Ancient script Research Guide.

1.

Define and give examples of the following:

a. Petroglyphs Greek petra stone+glyphein to carve
These are rock carvings done by chipping the desert varnish(outer layer of
rock darkened by weather) using a stone chisel and hammerstone. Done by
Pueblo Indians before 500AD.

b. Hieroglyphics Greek hieroholy+glyphein to carve

Hieroglyphs are a form of writing using symbols and pictures, commonly
found in Egypt. They were more famous in ancient Egypt, but they were used
by the Maya of Mesoamerica as well. However the Egyptians put in on
papyrus as well as carving it in stone.

c. Ideograms Greek idea form + graph to write

Ideograms were graphic symbols, depicting the idea of something without
indication of pronunciation. An ideogram could depict an entire action or one
object. Examples of ideograms are Chinese characters and numerals.

d. Pictographs Greek picto picture+graph to write

These are ideograms that represent their meanings by depicting the physical
likeness of the object being described. Pictographs are often used in
infographics. Pictograms could be found in cave paintings.

e. Alphabets Greek alpha+beta

Alphabets are a set order of characters, which represent the most basic
sound of a language. When the characters are combined they form the
representation by sound of whatever the combination is meant to describe.

f.

Qoph
The 19th letter in the Hebrew alphabet, with a numerical value of 100.

2.a. There are many alphabets, name three (3).

Cyrillic, Greek and Hebrew

b. Which alphabet is the western standard today?

The Latin alphabet

c. List the advantages and limitations of ideogrammatic codes

A single ideogram can depict an entire sentence/ phrase/ complex action, Easier to
read and understand. However learning the meanings may prove difficult as well as
your interpretation may be very different from someone elses, throwing off the true
meaning.
d. List the advantages and limitations of alphabetic codes
The greatest advantage of alphabetic codes would be the direct meaning each word
carried; this got rid of misinterpretation of image based code. Another advantage
would be the limit of phonemes, which allowed a systematic and fixed form of
speech. The words could be easily reproduced as well, due to the small number of
them. In addition, the small number of letters, when combined in almost an infinite
amount of ways could make words to describe anything. Disadvantages include the
ever changing dialects and actual words, the continuous pronunciation of the
syllables can prove problematic, alphabets in different languages dont mesh very
well and alphabets arent as timeless as ideograms.
e, Which modern communication tools combine pictographic/ ideogrammatic/
alphabetic codes? 2
Smartphones, computers and the like.
f. Name at least one contemporary civilization, which uses an ideogrammatic,
rather than an
alphabetic, written code.
Japan

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3. Surface materials

a. What is the difference between paper and papyrus?

2
Papyrus was made from the papyrus plant and had a rougher more woody texture
while paper is made from a variety of starchy materials along with fiber, generally
smoother and thinner than papyrus.

b. Name six (6) surfaces used for writing and painting before the advent of paper.
Stone, wood, dried animal skins, canvas, cloth and clay.

animal skin parchment

c. Name and describe the tools used for writing on each surface.
Stone chisels, gouges, pigment, paint and needles.

LSN 2014.