Origins of Writing
EMERGENCE OF WRITING IN MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT
KLAUS WAGENSONNER
NELC 168 / CLCV 260
c. 1250 BCE
c. 3300 BCE
c. 500 BCE
Pre-History of Writing
Levant
Anatolia
Northern Mesopotamia
Southern Mesopotamia
9000
Proto-Neolithic (PPN A)
8000
Aceramic Neolithic (PPN B–C)
7000
Proto-Hassuna
Pottery Neolithic
Catal Hüyük
6500
Hassuna/Samarra
Amuq B
6000
Halaf
Halaf
Halaf
Early Ubaid
Ubaid
Ubaid
Ubaid
Late Ubaid
5500
5000
4500
4000
Early Uruk
Chalcolithic
3500
Uruk
Late Uruk
Archaelogical Layer
Early Uruk Period
c. 4000 – c. 3600
Eanna XIII–IX
Late Uruk Period
c. 3600 – c. 3150
Eanna VIII–IV
Jemdet Nasr Period
c. 3100 – c. 2900
Eanna III
MORPHOGRAPHY
THE CASE OF SUMERIAN
Uruk
Levels IV to VIII of the Eana-area date to
the Late Uruk Period. The monumental
architecture of the Uruk IV period was
deliberately destroyed and built over in the
subsequent Uruk III or Jemdet Nasr Period
(c. 3100–2900 BCE).
u
These destructions meant also that
original institutional connections of texts are
widely lost.
u
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, EARLY URBAN STRUCTURES
Sanctuary probably dedicated
to the Sky-god An
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, EARLY URBAN STRUCTURES
Eana, sanctuary for
the goddess Inana
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, EARLY URBAN STRUCTURES
Eana, sanctuary for the goddess Inana
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, EARLY URBAN STRUCTURES
u
Eana-Precinct dating to roughly 3400–3200
BCE (Uruk IV Period) with extensive
monumental architecture
Pillar Hall with stone cone mosaics
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, EARLY URBAN LIFE
Beveled rim bowls (BRB)
u
Volume c. 1 liter
u
no signs of wear and tear
u
means of central institutions to
provide rations
Use to distribute dry
grain products or bread
Goulder 2010: 352
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, EARLY URBAN LIFE
Beveled rim bowls (BRB)
u
Upper register of the Uruk Vase: Personnel
of the Inana sanctuary offer tablet with
stacked bowls, which corresponds to the
sign EN denoting the “Priest-king”
EN
Uruk Vase, detail (c. 3200–3000 BCE)
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, ORGANISATION
Storehouse in temple
as basis for royal power
(“Priest-king” appearing before the temple)
Harvest
Natural resources (water,
flora, and fauna)
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, ORGANISATION
Protoscripts, Precursors, Forerunners
Art objects of the mid- to late 4th millennium whose
iconography contains elements that can also be
found in early Proto-Cuneiform.
Cylinder seal
Uruk vase, Upper register, detail
“Uruk
Trough”,
detail
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, ARCHITECTURE
Reed huts
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, ARCHITECTURE
INANA
NCBS 22
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, CYLINDER SEALS
Cylinder Seals
u
are first attested roughly at
the mid-fourth millennium in
the Late Uruk Period (c.
3600–3150 BCE)
u
Advantage (opposed to
stamp seals) was that
impressing them allowed to
cover greater areas on the
clay support.
u
Early cylinder seals may
have been used by officeholders or those
representing institutions
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, CYLINDER SEALS
temple herd
“Priest-king”
NBC 2579
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, CYLINDER SEALS
NCBS 22
VA 11040
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, CYLINDER SEALS
Lion attacking bull (NCBS 695)
Lion-Hunt Stela
(Iraq Museum)
MESOPOTAMIA
URUK, CYLINDER SEALS
Apart from high-quality figurative
scenes, early cylinder seals also
show much simpler designs (e.g.,
rows of pig-tailed figures on mats
producing vessels)
NCBS 29
MESOPOTAMIA
SPREAD OF URUK CULTURE
MESOPOTAMIA
SPREAD OF URUK CULTURE
Habuba Kabira
u
Walled “outpost” showing
typical features of Uruk period
architecture (niche design;
stone cone mosaics)
u
Tokens and sealed clay balls
(so-called bullae)
u
No writing proper.
MESOPOTAMIA
INFLUENCE OF URUK CULTURE
“Blau” Monument
Gebel el-Arak Knife
u
Probably from Abydos
(Egypt)
u
Showing clear
Mesopotamian influence.
u
Dating approx. 3500–3200
BCE.
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Tokens
u
The so-called tokens were
one of several information
technologies present before
writing emerged in
Mesopotamia.
u
They were considered, most
notably by D. SchmandtBesserat, as precursors to
writing because some
shapes and decorations
resemble sign forms in the
earliest texts from Uruk.
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Tokens (calculi, counters)
u
Small objects made of clay
(rarely stone), usually 1–2 cm
u
Attested as early as the 8th mill.
BCE and found in the
archaeological record until the
emergence of true writing
around 3300 BCE.
u
They were shown to have been
used for administrative
purposes.
