The First Writing

The First Writing PDF

Author: Stephen D. Houston

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2004-12-09

Total Pages: 444

ISBN-13: 9780521838610

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In this book, leading scholars in the field discuss and analyse the origins of ancient writing.

The Epic of Gilgamish

The Epic of Gilgamish PDF

Author: R. Campbell Thompson

Publisher: Legare Street Press

Published: 2022-10-26

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781015427921

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This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Language, Literacy, and Technology

Language, Literacy, and Technology PDF

Author: Richard Kern

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2015-05-28

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 1107036488

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Language, Literacy, and Technology explores how technology matters to language and the ways we use it.

The Invention of Cuneiform

The Invention of Cuneiform PDF

Author: Jean-Jacques Glassner

Publisher: JHU Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 9780801873898

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In "The Invention of Cuneiform" Jean-Jacques Glassner offers a compelling introduction to a seminal era in human history. Returning to early Mesopotamian texts that have been little studied or poorly understood, he traces the development of writing from the earliest attempts to the sophisticated system of roughly 640 signs that constituted the Sumerian repertory by about 3200 B.C.

Writing on the Wall

Writing on the Wall PDF

Author: Tom Standage

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Published: 2014-09-16

Total Pages: 289

ISBN-13: 1620402858

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Chronicles social media over two millennia, from papyrus letters that Cicero used to exchange news across the Empire to today, reminding us how modern behavior echoes that of prior centuries and encouraging debate and discussion about how we'll communicate in the future.

A History of Writing

A History of Writing PDF

Author: Steven Roger Fischer

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2020-09-10

Total Pages: 429

ISBN-13: 1861895887

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From the earliest scratches on stone and bone to the languages of computers and the internet, A History of Writing offers an investigation into the origin and development of writing throughout the world. Illustrated with numerous examples, this book offers a global overview in a format that everyone can follow. Steven Roger Fischer also reveals his own discoveries made since the early 1980s, making it a useful reference for students and specialists as well as a delightful read for lovers of the written word everywhere.

The Greatest Invention

The Greatest Invention PDF

Author: Silvia Ferrara

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Published: 2022-03-01

Total Pages: 227

ISBN-13: 0374601631

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In this exhilarating celebration of human ingenuity and perseverance—published all around the world—a trailblazing Italian scholar sifts through our cultural and social behavior in search of the origins of our greatest invention: writing. The L where a tabletop meets the legs, the T between double doors, the D of an armchair’s oval backrest—all around us is an alphabet in things. But how did these shapes make it onto the page, never mind form complex structures such as this sentence? In The Greatest Invention, Silvia Ferrara takes a profound look at how—and how many times—human beings have managed to produce the miracle of written language, traveling back and forth in time and all across the globe to Mesopotamia, Crete, China, Egypt, Central America, Easter Island, and beyond. With Ferrara as our guide, we examine the enigmas of undeciphered scripts, including famous cases like the Phaistos Disk and the Voynich Manuscript; we touch the knotted, colored strings of the Inca quipu; we study the turtle shells and ox scapulae that bear the earliest Chinese inscriptions; we watch in awe as Sequoyah single-handedly invents a script for the Cherokee language; and we venture to the cutting edge of decipherment, in which high-powered laser scanners bring tears to an engineer’s eye. A code-cracking tour around the globe, The Greatest Invention chronicles a previously uncharted journey, one filled with past flashes of brilliance, present-day scientific research, and a faint, fleeting glimpse of writing’s future.

The Sumerians

The Sumerians PDF

Author: Samuel Noah Kramer

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 2010-09-17

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 0226452328

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The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. "There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology "An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal