Neolith Ceramic (Writing)

Question 1

For what purpose and when exactly did writing develop?

Answer 1

Writing did not develop all at once, but slowly and not for a specific purpose

Question 2

As early as when do we know writing to have begun?

Answer 2

6000 BC (Neolithic period)

Question 3

For what purpose was writing mostly used early on?

Answer 3

Trade documentation

Question 4

What is an archaeological example of early trade documentation? How did it work?

Answer 4

mesopotamian clay tokens - used by traders of agricultural goods to document goods owed to them and the name of the debtor.

They were put in a clay envelope (shaped like a ball with the name of the debtor and trader on it)

Question 5

What were the basic shapes of these mesopotamian tokens?

Answer 5

ball, cone, disc, and rod-shaped

Question 6

What is epigraphy?

Answer 6

the study of ancient written sources

Question 7

What is paleography?

Answer 7

study of the development of ancient writing systems from the aspect of signs and letters.

Question 8

What is writing?

Answer 8

Writing is the use of a system (script) of graphic symbols that systematically describe spoken language in order for the purpose of written (non-physical or verbal) communication

Question 9

What is the Sumerian pictograhic script?

When and where was this Sumerian pictographic script used?

Answer 9

A pictographic script used by the Sumerians. Around 3100 BC, in southern mesopotamia

Question 10

On what did these people write this pictographic Sumerian script?

Answer 10

On wet clay boards

Question 11

What is special about this Sumerian pictographic script?

Answer 11

Multi-directional; the direction of writing changes throughout (right to left, left to right, up down)

Question 12

What is pictographic writing?

Answer 12

Writing that makes use of pictures to represent a concept/word

Question 13

What is cuneiform writing (yetedot)? What civilization used it?

Answer 13

Writing which uses wedge-shaped marks on clay tables used by the Sumerian civilization

Question 14

What is markedly different about cuneiform from the pictographic Sumerian script?

Answer 14

pictures turned to a combination of straight horizontal and vertical lines

Question 15

When did cuneiform develop

Answer 15

In the 3500s BC

Question 16

Which peoples used Cuneiform?

Answer 16

Used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East; Elamites, Hurrians and the Hittites

Question 17

How did Cuneiform evolve?

Answer 17

Overtime, some of the signs turned from words to punctuation marks so signs were added to understand the meaning

Question 18

What is special about cuneiform?

Answer 18

Multidirectional; Direction of writing changes (right to left, left to right, up down)

Question 19

What is hieroglyphics? What does it mean? What is unknown about this script/writing?

Answer 19

Pictographic writing script used by ancient Egyptians, where every specific picture denoted a specific word. The pronounciation of these words is unknown. Means “holy carving” in Greek

Question 20

When did hieroglyphics begin? How was it written (physically)?

Answer 20

Began in 3150 BC, with ink on papyrus

Question 21

For what purpose is hieroglyphics said to have developed?

Answer 21

The development of hieroglyphics is attributed to the need to represent a specific & common events/occurences through writing - such as a hunting trip or a particular battle

Question 22

How many signs were there in the 2nd millenium BC? What about during the Roman period

Answer 22

In the second millenium BC there were about 750 signs. In the Roman period, a few thousand.

Question 23

What is special about the hieroglyphic script?

Answer 23

Multi-directional writing (left-right, right-left, up down)

Question 24

What is the Rosetta stone?

Answer 24

A stone inscribed with three versions of a decree (tsav) issued in Egypt in 196 BC

Question 25

By whom and when was the Rosetta stone deciphered?

Answer 25

Deciphered by J.F. Champollion in 1822

Question 26

What script is used in the top text of the Rosetta stone? Middle text? Bottom Text?

Answer 26

- The top and middle text are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and demotic scripts respectively The bottom text is in Ancient Greek

Question 27

What is the Behistun inscription? What script and languages does it constitute?

Answer 27

A multilingual inscription on a large rock relief on a cliff in Mount Behistun in Iran. Inscription of the same text in three different cuneiform-script languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian?

Question 28

When was the inscription known of?

Answer 28

The inscription was known both in the Muslim period and the in the middle ages

Question 29

Who authored it? When did he live?

Answer 29

It was established/authored by Darius the Great (דריווש הראשון). 5th Century BC

Question 30

By whom and when was the Behistun inscription deciphered?

Answer 30

Sir Henry Rawlinson, a British officer, in 1835

Question 31

Why was the decipherment of the Behistun inscription important?

