 17th century BC. The story inscribed on the tablet deals with the creation of humans and animals, the antediluvian cities and their rulers, and the flood.
The tablet can be dated by its script to the late 17th century BC. University of Pennsylvania

13. Here are the first 4 lines of cuneiform:
1) en-he-du-an-na En-he-du-ana, 2) MUNUS.NUNUZ.ZI zirru priestess 3) dam-nanna wife of the god Nanna, 4) dumu daughter
The inscription continues:
5) sarru-GI of Sargon, 6) [ lugal] [king] of 7) KIS the world (Kish), 8) e-INANNA.ZA.ZA in the temple of the goddess 9) uri.KI-ma-ka Inanna- ZA.ZA in Ur, 10) bara-si-ga made a socle and 11) bi-e-du 12) bara bansur-an-na named it: 'dais, table of 13) mu-se bi-sa the god An'.
Enheduanna, Priestess and Poet, the world’s first known writer: Enheduanna’s Inscription

14. Were Egyptians the first scribes?
The earliest writing ever seen may have been discovered in southern Egypt. The hieroglyphics record linen and oil deliveries made over 5,000 years ago.
The exact date of Sumerian writing remains in doubt but the new Egyptian discoveries have been confidently dated to between 3300 BC and 3200 BC using carbon isotopes
It was thought that Sumerians were earlier in writing than Egypt," said Gunter Dreyer, director of the German Archaeological Institute in Egypt.
"With our findings, we now see it's on the same level and this is an open question: was writing invented here or there?"
It was possible that Sumerians who traded with Egypt copied their inscriptions, Dr Dreyer said. "But we have to wait for further evidence," he warned, saying publication of his results would appear in early 1999.
Momentous find
Archaeological experts hailed the find as momentous. "This would be one of the greatest discoveries in the history of writing and ancient Egyptian culture," said Kent Weeks, Professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo.
Describing Mr Dreyer as a "very meticulous scholar," Professor Weeks said the German archaeologist would not have disclosed his findings without being "absolutely certain."
The writings are line drawings of animals, plants and mountains and came mainly from the tomb of a king called Scorpion in a cemetery at Abydos, about 400 km (250 miles) south of Cairo.
"Mountain of Darkness": King Scorpion's plantationSince 1985, Mr Dreyer and his team have unearthed about 300 pieces of written material on clay tablets barely bigger than postage stamps.
Clay jars and vases also display the documentary records of linen and oil delivered to King Scorpion I as taxes. Two-thirds of the hieroglyphics have been deciphered, including short notes, numbers, lists of kings' names and names of institutions.
The newly discovered Egyptian writings also show that the society then was far more developed than previously thought, Dreyer said.
He said man's first writings were not a creative outpouring but the result of economics: when chieftains expanded their areas of control they needed to keep a record of taxes. Although the Egyptian writings are made up of symbols, they can be called true writing because each symbol stands for a consonant and makes up syllables.

15. EARLY DYNASTIC PERIOD Dynasties 1 & 2: ca. 3100-2700 bce
The culmination of the formative stage of the Ancient Egyptian civilization that began centuries before during the Prehistory
Goal to gain stable, superior status in Mid-East
Establishment of divine kingship as Egypt's form of government
Writing evolved from a few simple signs to a complex system of several hundreds of signs with both phonetic and ideographic values.
Craftsmen increased their skills and experimented with the use of more durable materials.
Structures built in brick, wood and reeds were copied in stone, giving birth to the typical Ancient Egyptian architecture.
The Early Dynastic Period is a period of some 500 years or more at the beginning of what is conventionally considered as the history of Ancient Egypt. It was the formative stage of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation, or rather the culmination of the formative stage that began centuries before during the Prehistory. It was during this period that the divine kingship became well established as Egypt's form of government, and with it, an entire culture that would remain virtually unchanged for the next 3000 or more years. Writing evolved from a few simple signs used to denote quantities of substances and their provenance, to a complex system of several hundreds of signs with both phonetic and ideographic values. Craftsmen increased their skills and experimented with the use of more durable materials. Structures built in brick, wood and reeds were copied in stone, giving birth to the typical Ancient Egyptian architecture.
Another very important change that marks the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period is the rise of urbanism. Inhabitants of small settlements throughout the country abandoned their homes and moved to larger communities and cities. Several key factors, that could vary from region to region, have influenced this process of urbanisation: The need for security may have caused people to seek protection within the safety of fortified walls. It facilitated central control of the population by the state. Some relocations may thus have been forced by the government. The process of urbanisation appears to have started earlier in societies with a stronger hierarchical structure. Changes in the natural environment. This has apparently been the case at Hierakonpolis, one of the most important cities in late Predynastic Egypt. Society was evolving beyond its mere agricultural needs and required specialised craftsmen, traders and other skilled personnel. The ruling elite needed these people not only to be close at hand, but also to work and thus live together. Demographic changes, such as a growth in population, may have caused smaller settlements to extend and merge into one larger community.

