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The Ancient Egyptian God of Writing and Wisdom, Thoth
Thoth is the ancient Egyptian god of wisdom, magic, writing and the moon and was one of the most important gods of the Egyptian pantheon. As the son of gods representing order and chaos, he was also considered the god of equilibrium which...
Definition
Greek Alphabet
The Greek Alphabet developed from the Phoenician script at some point around the 8th century BCE. The earlier Mycenaean Linear B script, used primarily for lists and inventories, had been lost during the Greek Dark Age, and the technology...
Article
Immortality of Writers in Ancient Egypt
For the ancient Egyptians, life on earth was only one part of an eternal journey which continued after death. One's purpose in life was to live in balance with one's self, family, community, and the gods. Any occupation in Egypt was considered...
Article
Sumerian Civilization: Inventing the Future
Imagine something that has never been thought of before. If one holds a book in one's hands, one can imagine an e-book, a large-print book, a picture book, all kinds of books. But how does one imagine a book in a world where even the concept...
Definition
Egyptian Hieroglyphs
The Egyptian hieroglyphic script was one of the writing systems used by ancient Egyptians to represent their language. Because of their pictorial elegance, Herodotus and other important Greeks believed that Egyptian hieroglyphs were something...
Article
Wall Reliefs: Apkallus of the North-West Palace at Nimrud
Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people. (Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right). When it comes to religion, many people...
Video
Irving Finkel discusses Cuneiform
Come behind the scenes to the Arched Room – an architectural highlight home to thousands of cuneiform tablets. Travel back in time to the ancient Middle East with Curator Irving Finkel. This was originally broadcast on 31 March 2016 as...
Video
How Korea crafted a better alphabet - History of Writing Systems #11 (Featural Alphabet)
The Korean alphabet is better than yours. Meet the king who invented it and watch him work his linguistic magic in this chapter in the history of writing. You wake up in another palace. This time you're in Korea. The first face to greet...
Video
Writing Old Norse in Runes (remake/improved)
Writing in runes isn't a simple one-to-one conversion of one letter to one rune. This video shows how Old Norse was written using the runes of the Younger Futhark, and then looks at examples of real inscriptions from the Viking Age. Contents...
Video
What's hiding inside Maya glyphs - History of Writing Systems #6 (Syllabary)
Maya glyphs aren't just Mesoamerican eye candy. They're a working writing system! Unlike the thousands of logograms encountered in your journey so far, the Maya syllabary lets you combine a very limited number of syllables into a block...