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Ancient Art and Writing

The document discusses the evolution of writing, starting with cave art and petroglyphs, which showcase early human creativity and communication. It then covers the development of cuneiform in Mesopotamia, transitioning from pictograms to abstract symbols for record-keeping. Finally, it highlights Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Phoenician alphabet, which influenced later writing systems, including the Greek alphabet.

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41 views1 page

Ancient Art and Writing

The document discusses the evolution of writing, starting with cave art and petroglyphs, which showcase early human creativity and communication. It then covers the development of cuneiform in Mesopotamia, transitioning from pictograms to abstract symbols for record-keeping. Finally, it highlights Egyptian hieroglyphs and the Phoenician alphabet, which influenced later writing systems, including the Greek alphabet.

Uploaded by

Chris
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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ROM layout: The Development of Writing

Cave art

Cave paintings are some of the oldest forms of art known to have been created by humans. The
cave paintings found in Europe at Chauvet are over 30,000 years old (what is called the Upper
Paleolithic age). Though older human markings are known, the cave paintings are remarkable
for their sophistication and beauty. They consist of realistic but abstracted images of animals
and outlines of human hands, deep in caves that are not thought to be dwellings, but places of
communal ritual. They show the human capacity of abstract thought, tool use, and
communication.

Petroglyphs

Later rock art starting in the Mesolithic was often carved and showed the addition of human
figures as well as animals. These figures, called petroglyphs, were very abstracted and simple
forms such as these ancient Hawaiian rock carvings.

Early Cuneiform

Early Mesopotamian writing consisted of simple pictograms etched in clay tablets with a reed
stylus from top to bottom, starting at the right corner. Later the pictograms were turned on their
sides to accommodate a change to left to right, horizontal writing. Turning the pictograms on
their sides began the process of making them more abstract symbols. Called Cuneiform, this
writing system is thought to have originated due to the need to keep records of transactions and
taxes, or to label containers with symbols for their contents.

Late Cuneiform
Later Cuneiform was made with a wedge-shaped stylus that was pressed into the clay. The
pictograms became abstract symbols.

Egyptian Hieroglyphs

Egyptian Hieroglyphs (“sacred carvings” in Greek) are thought to have originated from the
influence of the Mesopotamian Cuneiform. The pictograms represented ideas, sounds, and
categories, and were sometimes used as a rebus to represent ideas or words that could not be
shown with a single symbol.

Phoenician symbols
Phoenician is one of the earliest known alphabets, a system of writing using a limited set of
symbols that represent sounds. This is the origin of the word phonetic. The Phoenician alphabet
was taken and modified by the Greeks for their own alphabet.

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