16. Palermo Stone
A dark stone containing information from the early dynasties.
It is inscribed on both sides with a list of kings from Pre-Dynastic Egypt to the middle of the 5th Dynasty.
The exact creation date is not known, the earliest possible date being the middle of the 5th Dynasty.
The Egyptian Hieroglyphs is among the old writing system in the world. Unlike its contemporary cuneiform Sumerian, though, its origin was not economical, but rather religious and historical. The earliest examples are small clusters of signs that represented names of kings and regions.
A fragment of diorite or another dark stone containing information from the early dynasties. The largest piece of the stone is now on display at Palermo, hence its name. A second piece is in the Cairo Museum and an even smaller section is in the University College of London. The original is believed to have been approximately 2.2 meters long, meters high and 6.5 cm thick. It is inscribed on both sides with a list of kings from Pre-Dynastic Egypt to the middle of the 5th Dynasty. From the 4th Dynasty on, the list also contains the foundations and offerings made by the kings. It is thus highly valuable in the study of the foundation of Ancient Egypt. The exact creation date is not known, the earliest possible date being the middle of the 5th Dynasty.

17. Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Hieroglyphs were called by the Egyptians "the words of God" and were used mainly by the priests.
The painstakingly drawn symbols decorated the walls of temples
Hieratic script was used for conducting day to day business
Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can be read from left to right or from right to left. The direction in which the text is to be read is indicated by the human or animal figures which always face towards the beginning of the line.
The upper symbols are read before the lower.
The script was developed about four thousand years before Christ and there was also a decimal system of numeration up to a million. Unlike other cultures the early picture forms were never discarded or simplified probably because they are so very lovely to look at. Hieroglyphs were called by the Egyptians "the words of God" and were used mainly by the priests. These painstakingly drawn symbols were great for decorating the walls of temples but for conducting day to day business there was another script, known as hieratic This was a handwriting in which the picture signs were abbreviated to the point of abstraction
Hieroglyphs are written in rows or columns and can be read from left to right or from right to left. You can distinguish the direction in which the text is to be read because the human or animal figures always face towards the beginning of the line. Also the upper symbols are read before lower.

18. History of Hieroglyphs
30th century BCE: The hieroglyphic system is developed.
500 BCE: A slow revolution of hieroglyphic writing starts, as new signs are introduced. The number of available signs in the system grows over the centuries from around 700 to several thousands.
394 CE: The date of the last case of hieroglyphic writing.
1799: The Rosetta Stone is discovered, which contained the same text in two languages (Egyptian and Greek), and in three writing system (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek).
1822: The French scientist Jean-Francoise Champollion completes the decipherment of the hieroglyphs.
History of Hieroglyphs
Provenance: The original stele was made of black basalt.  It was discovered by Napoleon's army at Rashid on the Nile delta in 1798. 
The Rosetta stone is the surviving part of a great basalt monument or stela bearing an inscription dated to the 9th year (196 B.C.) of Ptolemy V Epiphanes ( B.C.).  The decree, voted by the priests of Egypt at Memphis, is repeated in two languages-- Egyptian (in both hieroglyphic and demotic scripts) and Greek--and records the good deeds of Ptolemy and the honours proposed for the twelve year old King.  Copies of the decree were to have been erected in many of the temples of Egypt.  The Stone was discovered by Napoleon's army in 1799 at Râshid (called Rosetta by Europeans) on the Nile Delta.  Through the Rosetta Stone and other similar bilingual inscriptions scholars were able to decipher the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt.  The Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt, of whom Cleopatra was the last (died 30 B.C.), were of Macedonian origin, whose language was Greek.
Rosetta Stone, 196 bce