Answer 31

It was crucial to the decipherment of cuneiform script because the inscription includes three versions of the same text, written in three different cuneiform script languages: Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian

Question 32

What is an alphabet? What different about alphabetic scripts compared to pictographic or symbolic scripts like Cuneiform, sumerian pictography or even Chinese?

Answer 32

Alphabet: set of letters or symbols used to represent the basic sounds/syllables of a language. Compared to pictographic writings, alphabets are made up of a relatively small number of characters/letters

Question 33

What is the earliest alphabet known to man?

Answer 33

The earliest alphabet is the Proto-Sinaitic/Proto-Canaanite script

Question 34

How did the Proto-Sinatic script develop?

Answer 34

Derived mostly from the Egyptian hieroglyphic script

Question 35

How and when did the conceptual change from pictographs & symbols to an alphabet come about?

Answer 35

The conceptual change actually began taking place when pictographs represented parts of a word (syllable) and not an entire word itself - in the 18th century B.C.

Question 36

What are the Serabit inscriptions? What scripts do they constitute?

Answer 36

Dozens of inscriptions found on a mountain in the Sinai called Serabit el-Khadim. They constitute inscriptions in hieroglyphics, hieratic and what became known as proto-sinaitic script

Question 37

Who discovered the Serabit inscriptions? When?

Answer 37

Sir William Flinders Petrie in the winter of 1904-1905

Question 38

What was the purpose of the Serabit inscriptions?

Answer 38

These were offerings left in the temple for the goddess Hathor

Question 39

How many proto-sinaitic inscriptions were found in Serabit? On what were they found?

Answer 39

Four inscriptions were found in the temple on two human-like statutes and on either side of a sphinx-like statue

Question 40

By whom and when were the Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions of Serabit deciphered? To what extent were they deciphered? (a word, a letter, a paragraph..?) What conclusion about Proto-Sinaitic script did Gardiner draw from his decipherment?

Answer 40

In 1916, Alan Gardiner deciphered the word B’alat. Gardiner concluded that the Sinaitic signs were created by reforming Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Question 41

What is the Phoenician script? When was it used? Which peoples/languages used it?

Answer 41

An alpahbet used from the 13th century B.C. to the 1st century AD used to write Phoenician, Hebrew, Moabite, Ammonite and Edomite

Question 42

What about the use of Phoenician script was markedly different from all the previous scripts used throughout the evolution of writing?

Answer 42

Used as a linear (uni-directional) script, marking the transition from the multi-directional writing systems

Question 43

How did Aramaic script? By when had it become a distinct script of its own?

Answer 43

Aramaic alphabet was an adaptation of the Phoenician alphabet by the Arameans. By the 8th century BC it had become a distinct script

Question 44

Which empire united its whole empire under Aramaic as the international language and script

Answer 44

The Assyrians

Question 45

What script and language did the Babylonians and Persians use?

Answer 45

Aramaic

Question 46

What allowed Aramaic script to become even simpler?

Answer 46

The widespread use of the writing for commerce and management simplified Aramaic writing over without unnecessary lines.

Question 47

With what script did the Jews return to Israel after the declaration of Cyrus the Great?

Answer 47

Aramaic

Question 48

What scripts were used in the Second Temple period?

Answer 48

Phoenician and Aramaic

Question 49

When did Aramaic cease to be used as an international language?

Answer 49

With the fall of the Persian Empire

Question 50

What scripts developed out of Sumerian pictography?

Answer 50

Cuneiform

Question 51

What scripts developed out of Cuneiform?

Answer 51

Cuneiform is not known to have any specific child systems

Question 52

What scripts developed out of Egyptian pictography (hieroglyphics)? What scripts developed out of Phoenician script?

Answer 52

Hieroglyphics (pictography) → Proto-Canaanite/Sinatic (alphabetic)→ Phoenician Out of Phoenician → Ancient Greek, Ancient Roman and Slavic writing developed. And out of Ancient Roman, the modern languages of English, German and French have developed

Question 53

Out of what script did most of the alphabets in the world today develop? (the consensus)

Answer 53

Proto-Sinaitic script?

Question 54

How did the use of writing evolve from a social aspect? (hint: easier writing = more people writing)

Answer 54

- Writing developed slowly at first - only being used by the elite in society - Writers then began writing on soft material (transitioned from engravings on a stone to writing with ink). This allowed for shortcuts which caused a further evolution of writing - When writing became simple and fast, it started to become public domain, which contributed to the spread of literacy