HIS 64 — History of Writing: From Pictograph to Hieroglyph to Alphabet
Quarter: Fall
Instructor(s): Patrick Hunt
Date(s): Oct 10—Dec 5
Class Recording Available: No
Class Meeting Day: Thursdays
Class Meeting Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Please Note: No class on November 28
Tuition: $465
Refund Deadline: Oct 12
Unit(s): 1
Status: Closed
Quarter: Fall
Day: Thursdays
Duration: 8 weeks
Time: 7:00—8:50 pm (PT)
Date(s): Oct 10—Dec 5
Unit(s): 1
Tuition: $465
Refund Deadline: Oct 12
Instructor(s): Patrick Hunt
Recording Available: No
Status: Closed
Please Note: No class on November 28
How and when did humans learn to communicate abstractly by visual symbols beyond verbal language? When can we find the earliest evidence for data encoded in some form of alphanumeric fashion? Did the so-called “Neolithic Revolution,” with technological advances, early agriculture, sedentary lifestyle, and population growth lead to the innovation of writing systems?
In this course, we will explore the history of writing from prehistory on, as writing and language developed to accommodate trade and the exchange of ideas within and between cultures. We will look at such questions as: What does prehistory tells us about the history of writing? How closely related are Mediterranean alphabets around 800 BCE? And how did expanding land and sea transportation propel the development of languages in new directions? We will also explore ancient systems such as Egyptian hieroglyphs; Mesopotamian cuneiform; Ugaritic-Phoenician-Hebrew relatives; classical Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Latin; and Runic writing. Finally, we will highlight principles of language evolution, as well as exciting moments in the history of decoding ancient languages, including the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone, the Behistun Inscription, and tablets from the Royal Assyrian Library at Nineveh.
In this course, we will explore the history of writing from prehistory on, as writing and language developed to accommodate trade and the exchange of ideas within and between cultures. We will look at such questions as: What does prehistory tells us about the history of writing? How closely related are Mediterranean alphabets around 800 BCE? And how did expanding land and sea transportation propel the development of languages in new directions? We will also explore ancient systems such as Egyptian hieroglyphs; Mesopotamian cuneiform; Ugaritic-Phoenician-Hebrew relatives; classical Greek, Etruscan, and Roman Latin; and Runic writing. Finally, we will highlight principles of language evolution, as well as exciting moments in the history of decoding ancient languages, including the discovery and deciphering of the Rosetta Stone, the Behistun Inscription, and tablets from the Royal Assyrian Library at Nineveh.
PATRICK HUNT
Former Director, Stanford Alpine Archaeology Project; Research Associate, Archeoethnobotany, Institute of EthnoMedicine
Patrick Hunt is the author of 26 books and is a lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America. He received a PhD from the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. Hunt is an elected Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club, and he is an explorer and expeditions expert for National Geographic. His Alps research has been sponsored by the National Geographic Expeditions Council. Textbooks for this course:
(Required) Andrew Robinson, The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs, Pictograms (ISBN 978-0500286609 )