19. History of Hieratic Script
Around 2750 BCE: First examples of hieratic script.
Around 2000 BCE: Writing direction changes from vertical to horizontal read from right to left
Around 600 BCE: Demotic script replaces hieratic script for use with secular writing. Hieratic continued to be used for religious texts.
Around 100 CE: Last examples of hieratic script.
Writing system used in Egypt, that is developed from the hieroglyphic system. The word "hieratic" comes from Greek denoting "priestly", since this type of writing was used only for sacred texts in the last 1000 years of its existence. Hieratic script was used in carved or painted inscriptions, normally written in ink with a reed pen on papyrus. Heriatic script lasted for about 3200 years, but was through the last 1000 years challenged by demotic script. In general, hieratic script was more important in Ancient Egypt than hieroglyphs — hieratic script was taught in school, while hieroglyphs were only understood by a small minority in the society.
FORM & STRUCTURE Hieratic script was in the first phases written vertically, but this changed to horizontal writing with a direction only from right to left. Hieratic script never had any instances of writing from left to right, which sometimes occurred with hieroglyphs. Hieratic script's development from hieroglyphs was so that the signs were altered in order to make them quicker to write. Generally, the pictures of the hieroglyphs were lost in hieratic script. One or two signs could be written in one stroke. There were also diacritical additions so that near identical signs to be distinguished.

20. Hieratic Script Developed from the hieroglyphic system.
Hieratic comes from Greek denoting "priestly", since it was used only for sacred texts in the last 1000 years of its existence.
Hieratic script was used in carved or painted inscriptions, normally written in ink with a reed pen on papyrus.
Hieratic script lasted for about 3200 years, but was through the last 1000 years challenged by demotic script.
Hieratic script was taught in school, while hieroglyphs were only understood by a small minority of priests in the society.

21. History of Demotic Script
660 bce: First known example of demotic script.
5th century bce: Demotic script is in use all over Egypt.
Beginning 4th century ce: Demotic script is starting to be replaced by Greek writing.
425 ce: Last known example of demotic script.
Demotic was the most abbreviated and cursive script that was developed by the ancient Egyptians. Demotic became the script for everyday use from the middle of the eighth century BC until the middle of the fourth century AD. The term "demotic" comes from the Greek word for people, or popular. Demotic apparently developed in Lower Egypt during the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty. The oldest demotic document, which dates to the twenty-first year of the reign of Psammetik the First (about 643 BC), comes from Faiyum. Demotic basically developed from hieratic, and like hieratic, was always written from right to left. Most demotic texts were written in ink using a reed brush on papyrus or ostraca, which are shards of pottery. In addition to these materials, demotic was also written on wood or linen or carved in stone or metal. It was used for religious and magical texts, scribal training texts, letters, and legal and business documents.

22. Demotic Script
Demotic script lasted for about 1000 years, during the last period of ancient Egyptian history.
The term "demotic" comes from the Greek word for people, or popular.
Demotic script was used for business and literary purposes, while hieratic was used for religious texts.
Demotic was the most abbreviated and cursive script developed by the ancient Egyptians
Most demotic texts were written in ink on papyrus. It was also written on wood or linen or carved in stone or metal.

23. Who were the Phoenicians?
Phoenicians, Canaanites & Punic/ Carthaginians are the same people: Eastern Canaanites were called Phoenicians by the Greeks & Western Canaanites were called Punic by the Romans.
The Phoenicians called themselves Canaanites, and they were the descendants of two groups, the early Canaanites who inhabited the coast of Lebanon, and the Sea People who invaded Lebanon about l200 bce.
Economic opportunity and population pressures led them into the Mediterranean Sea where they became great traders and colonizers
The Phoenician alphabetic script of 22 letters was used at Byblos as early as the 15th century bce
Who were the Phoenicians?

24. Phoenicia
Phoenicia is a term which was applied by classical authors to the city-states northern Lebanon from 1200 BC onwards.
Their main cities were Tyre, Sidon and Byblos on the coast of Lebanon
The Greek word from which 'Phoenicia' derived meant 'purple', and was a translation of the name 'Canaan'
Canaan which may have had some linguistic connection with the purple dye produced from local murex shellfish for which the region was famous .