Types of tokens (Sauer und
Sürenhagen 2016: 21, Abb. 5)
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Tokens (calculi, counters)
u
8th – 4th mill., predominantly plain
tokens showing geometric shapes
(e.g., cones, spheres, disks, cylinders,
pyramids, etc.)
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Tokens (calculi, counters)
u
4th mill.: Plain types continue to
be attested. At the same time
more complex forms appear,
which depict objects more
naturalistically (e.g., vessels,
animals). Plain forms can also
bear decorations (e.g.,
hatching). Frequently they are
perforated.
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Tokens (calculi, counters)
u
Denise Schmandt-Besserat suggested
that tokens represent a true precursor
to script. Many of the shapes found in
the three-dimensional objects find
counterparts in “two-dimensional”
Proto-Cuneiform sign forms. Tokens
widely ceased to be used with the
emergence of writing.
u
Her results led to some criticism of her
methodology (e.g., incorporating
clay objects from grave contexts).
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Clay Balls (bullae)
u
First attested in early fourth millennium
in southern Mesopotamia (Uruk),
northern Mesopotamia/Syria (Habuba
Kabira), and also in Susa (Iran)
u
They served to control incoming and
outgoing movements of commodities.
u
Outer surface was covered with seal
impressions (occasionally also base of
cylinder seal), in order to prevent
fraud.
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Clay Balls (bullae)
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Clay Balls (bullae)
u
One example dating to much
later period (14th cent. BCE)
from the site of Nuzi contained
48 stones and was inscribed
with the following inscription:
“Stones (referring) to sheep and
goats: 21 ewes that have given birth,
6 female lambs, 8 full grown rams, 4
male lambs, 6 she-goats that have
given birth, 1 he-goat, [2] female
kids: Seal of Ziqarru.”
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Clay Balls (bullae)
u
So far c. 220 bullae have been
published. Only 8 % show marks
on the outer surface, which can
be interpreted as numerical
notations.
u
These marks could have been
made by finger imprints, or imprints
by a (round) stylus, or even the
tokens themselves.
u
The total of imprints usually
corresponds with the content of the
bulla.
Susa (Sb 1940)
MESOPOTAMIA
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES BEFORE WRITING
Numerical tablets
MS 3144
u
Clay was flattened to tablets. The tablet was
impressed with similar marks compared to the
bullae and then sealed.
u
These tablets can be considered the direct
antecedents of true writing.
Susa (Sb 2313)
MESOPOTAMIA
CHRONOLOGY BETWEEN URUK AND SUSA
Uruk
Susa
Sallaberger & Schrakamp 2015: 55, Table 16
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Numero-ideographic
tablets
u
Attested at the
beginning of the Late
Uruk Period.
u
Numerical notations are
now accompanied by
one or two ideographic
signs.
u
Similar developments in
southern Mesopotamia
and Susa (Iran) at the
same time.
GCBC 869
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
The earliest texts inscribed
with Proto-Cuneiform show
drawings or pictograms.
u
Early cuneiform attests
to roughly 1,900 signs;
c. 600 without variants
Cammarosano 2014:
66, Fig. 8 und 11
GCBC 869
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Invention of writing
Mesopotamia
From Enmerkar and the Lord of Arata (lines 500–506):
(This) was his (i.e., Enmerkar’s) speech, (but) its meaning was
completely hidden.
The messenger could not repeat it – the matter was too
demanding.
Because the messenger could not repeat it – the matter was too
demanding,
The Lord of Kulaba (i.e., Uruk) patted some clay and put (his)
words on it like a seal.
Before that day, there had been no putting words on clay.
But now, under the sun of this day, it was indeed so:
The Lord of Kulaba put words on clay, it was indeed so.
CBS 10436
(University of
Pennsylvania
Museum)
Invention of writing
Egypt
From Plato, Phaedrus, 274e:
(Socrates:) I heard, then, that at Naucratis, in Egypt, was one
of the ancient gods of that country, the one whose sacred
bird is called the ibis, and the name of the god himself was
Theuth. He it was who invented numbers and arithmetic
and geometry and astronomy, …, and, most important of
all, letters. “This invention, o king,” said Theuth, “will make
the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memories; for it is
an elixir of memory and wisdom that I have discovered.”
Thoth
(Metropolitan
Museum of Art)
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
19 donkeys, female
35 donkeys, male
1 calf, female
The earliest true texts
inscribed with ProtoCuneiform show drawings
or pictograms.
u
Obverse
Reverse
Only in the earliest
stage signs were incised
into the clay surface.
MS 3154
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Types of signs
u
numerical notations
u
pictographic signs
u
abstract signs
u
matrix signs
HEAD + RATION BOWL =
“ration, food, etc.”
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
25 she-goats
5 goats (under the
responsibility of) EN KU6 RAD;
YBC 7056
(Total:)
30 small cattle.
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
u
Currently c. 6,000 tablets and
fragments are known which represent
the earliest records (c. 3400–3200 BCE).
