Chapter 1

Summary:

The origin of man has remained unknown for the species entire existence on Earth. It can be assumed that human originated somewhere in Africa. In this place their bodies changed along with their capacity to learn. They developed speech. Writing, being the direct counterpart of speech can be assumed to follow. The earliest human markings were found in this continent over 200,000 years ago, in the form of paintings upon cave walls. These have been shown to be done with a mixture of pigments and animal fat. This cannot be considered the start of art, although. But rather this was the beginning of written and visual communication necessary for survival. These writings obviously took a great deal of brain-power and memorization to obtain. They were the very dawn of pictographs and also developed a foundation for writing.

The forerunner of writing sparked an intellectual innovation that affected not only the social aspect of life but also the economy, the culture, and technology. It is still unknown how the earliest writing developed. Some intellectuals believe that it evolved because the economy and the temples needed this resource for record-keeping and safe-housing information. Or perhaps it was a tool to identify produce and various other goods. Eventually the pictographs evolved into cuneiform due to the development of a superior stylus. This form of scribing was made into 560 different signs that were difficult to learn and master. Because of this, writing became very important and almost mystical to society. One who knew this coveted art was respected and revered. Writing completely revolutionized knowledge.

As the Mesopotamian civilization came to an end the Egyptians took on a very advanced system of pictographs which eventually became known as hieroglyphics. They used great amount of detail to be very decorative with this form of writing. The Egyptians also developed papyrus, an advanced paper-like material which became a major forerunner toward visual communication. They became the first peoples to produce manuscripts with both words and pictures that better communicated with their audience.

Overall the origin of writing occurring in the Great Rift Valley and spreading out to the Phoenicians and the Egyptians allowed this system to travel around the world, evolve more quickly, and also let knowledge spread like fire.

Most Interesting:

I always heard about the "Rosetta Stone" (and the infomericial advertising the language program) but never had I completely known what it entailed. This book not only provided an excellent description but also a great photo of the actual artifact. I find it absolutely fascinating. To be able to translate a message into three different languages definitely shows the complexity of the Egyptians writing system. One wonders as to how the developed not only the hieroglyphics and the demotic script but also how they came to know the Greek language as well. I find it very interesting.