25. Phoenicia

26. The Sea Peoples
The Phoenicians were the best seafarers and ship builders of the ancient world.
The famous Lebanese cedar trees covering the slopes of mountains of their native land was a perfect material for construction of strong seaworthy ships.
The Phoenicians are credited with the division of a circle into 360 degrees and having reliable celestial reference points.
The earliest evidence for Phoenician ships comes from an Egyptian tomb relief of around 1400 BC at Thebes which shows Phoenician ships unloading in an Egyptian port.
The best seafarers and ship builders of the ancient world were the Phoenicians. The famous Lebanese cedar tress covering the slopes of mountains of their native land was a perfect material for construction of strong seaworthy ships. The Phoenicians made important contributions to the marine science, having been credited with the division of a circle into 360 degrees and having reliable celestial reference points.
The destruction of the Minoan civilization around 1400 BC and the decline of the Egyptian empire left the Mediterranean open to newcomers, especially to the Phoenicians and to the emerging Greek kingdoms. The Phoenicians had been at sea for some time before the Greeks and were already well established and experienced sailors. The Phoenicians were traders rather than warriors whereas the Greeks were concerned with territorial expansion and therefore used sea power as an instrument of conquest. These different priorities naturally affected the types of boats favoured by the two emerging maritime powers. However the area now known as the Levant had been a meeting place for warring races for millennia. It should not be surprising, therefore, that the ships used by the Phoenicians incorporated features drawn from variety of sources.
The earliest evidence for Phoenician ships comes from an Egyptian relief of around 1400 BC at the tomb of Kenamon at Thebes which shows Phoenician ships unloading in an Egyptian port. The vessels have much in common with contemporary Egyptian ships, especially in the mast, rigging, sickle shaped hull and straight rising stem and stern posts, and deck beams projecting through the hull just below the sheerstrake. In these respects they are comparable with the general appearance of the ships of Queen Hatshepsut but they differ from Egyptian ships in three significant details. Firstly the hulls are shorter than the equivalent Egyptian ships and were therefore probably more seaworthy. Secondly there is a wicker fence along the sheerstrake to protect the deck cargo, a feature which is described by Homer in his account of the building of Odysseus' ship on Calypso's island but does not appear in Egyptian ship iconography. Thirdly the ships on the tomb of Kenamon do not have a visible hogging truss which implies that the method of construction was mechanically more sound than that of Hatshepsut's ships and may have included a proper keel.

27. Cedars of Lebanon: Egyptian connection
As far as back as 3200 B.C., the people of Gebeil (Byblos) were cutting down cedar trees in the mountains of Lebanon, to be shipped to Egypt and Mesopotamia for use in building ships and making columns for houses.
The Phoenicians brought back gold, copper, and turquoise from the Nile Valley and Sinai.
Canaanite ceramic pieces have been found in Egyptian tombs dating back to 2999 B.C.
Legend has it that an Egyptian pharaoh hired a band of Phoenicians to map and circumnavigate the coast of Africa.

28. Phoenician Writing
The 1st inscription reads: "Wall built by Abibaal, king of Byblos, for Baalat-Gebel, his lady. May Baalat-Gebel prolong the days of Abibaal and his years over Byblos."
The 3rd inscription reads: "Wall built by Shipitbaal, king of Byblos, son of Elibaal, king of Byblos, for Baalat-Gebel, his lady. [May] Baalat-Gebel prolong the days of Shipitbaal and his years over Byblos." [The red line indicates the presumed location for `Shipitbaal'.]
"Wall built by Abibaal, king of Byblos, for Baalat-Gebel, his lady. May Baalat-Gebel prolong the days of Abibaal and his years over Byblos."
The 2nd inscription reads:
"Statue which Elibaal, king of Byblos, son of Yehimilk, [king of Byblos], made [for] Baalat-Gebel, his lady. May Baalat-[Gebel] prolong [the days of] Elibaal and his years over [Byblos]."[The red line indicates the presumed location for `Elibaal'.]
The 3rd inscription reads:
"Wall built by Shipitbaal, king of Byblos, son of Elibaal, king of Byblos, for Baalat-Gebel, his lady. [May] Baalat-Gebel prolong the days of Shipitbaal and his years over Byblos." [The red line indicates the presumed location for `Shipitbaal'.]

