Writing
Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization
1. Edition March 2009
298 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
Short Description
Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization offers a coherent system of terms and categories for the study of the complex phenomena in the world's writing systems. Tracing the origins of writing tied to speech from ancient Sumer through the Greek alphabet and beyond, the book examines the earliest evidence for writing in Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC, the relations of these systems to Egyptian and Chinese writing, the origins of purely phonographic systems, and the mystery of alphabetic writing. The book also incorporates examples from contemporary and historical writing systems, and many illustrations.
Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization traces the origins of writing tied to speech from ancient Sumer through the Greek alphabet and beyond.
* Examines the earliest evidence for writing in Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC, the origins of purely phonographic systems, and the mystery of alphabetic writing
* Includes discussions of Ancient Egyptian,Chinese, and Mayan writing
* Shows how the structures of writing served and do serve social needs and in turn create patterns of social behavior
* Clarifies the argument with many illustrations
Maps.
Preface.
Chronology.
Introduction: A Difficult Topic, Little Studied, Poorly Understood.
1. What Is Writing?
2. Writing with Signs.
3. Categories and Features of Writing.
4. Some General Issues in the Study of Writing.
5. Protocuneiform and Counting Tokens.
6. Origin of Lexigraphic Writing in Mesopotamia.
7. Plato's Ideas and Champollion's Decipherment of the Egyptian Hieroglyphs.
8. Egyptian Writing and Egyptian Speech.
9. The Origin and Nature of Egyptian Writing.
10. "The House of Life": Scribes and Writing in Ancient Egypt.
11. Syllabic Scripts of the Aegean.
12. The West Semitic Revolution.
13. What Kind of Writing Was West Semitic?
14. The Origins of West Semitic Writing.
15. Chinese Logography.
16. Lexigraphic Writing in Mesoamerica.
17. The Greek Alphabet: A Writing That Changed the World.
18. Summary and Conclusions.
Glossary.
Bibliography.
Index.
"Powell's concentration on precise names for terms used in discourse clears up some of the confusion common to histories of work on ancient scripts." (About.com, May 2009)
"A feature ... is the use of the ancient scripts in the text with numerous illustrations to familiarize the reader with the different writing systems. The result is a readable and enlightening study of a complex topic." (Bryn Mawr Classical Review, April 2010)
"Writing is stimulating and impressive." (Science, April 2009)