Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization

Contents: A difficult topic, little studied, poorly understood What is writing? Writing with signs Categories and features of writing Some general issues in the study of writing Protocuneiform and counting tokens Origins of lexigraphic writing in Mesopotamia Plato's Ideas and Champollion's decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphs Egyptian writing and Egyptian speech The origin and nature of Egyptian writing "The house of life": scribes and writing in ancient Egypt Syllabic scripts of the Aegean The West Semitic revolution What kind of writing was West Semitic? The origins of West Semitic writing Chinese logography Lexigraphic writing in Mesoamerica The Greek alphabet: a writing that changed the world