29. Phoenician alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet consisted of twenty-two symbols, all consonants. Each one represented its own sound.
The Egyptian symbol for the ox head was given the Semitic name aleph and was sounded as "a."
The Phoenician alphabet was used to form the other alphabets which followed it. Aleph became the Greek alpha, Beth became beta. In time, these letters became the Latin letters A and B, etc.
The written language inscribed on papyrus, a type of paper made of reeds.
So, closely linked with papyrus with the city of Byblos (which traded cedar for the paper) that when the writing of the Hebrew prophets were translated into Greek the city's name was given to the great book- Biblia: the Bible.

30. Phoenician alphabet

32. Cadmus’s gift to the Greeks
“The Phoenicians who came with Cadmus … introduced into Greece, after their settlement in the country, a number of accomplishments, of which the most important was writing, an art till then, I think, unknown to the Greeks. At first they used the same characters as all the other Phoenicians, but as time went on, and they changed their language, they also changed the shape of their letters. At that period most of the Greeks in the neighborhood were Ionians; they were taught these letters by the Phoenicians and adopted them, with a few alterations, for their own use, continuing to refer to them as the Phoenician characters - as was only right, as the Phoenicians had introduced them. “
Herodotus, The Histories

33. Writing in China
The origins of Chinese writing are obscure and debated. 
Some believe that the principle was borrowed through the trade routes from Sumeria to China--which would be an example of stimulus diffusion.   
Many believe that the ancient Chinese hit upon the writing principle completely independently. 
The earliest known form of true writing in China dates from the Shang dynasty, 1200 bce-1045 bce, dates considerably later than for Sumerian writing.  But it is entirely possible that pictographic signs had begun to be used as sound symbols in China long before that. 
Ancient pictograms and ideograms came to be used to denote syllables of sound rather than to depict concepts. 
The origins of Chinese writing are obscure and debated.  Some people believe that the rebus principle was borrowed through the trade routes from Sumeria to China--which would be an example of stimulus diffusion.  There is no direct evidence for this, although there was contact through western China.  Many believe that the ancient Chinese hit upon the writing principle completely independently.  The earliest known form of true writing in China dates from the Shang dynasty, 1200BC-1045BC, dates considerably later than for Sumerian writing.  But it is entirely possible that pictographic signs had begun to be used as sound symbols in China long before that.  Just as in Sumeria, ancient pictograms and ideograms came to be used to denote syllables of sound rather than to depict concepts.  In the case of homonymous syllables, the sound alone was represented and the iconographic aspect of the picture became irrelevant: (Give example from the handout: Picture of wheat lug= to come lug). 
            When signs lost the requirement of resembling what they represented, they gradually became stylized and lost much of their pictographic iconicity. This process took thousands of years.  (See handout on Chinese.)  The earliest, Shang Dynasty examples of true writing, still looked like pictures.  Some of the symbols even preserved an iconic resemblance to their meaning up to the present day.  (compare the Chinese words for child--haize mouth--kou1, eye--mu4, one, two.  But the shape of most symbols no longer physically resembled their meaning.  (See handout)
            Due to the gradual evolution of picture to writing, the correspondence between symbol and sound the earliest syllabaries did not represent sound in a purely regular, predictable way.  They showed a highly irregular relationshiip between sound and symbol.  The meaning of a syllable, as well as its sound, was often a factor in how the syllable was written . This is still true of modern Chinese

