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- developed by illiterate(s)
- Evolved slowly from parent
- first in its area
- government-mandated
- inventor known
- language unknown
- Logograms
- mercantile script
- National pride
- now ceremonial
- Numbers
- previous script didn't quite work
- private or secret
- probably developed by illiterate(s)
- probably first in its area
- Rating: 1 "Dull, only here for completeness"
- Rating: 2 "Not all that interesting"
- Rating: 3 "I did not know that"
- Rating: 4 "Huh, interesting!"
- Rating: 5 "Whoa!!"
- revealed in a dream
- significant female influence
- spiritual or supernatural
- stupid
- Syllabaries
- technology influenced
- Uncategorized
- Undeciphered
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Category Archives: Logograms
Proto-Elamite — 3000BC?, Iran
Proto-writing happened over an extensive area over thousands of years. While proto-writing developed into “proto-cuneiform” in modern-day Iraq and from there into Sumerian cuneiform, it developed into proto-Elamite in Iran (and from there into Elamite). We don’t hear much about … Continue reading
Aztec — 1400 AD, Mexico
There are no pre-Columbian Aztec books remaining: the colonists managed to get every last one. However, there are a few books written by Aztecs left from the period after the Spaniards occupied the land, with translations/explanations written in Spanish. The … Continue reading
Posted in Logograms, Rating: 5 "Whoa!!"
4 Comments
Mixtec — 1200 AD, Mexico
The Mixtec writing system is from Southern Mexico, very close to the Mayan civilization in distance and contemporaneous. The Spaniards only did half as good a job destroying the Mixtecs books — there are a whopping eight pre-Columbian Mixtec books … Continue reading
Posted in Logograms, Rating: 5 "Whoa!!"
2 Comments
Indus script — 2600 BC, Pakistan
Like the Sumerians and the Egyptians, the Harappans inhabited a fertile river valley (this one in Pakistan) in around 3300 BC. Like in the Middle East, the Harappans developed a sophisticated civilization. Like in the Middle East, the Harappans put … Continue reading
Simplified Chinese — 1956 AD, China
In 1956, the People’s Republic of China promoted a simplified writing scheme, with the goal of improving literacy. Currently, Simplified Chinese is used in the PRC (except for Hong Kong), Malaysia, and Singapore; Traditional Chinese is used everywhere else. The … Continue reading
Traditional Chinese — 220 AD, China
Traditional Chinese — also called “Regular Chinese” or “kǎishū”, appeared around 200 BC. There were numerous evolutionary stages between Small Seal and Traditional Chinese, including a looser, more calligraphic style called “Clerical Script”. At this stage, some of the stylistic … Continue reading
Chinese Seal Scripts — ~800BC, China
After the Oracle Bones script, there was a long period where the script changed slowly and not totally uniformly across China. These scripts are sort of all called “Large Seal” or “Great Seal” or “Bronze Script”. Eventually, in around 220BC, … Continue reading