Traditionally, the emergence of writing was associated with the activities of gods and cultural heroes ( Tsang Jie ), but in the corresponding mythologies writing often acts as one of the functions of a wider spectrum (eloquence, memory, logic, insight in legal proceedings, creating a calendar: Tot , Nabu ). The dominance of the oral tradition that preceded the emergence of writing affected the absence of such a character in Greek mythology : on the contrary, blindness is emphasized in the image of Homer , the legendary creator of the Greek epic .
The main difficulty in creating a chronology is the coexistence of different dating (chronologies) of the same events, especially for the early stages of history. So, a long chronology dates back the first dynasty of Egypt to the year 5800. BC, and the short - to 3200 years. Moreover, individual authors still add inconsistency (see, for example, the dating of the Palette of Narmer ). It is especially problematic to compare the early dates of different civilizations. So, the priority in creating the written language of the Sumerians or Egyptians is determined by those for whom a longer chronology will be used.
Content
Prototype period (pictography)
The end of V - the beginning of IV millennium BC. e.
Terteri inscriptions ( Vinca culture script)
IV millennium BC e.
In 1962, during the excavations of the neolithic settlement of Jiahu on the Yellow River , inscriptions on tortoise-shell shells were found that resembled the oldest (3.5 thousand years BC) Chinese characters .
Mid IV millennium BC e.
Household records in Mesopotamia [1] .
The end of the IV millennium BC. e.
Separate pictographic ones also appear in the Syro-Palestinian region (that is, almost simultaneously with Mesopotamia) [2] .
4000-3000 BC e.
Maykop plate (supposedly written Maykop culture ). Similar petroglyphs were found in the territories of modern Abkhazia and historical Circassia . The hypothesis of the ancient writing of the Abkhaz-Adyghe peoples .
3500 BC e.
The Kish tablet is a stone tablet showing the first pictographic stage of the development of cuneiform writing, as well as the fact that in Mesopotamia still use pictography, and not real writing.
3000-2750 BC e.
In Sumer - the archaic stage of the development of cuneiform writing , the stage of pictography , when grammatical morphemes are not yet graphically expressed. Texts from the archaeological layer of Uruk IVa. The order of the written characters does not always correspond to the reading order. Household, legal, school texts.
The period of these scripts
3200 BC e.
- The age of the Narmer Palette , which is a transitional stage from a pictorial letter to a hieroglyphic one.
3100 BC e.
- Egyptian hieroglyphs immediately in finished form.
- Hieratic writing in Egypt.
3000 BC e.
In the northwestern Hindustan, on the basis of the ideographic early Harappan script, the oldest known alphabet arises - the consonant-syllabic “ script of the Indus Valley ”.
Proto-Elamite letter.
2750 BC e.
The first real writing in Sumer . Its first stage is the Old Sumerian (2750–2315 years BC), the first stage of cuneiform writing.
2500 BC e.
Kipu from Caral ( Peru ).
2400 BC e.
Cuneiform writing has become an ordered verbal-syllable script [3] , that is, it has reached the level of the original Egyptian script.
2000 BC e.
Cuneiform writing is used to record the Akkadian language (Assyrian and Babylonian).
Sumerian language is used as the language of scientists.
Traces of writing in the Olmec civilization (Central America).
1800 BC e.
A Cretan letter of original origin appears .
Codex Hammurabi (Babylon).
1600 BC e.
The Hittites and Luvians use the Luvian hieroglyphic writing (decrypted at the beginning of the 20th century).
Bible writing (Phenicia).
1500 BC e.
Protosinai script in the Middle East: 30 letters similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs - according to a number of semitologists, the oldest alphabet. Proto-Canaanite writing .
1400 BC e.
China : religious texts on tortoiseshell.
Ugaritic alphabet (Northern Syria): 30 letters cuneiform.
1300 BC e.
Phoenician script : 22 consonants.
1200 BC e.
Sarcophagus of King Ahiram in the Bible with the Phoenician alphabet. Cretan writing is finally out of use.
1000 BC e.
The Phoenician alphabet spreads across the Mediterranean and Asia. Hebrew , Aramaic and South Arabian scripts.
800 BC e.
Introduction of vowels:
Minoasian alphabets (Carian, Lydian, Lycian, Sidets, etc.).
Greek writing .