34. Shang Dynasty 16th-11th c. bce
The Shang, rather than the Xia, is considered by most to be the first true dynasty of China. Like the Xia, the Shang were originally considered to be a myth. They were discovered because Chinese phamacists were selling oracle bones the Shang had created; the parmacists sold the bones as dragon bones. The bones were first noticed in 1899 and by the 1920's were traced to Anyang, where the last Shang capital was found and excavated. Excavations were halted in 1937, when Japan attacked China. In the 1950's an earlier Shang capital was found near present day Zhengzhou. Traditional Chinese history indicates that the Shang Dynasty consisted of 30 kings and seven different, successive, capitals. The Zhou, the dynasty that followed the Shang, are responsible for the recordings of the kings and capitals of the Shang Dynasty.
The center of the Shang capitals had the ruler's palace. Surrounding this were houses of artisans. These houses were rectangular, using a post and beam construction and were built on stamped earth platforms. Subterranean pithouses were located near the capital, which may have been used for storage and service quarters. The Shang people had bronze weapons, bronze fittings for chariots and harnesses, and bronze vessels connected with worship. Everyday vessels were of earthenware, rather than bronze, because metals were scarce in China. The earthenware of this time was almost porcelain, only missing the glaze that would have made it porcelain Despite being agriculturalists, the Shang had rather primitive implements. They did not use ploughs, favoring hoes instead, and most of the implements were made of wood and stone. They grew grains such as millet and some wheat, which were harvested with sickles. The Shang had a unique form of descent. Rather than passing from father to son, the Shang form of descent passed from the eldest brother to the youngest brother.
The Shang king had considerable power over his subjects. Public works were built that required many people. The capital at Zhengzhou, for example, had a wall of stamped earth around it that was four miles long and up to 27 feet high in areas. Stamped earth walls were made by pounding thin layers of earth within a movable wooden frame. The earth then becomes as hard as cement.

35. Shang Dynasty Central Yellow River Valley
Oldest examples of Chinese writing
Hunters and farmers
Brilliant bronze culture
casting of intricate ritual vessels
tools
Cities
Cheng Chow (16th c. bc)
Anyang (C bc)
A brilliant bronze culture was created during the Shang Dynasty, which deserves to be called the zenith of China's Bronze Age. Bronze casting became the country's foremost handicraft industry. Diverse forms of composite-mold casting were in wide use, and numerous finely crafted and intricately shaped bronze objects were produced. Most of them were ritual vessels and weapons, but bronze tools were also used in farming, though the number was small. Agriculture was still the principal productive occupation, so much so that the term zhongren (literally "the masses") generally meant the peasantry in those days. Dark green glazed pottery made of kaolin dating from the Shang possessed the basic characteristics of porcelain. Some bronze vessels of the Shang had traces of silk fabrics on their surface, including plain-woven fabrics of spun silk and damask with lozenge design, suggesting that the Shang people already had an apparatus similar to the jacquard loom. Among other crafts of this period, lacquer painting was widely used and practiced, and carved and engraved works were vivid in design and exquisite in workmanship. Commercial activities appeared in the early Shang, and vehicles became important means of transportation. In music, Shang musicians already had concepts of semitones and standard tones, the introduction of semitone intervals paving the way for the invention of the twelve-tone temperament. The characters in the oraclebone inscriptions of the Shang were akin to Han characters in their basic structure, and may be regarded as a mature form of written language

36. Oracle Bones Oracle bones used for divination.
A question was written on the bone, which was then fired and a T shaped crack was produced to be interpreted; the interpretation was then written on the bone.
After the predicted event occurred, the date of the occurrence was also written on the bone.
Shang Dynasty, 14.8 cm long, 12.5 cm wide; said to have been discovered in Anyang, Henan Province. The inscription on the bone says that a Shang king ordered peasants to farm collectively.
One of the most important technological developments of the Shang was the invention of writing. They are the first group of people from China of which written records are found. The most common place these writings are found is on oracle bones used for divination. The bones used for this purpose originally came from a number of animals, but were eventually done exclusively on turtle shells. A question was written on the bone, which was then fired and a T shaped crack was produced which was interpreted, and the interpretation was then written on the bone. After the predicted event occurred, the date of the occurrence was also written on the bone. Writing is also found on bronze and stone, but the majority of the records have decayed as they were recorded on bamboo strips. The Shang may also have written on silk.

