1. Early Civilizations Unit – Mr. Hatch
Egypt and Sumer Origins of the Written Word and the Dawn of History
Early Civilizations Unit – Mr. Hatch

2. What you will learn. . . The Origins of written language
Concrete to Abstract
History of Sumer and Egypt
Early Civilizations Unit Vocabulary
Deciphering Words

3. Concrete to Abstract Ideas
Construct – something constructed by the mind – constructed meaning
Concrete – naming a real thing or based on an actual things or objects
Abstract – expressing something apart from an object – based on ideas
Literal - true to fact; not exaggerated; actual or factual: the primary or strict meaning of the word or words; not figurative or metaphorical.
More Concrete and Literal
More Concrete and Literal
More Abstract
More Abstract

4. Chinese Character – “to listen”
The Chinese characters that make up the verb “to listen” tell us something significant about the skill – An example of a very concrete form of writing.
EYES
UNDIVIDED ATTENTION
HEART

5. Cuneiform – Wedge Shaped Writing of Ancient Sumer
cuneus – wedge (made from the edge of a reed “pen” form - shape
Cuneiform was often carved on clay tablets.
(see page 31 – NEW World History Textbook)

6. Hieroglyphics – Sacred Carvings
hiero – sacred
glyph – carving
Hieroglyphic was a formal writing system used
by the ancient Egyptians that contained a
combination of logographic (ideographic) and
alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive
hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus
and wood. Less formal variations of the script,
called hieratic and demotic, are technically not
hieroglyphs.

7. Papyrus Etymology Papyrus plant growing in a garden, Australia
The English word papyrus derives, via Latin, from Greek πάπυρος papyros. Greek has a second word for papyrus, βύβλος byblos (said to derive from the name of the Phoenician city of Byblos). The Greek writer Theophrastus, who flourished during the 4th century BC, uses papuros when referring to the plant used as a foodstuff and bublos for the same plant when used for non-food products, such as cordage, basketry, or a writing surface. The more specific term βίβλος biblos, which finds its way into English in such words as bibliography, bibliophile, and bible, refers to the inner bark of the papyrus plant. Papyrus is also the etymon of paper, a similar substance.
It is often claimed that Egyptians referred to papyrus as pa-per-aa [p3y pr-ˁ3] (lit., "that which is of Pharaoh"), apparently denoting that the Egyptian crown owned a monopoly on papyrus production. However no actual ancient text using this term is known. In the Egyptian language, papyrus was known by the terms wadj [w3ḏ], tjufy [ṯwfy], and djet [ḏt]. The Greek word papyros has no known relationship to any Egyptian word or phrase.
[edit] Manufacture and use
Papyrus plants at Syracuse, Sicily
Papyrus is made from the stem of the plant. The outer rind is first stripped off, and the sticky fibrous inner pith is cut lengthwise into thin strips of about 40 cm long. The strips are then placed side by side on a hard surface with their edges slightly overlapping, and then another layer of strips is laid on top at a right angle. The strips may have been soaked in water long enough for decomposition to begin, perhaps increasing adhesion, but this is not certain. While still moist, the two layers are hammered together, mashing the layers into a single sheet. The sheet is then dried under pressure. After drying, the sheet of papyrus is polished with some rounded object, possibly a stone or seashell or round hard wood.

8. Hieratic – Egyptian Shorthand
Hieratic was first used during the Protodynastic
Period, (3200 – 3000 B.C.) developing
alongside the more formal hieroglyphic script. It is
an error to view hieratic as a derivative of
hieroglyphic writing. The earliest texts from Egypt
are produced with ink and brush, with no indication
their signs are descendants of hieroglyphs. True
monumental hieroglyphs carved in stone did not
appear until the 1st Dynasty, well after hieratic had
been established as a scribal practice.
The two writing systems, therefore, are related,
parallel developments, rather than a single linear
one.
Hieratic was used throughout the pharaonic period
and into the Graeco-Roman period. However, after
about 660 BC, the Demotic script (and later Greek)
replaced hieratic in most secular writing, but hieratic
continued to be used by the priestly class for several
more centuries, at least into the third century A.D.
Oldest example of hieratic script used for a surgical document, dated c BC
(see page 32 – World History Textbook)

9. Demotic – Egyptian Shorthand of a Shorthand
Demotic Writing
Demotic writing saw its beginnings during the 25th/26th Dynasty, 747 B.C. 525 B.C. This writing language developed out of hieratic, as hieratic developed from hieroglyphic, and was more illegible and the strokes were quicker than hieratic. Demotic texts are never transcribed into hieroglyphs because of the difficulty involved in finding a lost image in a short hand of a short hand. It was mostly used in administrative and private texts, but also in stories and inscriptions. However, Demotic never replaced hieratic completely. In fact, during the height of demotic writing, hieratic was still being used in religious texts.
(see page 32 – World History Textbook)

10. 10 and 2 – “Exit Slip” Read page 32 in the textbook Questions:
1.Could we ever lose our language? Why or Why not?
Think of cell phone shorthand - texting.
URGr8t – BFF
Slang
Ebonics
2. What role does technology have in our language? Does it help or harm?

