Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond (Oriental Institute Museum Publications)

Writing, the ability to make language visible and permanent, is one of humanity's greatest inventions. This book presents current perspectives on the origins and development of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt, providing an overview of each writing system and its uses. Essays on writing in China and Mesoamerica complete coverage of the four "pristine" writing systems - inventions of writing in which there was no previous exposure to texts. The authors explore what writing is, and is not, and sections of the text are devoted to Anatolian hieroglyphs of Anatolia, and to the development of the alphabet in the Sinai Peninsula in the second millennium BC and its spread to Phoenicia where it spawned the Greek and Latin alphabets. This richly illustrated volume, issued in conjunction with an exhibit at the Oriental Institute, provides a current perspective on, and appreciation of, an invention that changed the course of history. This Unique Exhibit Is The Result Of Collaborative Efforts Of More Than Twenty Authors And Loans From Five Museums. It Focuses On The Independent Invention Of Writing In At Least Four Different Places In The Old World And Mesoamerica With The Earliest Texts Of Uruk, Mesopotamia (5,300 Bc) Shown In The United States For The First Time. Visitors To The Exhibit And Readers Of This Catalog Can See And Compare The Parallel Pathways By Which Writing Came Into Being And Was Used By The Earliest Kingdoms Of Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, And The Maya World. Foreword / Gil J. Stein -- Preface / Geoff Emberling -- Introduction. Visible Language : The Earliest Writing Systems / Christopher Woods -- Cuneiform In Mesopotamia And Anatolia. Iconography Of Protoliterate Seals / Oya Topc̜uoǧlu -- The Earliest Mesopotamian Writings / Christopher Woods ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 1-58 -- Adaptation Of Cuneiform To Write Akkadian / Andrea Seri ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 59-62 -- The Rise And Fall Of Cuneiform Script In Hittite Anatolia / Theo Van Den Hout ; Object Descriptions : Catalog No. 63 -- Egyptian Writing. The Concept And Development Of The Egyptian Writing System / Elise V. Macarthur ; Egyptian Myth Of The Creation Of Writing ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 64-79 -- The Earliest Egyptian Writing / Andréas Stauder -- Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing / Janet H. Johnson ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 80-82 -- Orientation Of Hieroglyphs ; Writing In Nefermaat / Julie Stauder-porchet -- The Potency Of Writing In Egypt / Emily Teeter -- Hieratic / Kathryn E. Bandy ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 83-84 -- Demotic / Janet H. Johnson ; Object Descriptions : Catalog No. 85 -- Ptolemaic Hieroglyphs / Franc̜ois Gaudard ; Object Descriptions : Catalog No. 86 -- Coptic / T.g. Wilfong -- Alphabetic Writing. Invention And Development Of The Alphabet / Joseph Lam ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 89-94 -- Anatolian Hieroglyphs. Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing / Ilya Yakubovich ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 95-99 -- China Mesoamerican Hieroglyphs. The Beginnings Of Writing In China / Edward L. Shaughnessy ; Object Descriptions : Catalog Nos. 100-101-- Mesoamerican Hieroglyphs. The Development Of Maya Writing / Joel Palka ; Object Descriptions : Catalog No. 102 -- Concordance Of Museum Registration Numbers -- Checklist Of The Exhibit. Edited By Christopher Woods With The Assistance Of Geoff Emberling & Emily Teeter. Exhibition Catalog Held At The Oriental Institute Of Chicago. Includes Bibliographical References. Cover......Page 1 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Table of Contents......Page 6 Foreword......Page 8 Preface......Page 10 Contributors......Page 12 Time Line of Writing......Page 14 Introduction: Visible Language: The Earliest Writing Systems......Page 16 Maps......Page 27 1. Iconography of Protoliterate Seals......Page 30 2. The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing......Page 34 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 1-58......Page 52 3. Adaptation of Cuneiform to Write Akkadian......Page 86 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 59-62......Page 95 4. The Rise and Fall of Cuneiform Script in Hittite Anatolia......Page 100 Object Description: Catalog No. 63......Page 108 Bibliography for Cuneiform Essays......Page 110 5. The Conception and Development of The Egyptian Writing System......Page 116 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 64-79......Page 123 6. The Earliest Egyptian Writing......Page 138 7. Egyptian Hieroglyphic Writing......Page 150 Object Descriptions: Catalo g Nos. 80-82......Page 153 8. Hieratic......Page 160 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 83-84......Page 162 9. Egyptian Demotic Script......Page 166 Object Description: Catalog No. 85......Page 170 10. Ptolemaic Hieroglyphs......Page 174 Object Description: Catalog No. 86......Page 177 11. Coptic......Page 180 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 87-88......Page 181 Bibliography For Egyptian Essays......Page 184 12. The Invention and Development of The Alphabet......Page 190 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 89-94......Page 197 13. Anatolian Hieroglyphic Writing......Page 204 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 95-99......Page 209 14. The Beginnings of Writing in China......Page 216 Object Descriptions: Catalog Nos. 100-101......Page 222 15. The Development of Maya Writing......Page 226 Object Description: Catalog No. 102......Page 231 Concordance of Museum Registration Numbers......Page 232 Checklist of The Exhibit......Page 234 Illustration Credits......Page 236 Glossary of Linguistic Terms......Page 238