37. Astronomy and Calendar
Ox bone inscribed with a table of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches
Oracle bone with record of solar eclipse
Shang Dynasty, approximately 12 cm long; unearthed in Anyang, Henan Province. This oracle bone is valuable for studying the astronomy and calendar of the Shang Dynasty
Shang Dynasty, 22.5 cm long and 6.6 cm wide; unearthed from the Yin ruins of Anyang, Henan Province. The calendrical system of Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches originated in the Xia Dynasty, and was inherited by the Shang and Zhou and passed down to modern times. It is the oldest calendrical system in use in the world today

38. Writing in the Americas
The oldest discovered examples of writing in the Americas are a cylinder seal and carved greenstone plaque bearing glyphs dating to ca. 650 bce, uncovered near the Olmec center of La Venta in Tabasco, Mexico.
Key aspects of the Mesoamerican scripts were present in Olmec writing:
the combination of pictographic and glyphic elements to represent speech,
the use of the sacred 260-day calendar,
the connection between writing, the calendar, and kingship
Writing spread from La Venta to other parts of Mesoamerica, where the Maya developed the Olmec prototype into the New World's most sophisticated script
research/meso/PohlPR.html
Olmec Origins of Mesoamerican Writing
Mary E. D. Pohl1*, Kevin O. Pope2, Christopher von Nagy3
A cylinder seal and carved greenstone plaque bearing glyphs dating to ca. 650 B.C. have been uncovered near the Olmec center of La Venta in Tabasco, Mexico. These artifacts, which predate others containing writing, reveal that the key aspects of the Mesoamerican scripts were present in Olmec writing: the combination of pictographic and glyphic elements to represent speech, the use of the sacred 260-day calendar, and the connection between writing, the calendar, and kingship. They imply that Mesoamerican writing originated in the La Venta polity.
1 Department of Anthropology, Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306, USA

39. Olmec ca bce
Olmec, Indian people who established the first major Mesoamerican civilization. They lived along the central coast of the Gulf of Mexico, just west of the Yucatán Peninsula in the swampy jungle river deltas of the present-day Mexican states of Vera Cruz and Tabasco. Over time, they extended their empire west through the central valley. The Olmec flourished between about 1500 and 200 bc. San Lorenzo, their oldest known center, was destroyed around 900 bc. It was replaced by La Venta, a city built in an axial pattern that influenced urban development in Central America for centuries. A mounded earthen pyramid about 30 m (100 ft) high, possibly the first in Mesoamerica, was the center of a complex of temples and plazas

40. Olmecs Established the first major Mesoamerican civilization.
Often regarded as the Mother Culture of later Middle American civilizations,the Olmec people called themselves Xi
First to use stone architecturally and sculpturally
Clever mathematicians and astronomers who made accurate calendars
Highly developed technical skills
magnetic compass
skill with iron ores
complex drainage system
First writing in North America
This large, monolithic stone carving from the Olmec ruin of La Venta has been relocated to Villa Hermosa
Olmec, Indian people who established the first major Mesoamerican civilization. They lived along the central coast of the Gulf of Mexico, just west of the Yucatán Peninsula in the swampy jungle river deltas of the present-day Mexican states of Vera Cruz and Tabasco. Over time, they extended their empire west through the central valley. The Olmec flourished between about 1500 and 200 bc. San Lorenzo, their oldest known center, was destroyed around 900 bc. It was replaced by La Venta, a city built in an axial pattern that influenced urban development in Central America for centuries. A mounded earthen pyramid about 30 m (100 ft) high, possibly the first in Mesoamerica, was the center of a complex of temples and plazas The Olmec were the first to use stone architecturally and sculpturally, even though it had to be quarried in the Tuxtla Mountains, some 97 km (60 mi) to the west of Tula. Their colossal stone heads, about 2.7 m (9 ft) high, can be seen today, along with other Olmec artifacts, in the city of Villahermosa, Mexico. They also developed the first form of writing in Mesoamerica, a numerical system that was later adapted by the Maya. The Olmec civilization established patterns of culture that influenced its successors for centuries to come.

41. OLMEC GLYPH 900-500 BC: Dallas Museum
This plaque records the story of creation.
It shows the World Tree sprouting out of Creation Mountain
OLMEC GLYPH BC: Dallas Museum
About 3,000 years ago, elders and leaders in farming communities of Mesoamerica established a shared vision of their world. These sages of Olmec civilization etched their creed on polished stone artifacts and then rubbed red paint into the patterns. This is a code that could be read by any sage who knew the religion. This plaque reords the story of creation. It shows the World Tree sprouting out of Creation Mountain at the Three-Stone-Place the center of the night sky, the renewed sky, the mountian and the renewed earth, and the Three- Stone-Place the hearth, the place of First Father's rebirth as Maize.