11. Texting – Cell Phone Shorthand
B4N Bye for now
BFF Best friends forever
BRB Be right back
BTDT Been there, done that
BTW By the way
COZ Because
CUL8R See you later
EG Evil Grin
EZ Easy
FYI For your information
G2G Got to go
GR8 Great
GTG Got to go
HAND Have a nice day
IDK I don't know
ILY I love you
IM Instant messaging
IMHO In my humble opinion
K Okay
L8R Later
LOL Laughing out loud
MOS Mom over shoulder
NE Any
OMG Oh my gosh!
PLZ Please
POS Parent over shoulder
ROTFL Rolling on the floor laughing
RUOK? Are you okay?
SOS Sibling over shoulder
TMI Too much information
TMTH Too much to handle
TTFN Ta ta for now
U You
W/E Whatever
XOXO Hugs and kisses
Y Why
ZZZ Tired or bored

12. A lost language. . . (see page 32 – World History Textbook)
Abbreviated-synopsis in English (eighth of text)
In the reign of the new king who was Lord of the diadems, great in glory, the stabilizer of Egypt, and also pious in matters relating to the gods, superior to his adversaries, rectifier of the life of men, Lord of the thirty-year periods like Hephaestus the Great, King like the Sun, the Great King of the Upper and Lower Lands, offspring of the Parent-loving gods, whom Hephaestus has approved, to whom the Sun has given victory, living image of Zeus, Son of the Sun, Ptolemy the ever-living, beloved by Ptah;
In the ninth year, when Aëtus, son of Aëtus, was priest of Alexander and of the Savior gods and the Brother gods and the Benefactor gods and the Parent-loving gods and the god Manifest and Gracious; Pyrrha, the daughter of Philinius, being athlophorus for Bernice Euergetis; Areia, the daughter of Diogenes, being canephorus for Arsinoë Philadelphus; Irene, the daughter of Ptolemy, being priestess of Arsinoë Philopator: on the fourth of the month Xanicus, or according to the Egyptians the eighteenth of Mecheir.
THE DECREE: The high priests and prophets, and those who enter the inner shrine in order to robe the gods, and those who wear the hawk's wing, and the sacred scribes, and all the other priests who have assembled at Memphis before the king, from the various temples throughout the country, for the feast of his receiving the kingdom, even that of Ptolemy the ever-living, beloved by Ptah, the god Manifest and Gracious, which he received from his Father, being assembled in the temple in Memphis this day, declared: Since King Ptolemy, the ever-living, beloved by Ptah, the god Manifest and Gracious, the son of King Ptolemy and Queen Arsinoë, the Parent-loving gods, has done many benefactions to the temples and to those who dwell in them, and also to all those subject to his rule, being from the beginning a god born of a god and a goddess—like Horus, the son of Isis and Osirus, who came to the help of his Father Osirus; being benevolently disposed toward the gods, has concentrated to the temples revenues both of silver and of grain, and has generously undergone many expenses in order to lead Egypt to prosperity and to establish the temples... the gods have rewarded him with health, victory, power, and all other good things, his sovereignty to continue to him and his children forever.[6]
The complete Greek text, in English,[7] is about 1600–1700 words in length, and is about 20 paragraphs long (average 80 words/paragraph).
In essence, the Rosetta Stone is a tax amnesty given to the temple priests of the day, restoring the tax privileges they had traditionally enjoyed from more ancient times. Some scholars speculate that several copies of the Rosetta Stone must exist, as yet undiscovered, since this proclamation must have been made at many temples.
The Rosetta Stone – After the New Kingdom declined, Egyptians forgot their language. In the 1800’s French Scholar Jean Champollion discovered the Rosetta Stone which helped in deciphering unknown hieroglyphics. The text of the Rosetta Stone is a decree from Ptolemy V, describing the repealing of various taxes and instructions to erect statues in temples.
(see page 32 – World History Textbook)

13. 10-2: Page 14 New World History Textbook
Making Inferences:
“Read Between the Lines”
Complete the History of Communication Question 1-2

14. 10-2 Conclusions? Example: Writing cannot just be for the elite? Why?
Answer: Easily Lost – Lower Class Can be Controlled
Others?

15. 10-2 Conclusions? Example: Writing cannot just be for the elite? Why?
Answer: Easily Lost – Lower Class Can be Controlled
Others?