Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization traces the origins of writing tied to speech from ancient Sumer through the Greek alphabet and beyond.* Examines the earliest evidence for writing in Mesopotamia in the fourth millennium BC, the origins of purely phonographic systems, and the mystery of alphabetic writing* Includes discussions of Ancient Egyptian,Chinese, and Mayan writing* Shows how the structures of writing served and do serve social needs and in turn create patterns of social behavior* Clarifies the argument with many illustrations

List of Illustrations ixMaps xivPreface xvChronology xviiIntroduction: A Difficult Topic, Little Studied, PoorlyUnderstood 11 What Is Writing? 112 Writing with Signs 193 Categories and Features of Writing 384 Some General Issues in the Study of Writing 515 Protocuneiform and Counting Tokens 606 Origin of Lexigraphic Writing in Mesopotamia 707 Plato's Ideas and Champollion's Decipherment oftheEgyptian Hieroglyphs 858 Egyptian Writing and Egyptian Speech 1009 The Origin and Nature of Egyptian Writing 10810 "The House of Life": Scribes and Writing inAncient Egypt 12011 Syllabic Scripts of the Aegean 12812 The West Semitic Revolution 14813 What Kind of Writing Was West Semitic? 16314 The Origins of West Semitic Writing 17515 Chinese Logography 18716 Lexigraphic Writing in Mesoamerica 20617 The Greek Alphabet: A Writing That Changed the World 22718 Summary and Conclusions 245Glossary 255Bibliography 263Index 270