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Writing : theory and history of the technology of civilization / Barry B. Powell.

By: Powell, Barry B
Publisher: Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.Description: xx, 276 p. : ill., maps, music ; 24 cm.ISBN: 9781405162562 (hardcover : alk. paper); 1405162562 (hardcover : alk. paper)Subject(s): Writing -- History | Alphabet -- History | Writing -- Social aspectsDDC classification: 411.09
Contents:
Introduction : 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 -- Summary and conclusions.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Book Book British Museum Middle East Shelves GEN I 2 POW (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available ME000000020188
Book Book British Museum Middle East Shelves CRATE 5 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 54060000261411
Total holds: 0

Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-269) and index.

Introduction : 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 -- Summary and conclusions.