700 BC e.
The Etruscan alphabet stands out from the western version of the Greek alphabet.
Demotic writing in Egypt.
600 BC e.
Jewish square letter .
400 BC e.
The Latin alphabet stands out from the Etruscan.
Greek writing is spread thanks to the campaigns of Alexander the Great .
300 BC e.
Two syllabic systems in India: Kharoshthi , spreading to Central Asia, and Brahmi , giving birth to a number of syllabic scripts in Southeast Asia and Indonesia.
200 BC e.
Rosetta Stone : a decree of Ptolemy V , recorded by Egyptian hieroglyphs, demotic script and Greek. Ancient Libyan script in North Africa, Typhin alphabet.
100 BC e.
Nabataean writing ( Petra ).
Coptic writing in Egypt.
0
The invention of paper in China.
100
Syriac writing .
The appearance of the handwritten version ( italics ) in the Latin alphabet.
200
The uncial letter of the latin alphabet.
Mayan steles in Central America.
300
Runic version of the Latin alphabet.
400
Sogdian , Armenian (see. History of the creation of the Armenian alphabet ), Georgian writing.
Ethiopian syllable alphabet .
500
The first inscriptions in Arabic .
Gaelic letter .
600
The emergence of Islam leads to standardization in Arabic writing, which is spreading in the meantime in the Middle East and North Africa.
700
Written sources in the ancient Turkic language .
Adaptation of Chinese writing in Japan.
800
In France, the Carolingian minuscule appears.
Persian begins to use Arabic script.
In Asia, Uigur appears from Aramaic writing.
The emergence of Slavic scripts - Cyrillic and Glagolitic .
1000
The Carolingian minuscule is transformed into Gothic writing .
Turks borrow Arabic script.
1200
Aztec writing (Central America).
1300
The humanists' revival of the Carolingian muscle, the transformation of the latter into humanistic writing - modern "Latin letters".
1400
Korean Hangul alphabetical letter.
1700
By order of Peter I, a “ civilian font ” is created - the modern Cyrillic alphabet.
1800-2000
Adaptation of the Latin alphabet to most languages of the world. In some cases, the Latin alphabet partially or completely supplants the previous scripts ( Romanian , Turkish , a number of languages of the former USSR, Serbo-Croatian , Kurdish , Indonesian , Swahili ). An unsuccessful attempt to Latinize writing for the languages of the USSR ( Yanalif , 1928-1940), re- Latinization after the collapse of the USSR (1990s).
See also
- Letter (writing)
- Book history
Notes
- ↑ Rudik, Hope. The world in balance: the oldest Sumerian spells // Trinity version: Journal .. - 2019. - No. 1 (270) (January 15). - S. 10–11, 13.
- ↑ 5 FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION VORONEZH STATE UNIVERSITY L. M. KOROTKH. ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE EAST MEDITERRANEAN Lecture Cycle
- ↑ [XE The emergence of writing From Myth to Logos Division of labor and the development of spiritual culture]
Literature
- Gelb Ignas Jay. The history of writing. From a picture letter to a full alphabet / Per. from English T. M. Shulikova. - M.: Centerpolygraph CJSC, 2017. - 288 p.: Ill. - Series "Entertaining Science." - ISBN 978-5-9524-5270-1 .
- Doblehofer Ernst. Signs and miracles.: Stories about how forgotten letters and languages were decrypted / Transl. with him. T.M. Bauer. - M.: Eastern literature, 1963. - 386 p.: Ill. - Series " Following the disappeared cultures of the East ."
- Istrin V.I. - M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1961 .-- 396 p.: Ill.
- Katsprzhak E.I. History of writing and books. - M.: Art, 1955. - 356 p.: Ill.
- Loukotka Chestmir. The development of the letter / TRANS. from Czech N. N. Sokolova. - M .: Foreign literature, 1950. - 320 p.: Ill.
- Secrets of ancient writings. Decryption problems. Sat Art. / Per. with English, German, French, Italian Ed. I.M.Dyakonova. - M .: Progress, 1976. - 592 p.: Ill.
- Friedrich Johannes. History of the letter / Transl. with him. I.M. Dunaevskaya. Int. Art. and comm. I.M.Dyakonova. - M.: Science, The main edition of oriental literature, 1979. - 464 p.: Ill.
Filmography
- The History of Writing ( The Written Word ) is a popular science film shot in 2005.