Script

Definition

Script is any particular system of writing or the written means of human communication. In the West writing begins in Sumeria over 4,000 years ago and their Epic of Gilgamesh is a stunning example of what the written word can produce. The Sumerians considered writing a gift from the god Enlil (as, later, the Babylonians would also claim from their own god, Nabu).

In ancient Egypt the god Thoth (not surprisingly, the patron god of scribes) created script. Thoth “was not only the scribe and historian of the gods but also kept the calendar and invented art and science. In some Egyptian myths, Thoth is also portrayed as the creator of speech and possessing the power to transform speech into material objects. This ties in closely with the Egyptian belief that in order for a person to achieve immortality his or her name must be spoken or inscribed somewhere forever”.

In Greece writing begins with the Myceneaen Civilization and the as-yet undecipherable Linear B script. The alphabet of most modern languages originated in ancient Phoenicia and first came to Greece sometime before the 8th century, from whence it spread. Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey, written around the 8th century, are early examples of Greek use of the Phoenician alphabet, as are the classics Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod.

Written by Joshua J. Mark, published 02 September 2009.

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Articles

• The beginnings of the written culture in Antiquity

  This paper proposes an analysis of writing as a system for communication, since its origins, in terms of its uses and socio-cultural context. We shall also look to review and comment on the way in which it has evolved in time and space and its primordial domains for expression. Likewise, we shall look...

• What happened to the Great Library at Alexandria?

  Once the largest library in the ancient world, and containing works by the greatest thinkers and writers of antiquity, including Homer, Plato, Socrates and many more, the Library of Alexandria,  northern Egypt, is popularly believed to have been destroyed in a huge fire around 2000 years ago...

• The Phoenician Alphabet and Language

  Phoenician is a Canaanite language closely related to Hebrew. Very little is known about the Canaanite language, except what can be gathered from the El-Amarna letters written by Canaanite kings to Pharaohs Amenhopis III (1402-1364 BC) and Akhenaton (1364-1347 BC). It appears that Phoenician language, culture...

• Cuneiform Writing

  Writing is undeniably one of humanity's most important inventions. The earliest forms of storing information on objects were numerical inscriptions on clay tablets, used for administration, accounting and trade. The first writing system dates back to around 3000 BC, when the Sumerians developed the first...

Illustrations

Script Books

• Breaking the Maya Code Michael D. Coe Thames & Hudson (01 October 1999) Price: $14.96

• Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the... Laurence Bergreen William Morrow (14 October 2003) Currently unavailable

• Their Way of Writing: Scripts, Signs, and Pictographies in Pre-Columbian America... Anonymous Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (31 October 2011) Price: $54.24

• Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts Andrew Robinson Thames & Hudson (06 April 2009) Price: $18.37

• Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama... Paul Chitlik Michael Wiese Productions (01 March 2008) Price: $10.83