The World in 3300 BC

L3 - History and Language sciences

2023

LANSAD

Pauline Mateu Antoine Rougier Driss Vautier Antonin Veneau

The world in 3300 BC

Problematic

How and why did the writing appeared in different areas, and evolved to a complex phonetic system?

A. Writing systems in China B. Writing systems in Mesoamerica C. Writing systems in the Near East

A. A first accounting use

II - Uses of writing. How ?

3.

A. Pictography : Writing as an accounting device B. Logography : Shift from Visual to Oral C. Alphabet : the segmentation of the sounds

Introduction

1.

I - Why did it appeared all around the world ?

2.

Sources

6.

Conclusion

5.

III - Comparaison between different writings

4.

Index

We will discuss the evolution of writing from Tokens to :

Alphabets

Syllabary

Pictography

How to define writing? - system of graphic marks representing the units of a specific language – Where ? => Near East, China, and Mesoamerica - Cuneiform script => Mesopotamia, 3300 BC

1. Introduction

The development of writing and numeracy in the city State of Uruk corresponds to : - the growing need to manage the trade networks => for trading purposes

Clay tablet and a stylus used to write

I - Why did it appeared all around the world ?

A - A first accounting use

Writing emerged from counting and accounting

Mesopotamian cuneiform consisted in : - a counting system - clay tokens and tablets

• 1st signs of writing : calendars
• served to the elite interest
• recent studies think that served for royal rituals and spiritual purposes

• 1st signs of writing : tags attached to graves on royal tombs
• served to the elite interest
• not enough developed to "express thoughts in a fully phonetic manner"
• => could not serve for administration purposes

in Meso-America

in Egypt

Writing was not only used for administration purposes

Small ivory label from the tomb of Neithhotep

The mesoamerican calendar

Administrative tablet excavated in Uruk, dated to the Uruk III (ca. 3200-3000 BC)

Tags found in tomb U-j representing the temple of Hierakonpolis :

Writing :- appeared at different times - for different purposes (economy, spirituality...)

But remember : archeological materials to study early civilisations = lacunar => can't give us a full vision of what were those societies

tokens marked on envelopes to pay for goods

mainly used for accounting

Clay envelope and its content

in Sumer and Elam

A. Pictography: Writing as an Accounting Device

3200 BC

- first known writing system - a symbol - represents a word/phrasse - to communicate - simplified style - basis for structured written languages

Writing as an accounting device :

What is a pictogram ?

II-Uses of writing. How ?

- most important words : had their own cuneiform signs - 1000 signs of logograms - "word-pictures" developed into cuneiform

- patronymics added : name of a temple/god - plea for life after death

writing used for other reasons than accounting => names -> transcribed with the use of logograms

What the creation of phonemes brought :

- are used to represent words with pictures

- a written/pictoral symbol - represent a word/phrase

Logogram :

B. Logography : Shift from Visual to Oral

II-Uses of writing. How ?

- one of the 1st text that does not concern accounting - written the name of the deceased on tombs

The pictographic system evolved into a basic logographic system

Funerary texts

After 400 years :

Abugida

Alphabet

VS

only represents the consonants

C. Alphabet : the segmentation of the soundsl]

a simplification of hieroglyphs (only 23 symbols)

comes from Egypt

dated between 19th and 16th century BC

The very first alphabet :

Alphabet = a set of graphs used to represent the phonemic structure of a language

Oracle texts :

Divinatory writings to communicate with : - the spirits - the deities - the ancestors - largest written source of the Shang dynasty - contain one to more than 1000 characters - 4000 differents spellings

Map of the Shang Empire

Oracle texts engraved on animals bones and tortue shells

1400-1200 BC Shang Dynasty

King Tang of Shen

A. Writing systems in China

III. Comparaison between different writings

Earliest Chinese inscriptions :

Tabasco

Veracruz

- the earliest known major Mesoamerican civilization - flourished during 1500 BCE to 400 BCE - located in the modern-day Mexican states of Veracruz and Tabasco

Colossal head of a Olmec

Who were the Olmecs ?

- developed within the Olmec culture

B. Writing systems in Mesoamerica

- system of writing / proto-writing

The Olmec hieroglyphs :

- Potential text- 62 signs made communication possible

Cascajal block (approx. 900 BC) => 62 glyphs

Localization of Cascajal

Evidence of the existence of a writing system during the Olmec period :

The olmecs are considered as mother culture

he Isthmian script

Mollis donec lectus pharetra convallis vestibulum 30%

- 300 BCE to 250 CE - successor culture to the Olmec - had a full-fledged writing system ⤷ the Isthmian script

The subsequent Epi-Olmec culture

1 : Clay tokens : used for accounting (8000 - 3500 BC) b : Pictographic signs : accounting (3500 - 3000 BC) c : Phonetic signs : turning point (3000 - 1500 BC) d : Alphabet : segmentation of meaning

Tablet with proto-cuneiform pictographic characters (end of 4th millennium BC)

C. Writing systems in the Near East

1 : Clay tokens : used for accounting (8000 - 3500 BC) b : Pictographic signs : accounting (3500 - 3000 BC) c : Phonetic signs : turning point (3000 - 1500 BC) d : Alphabet : segmentation of meaning

The 4 phases of evolution of the Mesopotamian cuneiform script

There is still much more to discover. Perhaps it will change our perception of prehistoric cultures.

Writing systems in the world are diverse

Writing did not only appeared in the Old World

The history of writing is complex

5. Conclusion

• https://sites.utexas.edu/dsb/tokens/the-evolution-of-writing/

• https://hcommons.org/deposits/objects/hc:28500/datastreams/CONTENT/content

• https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Cuneiform_script

• https://www.worldhistory.org/alphabet/

• https://ufinbeijing.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/china-at-the-beginning-the-shang-dynasty/

• https://www.thearchaeologist.org/blog/the-history-of-writing-tracing-the-development-of-expressing-language-by-systems-of-markings

• https://www.britannica.com/topic/alphabet-writing

• https://sites.utexas.edu/dsb/tokens/the-evolution-of-writing/

6. Sources

Any questions?

Thank you for your attention