42. Olmec influence on Central-American Civilizations
Art
Religious symbolism
Hieroglyphic writing
Bar and dot numbering system
Calendar
Bloodletting ritual
Ball game

43. MAYANS
Although there was never such a thing as a Maya Empire, the diverse peoples and politico-religious formations that in the past occupied Yucatán and modern day Belize, Chiapas, Guatemala and Honduras, all had common cultural characteristics:
a highly developed calendar
a rich complex writing system, and sophisticated mathematics..
Archeologists and historians recognize several periods in the history of these cultures:
Preclassic bce-100ad
Classic ad
Postclassic 900 ad-1500 ad

45. Mayan Hieroglyphics
The unit of the Maya writing system is the glyphic cartouche, which is equivalent to the words and sentences of a modern language.
Maya cartouches included at least three or four glyphs and as many as fifty.
There is no Maya alphabet.
Writing considered to be a sacred gift from the gods.
Knowledge of reading and writing was jealously guarded by a small elite class, who believed that they alone could interact directly with the gods
The unit of the Maya writing system is the glyphic cartouche, which is equivalent to the words and sentences of a modern language. Maya cartouches included at least three or four glyphs and as many as fifty. Each cartouche contained various glyphs, as well as prefixes and suffixes. There is no Maya alphabet. Maya writing is difficult to interpret for a number of reasons. First, glyphs do not represent just sounds or ideas, they can represent both, making it difficult to know how each glyph or cartouche should be read. In addition, many Maya glyphs can have more than one meaning, and many Maya concepts can be written in more than one way. Numbers, for example, can be written with Maya numerical symbols or with the picture of a god associated with that number, or a combination of the two. Some glyphs represent more than one phonetic sound, while also representing an idea. This means that a single idea can be written in many different ways. For example, the name of the Palenque ruler, Pacal, whose name literally means "Hand-shield", appears sometimes as a picture of a hand-shield, sometimes phonetically as pa-cal-la, and at other times as a combination of picture symbols and phonetics.
The Maya considered writing to be a sacred gift from the gods. Most ancient Maya could not read, because the knowledge of reading and writing was jealously guarded by a small elite class, who believed that they alone could interact directly with the gods and mediate between the gods and the common people

46. Glyphs representing, from left to right:
the sky an ahau (king) a house a child the city of Palenque.
The Maya wrote using 800 individual signs or glyphs, paired in columns that read together from left to right and top to bottom. Maya glyphs represented words or syllables that could be combined to form any word or concept in the Mayan language, including numbers, time periods, royal names, titles, dynastic events, and the names of gods, scribes, sculptors, objects, buildings, places, and food.
The Maya wrote using 800 individual signs or glyphs, paired in columns that read together from left to right and top to bottom. Maya glyphs represented words or syllables that could be combined to form any word or concept in the Mayan language, including numbers, time periods, royal names, titles, dynastic events, and the names of gods, scribes, sculptors, objects, buildings, places, and food. Hieroglyphic inscriptions were either carved in stone and wood on Maya monuments and architecture, or painted on paper, plaster walls and pottery.
Deciphering Maya texts has become easier with the aid of computers, drawings and the knowledge accumulated over a century of scientific investigation. The hieroglyphic writing of the Maya has not been completely deciphered, however, and can still only be interpreted, rather than read. To date nearly 85 percent of known Maya hieroglyphics have been decoded.
The Maya considered writing to be a sacred gift from the gods. Most ancient Maya could not read, because the knowledge of reading and writing was jealously guarded by a small elite class, who believed that they alone could interact directly with the gods and mediate between the gods and the common people.

47. Codices
Maya glyphs were also painted on codices made of either deer hide or bleached fig-tree paper that was then covered with a thin layer of plaster and folded accordion- style.
Recorded rituals, chronologies, myths and important events.
Most were burned by the Spanish during the 16th c.
4 Extant Codices:
Dresden, Madrid, Paris, Grolier

48. Popul Vuh Book of Council Sacred book of Quiche Maya
Lords of the great kingdom of Quiche had a way of seeing what could not be seen with the physical eye.
Their guide was Popul Vuh, a book that could allow the lords to know past and future events.
The book speaks of occurrences before the first sunrise.