Almost all texts originate from Uruk.
u
u
Uruk
u
Layer IV: c. 1,790 texts
u
Layer III: c. 3,100 texts
Jemdet Nasr
u
u
Umma (?)
u
u
Layer III: c. 270 texts
Layer III: c. 410 texts
Larsa
u
Layer III: c. 25 texts
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Stone documents, which probably attest
transactions of land.
FIELD
YBC 2244
“Blau” Monuments
MORPHOGRAPHY
THE CASE OF SUMERIAN
u
The early writing system was still
adaptable and new sign variants
can be introduced.
KALAMa
[...]
KALAMc
KALAMd
KALAMe
KALAMf
MORPHOGRAPHY
THE CASE OF SUMERIAN
Matrix signs (also frame signs or container signs)
u
signs that can incorporate other signs, which
provide semantic (and sometimes) phonetic
information.
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM, NUMERICAL SYSTEMS
Proto-Cuneiform used roughly a dozen
different numerical systems, depending
on what was counted. In total, there are
c. 60 different numerical signs.
u
Each system follows different bundling
rules.
u
(Nissen, Damerow, and Englund 1993: 26, Fig. 27)
MESOPOTAMIA
„1“
10
PROTO-CUNEIFORM, NUMERICAL SYSTEMS
„10“
6
Sexagesimal System S
u
System used to count most
discrete objects (e.g., humans
and animals, dairy and textile
products, fish, wooden and
stone objects, and containers)
„60“
10
„600“
6
„3600“
10
„36000“
MESOPOTAMIA
…
PROTO-CUNEIFORM, NUMERICAL SYSTEMS
5
ŠE System Š
u
6
System used to note capacity
measures of grain (barley)
10
u
Numerical notations may show
different types of hatchings,
which correspond to different
subsystems for certain types of
grain (malt; emmer; or other
grain products).
3
10
MSVO 4, 66
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
How are we able to decipher archaic texts?
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Reading convention:
5(N14) 4(N1) UDUa
GALa GAa GALa BAD3b
ZATU 628b KI NIa ZATU 821 GI4a
5(N14) 4(N1) Z575a
Z188a Z159a Z188a Z44b
Z628b Z289 Z393a Z821 Z212a
MS 2500
(Z(ATU) = Green, Zeichenliste der
Archaischen Texte aus Uruk, 1987)
Compare Proto-Elamite
[…] M263b1 3(N1)
M387 M263b1 1(N1)
(M = Meriggi, La scrittura proto-elamica, 1974)
Economic text from Susa (Sb 22285)
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Readings of
Proto-Cuneiform
signs are often
conventionalized
based on (much)
later evidence.
Uruk IV/III
(c. 3300–3000)
(Uruk)
ED IIIa
(c. 2600–2500)
(Fara, TAS)
ED IIIb
(c. 2350–2250)
(Ebla)
Old Babylonian
(c. 1900–1600)
(Ur)
BUtenû+BU+KALAM
gu2-ti-irki
ki-de3ki
„KITI“
(ZATU 299)
BUtenû+KALAM
MS 2436
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Approx. 12 % of all archaic texts are not
economic but contain lists of signs/words.
These word lists were standardized at the
end of the fourth millennium BCE and
copied entry by entry throughout the
next millennium.
Extract of list of titles and
professions (MS 2429/4)
Most of the early word lists are thematic,
i.e., the contents of each list follow
specific semantic categories: e.g., lists of
designations for fish; lists of items
associated with vessels; lists of cities; etc.
List of types of wood and
wooden objects (W
20327,2; after: ATU 3, 23,
Fig. 7)
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
Many of the Uruk
word lists dating to
the 3300–3100 BCE
can be traced in
manuscripts
throughout the third
millennium until the
beginning of the
second millennium.
Jemdet
Nasr
Fara/TAS
13+ word lists
(Uruk)
Ebla
Kiš
Nippur
Ur
3000
2000
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
The standardization of word lists
allows to make correspondences
between the later version of a
cuneiform character and its earlier,
archaic predecessor.
Corresponding sign,
c. 1800 BCE
Sheep accounts, 4th vs.
1st millennium BCE
MESOPOTAMIA
PROTO-CUNEIFORM
3200–3000 BCE
2600 BCE
2400 BCE
67
ĜIR2a UDUa
udu ĝir2
[ĝir2] udu ug7 |URUDA|
|Copper| dagger (for
killing) sheep
68
AN ĜIR2a UDUa
AN udu ĝir2
[AN] ĝir2 udu ug7 |URUDA|
AN |Copper| dagger
(for killing) sheep
69
ĜIR2a AB2
ab2 ĝir2
ĝir2 ab2 ug7 |URUDA|
|Copper| dagger (for
killing) cow
70
ĜIR2a [AN AB2]
AN ab2 ĝir2
[…]
[AN |Copper| dagger
(for killing) cow]
71
ĜIR2a [KU6a]
ku6 ĝir2
[…]
[|Copper| dagger (for
filleting) fish]
72
ĜIR2a [AN] KU6a
AN ku6 ĝir2
[AN] ĝir2 ku6 dar |URUDA|
AN |Copper| dagger
(for filleting) fish