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- Abjad
- Abugida
- Administration
- Alphabet
- Commentary
- 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
Chinese Oracle bones — ~1500BC, China
Written Chinese is, by some measures, the most successful writing system on the planet. It has persisted for thousands of years and is still in use today. While it has gone through a number of distinct changes, those changes have … Continue reading
Egyptian hieroglyphics — 3200 BC, Egypt
Egyptian hieroglyphics were profoundly influential and in use for thousands of years. Like Sumerian cuneiform, the early symbols were of recognizable things. Unlike Sumerian cuneiform, the symbols stayed recognizable: a snake stayed a snake, a foot stayed a foot. Like … Continue reading
Sumerian cuneiform — 3200 BC, Iraq
Scholars argue about which came first, Egyptian hieroglyphics or Sumerian cuneiform, but neither side has convinced me. Given that they developed within 100 years (in about 3200 BC) and 1000 kilometers of each other, it’s pretty certain that one led … Continue reading
Proto-writing — 7000 BC, Iraq
Nobody wrote down how writing got invented (duh), but there is speculation as to the origin of writing. Archeologists have found small clay objects that they think were used in commerce to represent various goods, starting in about 7000 BC … Continue reading