The Development of Writing
| The 'genealogy' of the modern alphabet: |
| Egyptian pictographic (hieroglyphics) |
| first appear c. 3300 BCE in temple of Eanna in Uruk |
| represent ideas as well as objects |
| a step toward a true writing system |
| pictograms and ideograms begin to represent words |
Phoneticization (rebus writing) |
| logograms used to represent the sounds of words |
| symbol for 'arrow' (Sumerian 'ti') also came to mean 'life' (Sumerian 'ti') |
| a gradual simplification of the signs |
| produced with a wedge-shaped stylus pressed onto clay tablets |
| adopted by neighboring and succeeding civilizations |
| symbols represent the sounds of syllables rather than words |
| Elamite syllabic cuneiform: |
| more efficient than logograms |
| less efficient than alphabetic writing |
Sumerian cuneiform was a word-syllabic system |
| included signs for words and syllables |
| restricted to an educated elite |
The background of Gilgamesh
Geography of the Tigris-Euphrates valley |
| surrounded by mountains and desert |
| inhabitants at the mercy of nature |
| drought and floods equally destructive |
| except water, soil and clay |
| could be limited or closed by neighbors |
| agricultural revolution, c. 10,000 yrs. ago |
| gradually coalesce to form cities |
| The gods were seen as influencing every aspect of life |
| Priests and temples dominate early cities |
| own about one third of land |
| originally rule the cities |
| cities unite into the kingdom of Sumer |
| rule by over-kings c. 2700 BCE |
| the historical? Gilgamesh 27th c BCE |
Important successor states |
| Akkadian kingdom c. 2300 BCE |
| Old Babylonian kingdom c. 1800 BCE |
| similar to those in the Torah |
| Assyrian Empire 7th c BCE |
| conquered Israel and deported population |
| Babylonian Empire 6th c BCE |
| took ruling elite to Babylon in exile |
Development of The Epic of Gilgamesh |
| circulation of oral tales in Sumeria, beginning of 3rd millenium BCE |
| recorded on tablets by end of the 3rd millenium |
| Sumerian disappears as spoken language c. 2000 BCE |
| Old Babylonian translation, first half 2nd millenium BCE |
| Assyrian translation 7th c BCE |
| found in the palace library at Nineveh |
| all are damaged and fragmentary |
| our edition is a collation of the different versions |
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