Chapter 2 Flashcards
Alphabet
A set of visual symbols or characters used to represent the elementary sounds of a spoken language
(derived from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet, “Alpha” and “Beta”
Minoan Civilization
- The Minoan Civilization ranks behind only Egypt and Mesopotamia in its early level of advancement in the ancient western world.
- Minoan and Cretan picture symbols were in use as early as 2800 bce
Crete
The Mediterranean Island where the Minoan Civilization developed.
Phaistos Disk
- Unearthed on Crete in 1908
- A flat terra-cotta disk 16.5 centimeters (6 inches) in diameter
- Has pictographic and seemingly alphabetic forms imprinted on both sides in spiral bands
- one of the most interesting and perplexing relics of the Minoan Civilization
Principal of Moveable type
-Type-like stamps are used to impress each character carefully into a substrate.
- Each character is created as a separate stamp, allowing it to be moved and arranged to create complete words, sentences, or paragraphs as multiple lines of type
Substrate
- A material on which letterforms and images are inscribed.
- Includes papyrus, parchment, wax, stone, wood, etc.
North Semitic writing
Early alphabetic writings created by the Northwest Semitic peoples of the western Mediterranean region
Phoenicia
A culture on the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon and parts of Syria and Israel
Phoenicians
Seafaring merchants of the Mediterranean Sea who developed an early alphabetic writing system, The Phoenician alphabet, which was quickly absorbed by other areas in the region
Sui Generis
- A writing script developed in Byblos, the oldest Phoenician city-state, around 2000 bce
- The script used pictographic signs influenced by cuneiform and hieroglyphics but devoid of any remaining pictorial meaning.
- A major step forward toward the development of an alphabet
Byblos
The oldest Phoenician city-state, where sui generis was developed
Sinaitic Script
an achrophonic adaptation of hieroglyphics designed by Egyptian turquoise miners in the Sinai desert
achrophonic
a pictorial symbol or hieroglyph used to stand for the initial sound of the depicted object
Ras Shamra Script
- A true Semitic alphabetical script found on clay tablets inscribed around 1500 bce.
- It used thirty cuneiform-like characters to represent elementary consonant sounds
Alphabetical order
the sequence in which the letters of an alphabetic script are memorized
Phoenician alphabet
- North Semitic writing
- an early alphabetic system of 22 characters written from left to right
- in use by 1500 bce
Aramaic Alphabet
- first used by tribes from Aram
- A major early derivation from the North Semitic script
- the predecessor of the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets, which developed further into Hebrew and Arabic writing, written right to left
Square Hebrew alphabet
- Developed from the Aramaic alphabet and possibly influenced by Old Hebrew
- Evolved into modern Hebrew
- which consists of 22 consonantal letters, four letters to indicate long vowels, and five letters for use at the end of a word.
- dots and dashes also indicate vowels
Arabic writing
- developed from the Aramaic alphabet with curving calligraphic gestures
- includes 22 original sounds of the Semitic Alphabet supplemented by 6 characters added to the end, 3 characters are also used as long vowels
- diacritical marks are added for short vowels and to distinguish consonant sounds
Kufic
- From the famous Muslim academy at Kufah in Mesopotamia
- A bold inscriptional Arabic lettering with extended think characters
- widely used on coins, manuscripts, and inscriptions on metal and stone
Naskhi
- a more cursive Arabic lettering
- ideal for writing on papyrus
- evolved into the modern Arabic scripts
Qur’an or Koran
the Muslim holy book written in the Arabic alphabet. (Allah (god) and Muhammad)
calligraphy
an early form of art of fine writing using brush strokes
Greek alphabet
- Evolved from the Phoenician, or North Semitic, alphabet
- The Greeks changed 5 consonants to vowels and employed applied geometric structure to the uneven Phoenician characters.
- Through a standardized system of horizontal, vertical, curved, and diagonal stokes, the Greeks achieved visual order and balance.
Votive Stele
An upright slab with an inscribed dedication or sculptured surface used as a monument or commemorative tablet on the facade of a building
Boustrophedon
- from the Greek “to plow a field with an ox”
- a writing method developed by the Greeks in which every other line reads in the opposite direction
uncials
- a more rounded writing style developed by the Greeks
- could be written more quickly because its rounded letters were formed with fewer strokes
Latin alphabet
- modified from the Greek alphabet by the Etruscans
- later adopted by the Romans
- Originally containing only 21 letters, after the letter G was designed by Spurius Carvilius (c. 250 bce) to replace the Greek letter Z
Etruscans
a people whose civilization on the Italian peninsula reached its height during the 6th century bce
Capitalis Monumentalis
- “Monumental capitals” of the Latin alphabet
- Created for Roman architectural inscriptions celebrating military leaders and their victories
- Drawn in thick and thin strokes with organically unified straight and curved lines
Serifs
small lines extending from the ends of the major strokes of a letterform
Capitalis quadrata
- “square capitals’
- written slowly and carefully with a flat pan held at an angle, with stately proportions and clear legibility
- A style widely used from the 2nd century ce until the 5th century
capitalis rustica
- “rustic capitals”
- A condensed letterform style written quickly with a flat-nibbed pen held at almost a vertical position
- Enabled the writer to include half again as many letters on the page as was possible with square capitals
- a style used during the same period as square capitals (2nd century ce till 5th century)
Vellum
the finest parchment, made from the smooth skins of newborn calves
Codex
- The codex book format began to supplant the scroll in Rome and Greece around the time of Christ
- Parchment gathered in signatures of 2, 4, or 8 sheets. They were folded, stitched, and combined into codices with pages like a modern book
- advantages in comparison to scrolls: opening a codex was much quicker than unrolling a scroll, both sides of the parchment could be used (saved storage and material costs) and the durability and permanence of the codex was appealing
Scroll
a roll of parchment, papyrus, or other substrate used for writing a document, called a rotulus
Signature
gatherings of 2, 4 , or 8 sheets that could be folded, stitched, and combined into codices with pages like a modern book
Hangul
- the Korean alphabet
- 14 consonants and 10 vowels
- letters are combined within an imaginary rectangle to form syllabic blocks
- these syllables are made by combining at least 1 consonant and 1 vowel
Cadmus of Miletus
- allegedly designed some of the Greek letters
- is thought to have been the first to bring the alphabet to Greece
Squrius Carvilius
designed the letter G and added it to the Latin alphabet to replace the Greek latter Z (zeta)
Ptolemy V of Alexandria
- ruled c. 205 - 181 bce
- King Eumenes of Pergamum and Ptolemy were engaged in a fierce library-building rivalry
- Ptolemy placed an embargo on papyrus shipments to prevent Eumenes from continuing his rapid production of scrolls
King Eumenes II if Pergamum
- ruled 197 - 160 bce
- library building rivalry with Ptolemy
- Subject to the embargo of papyrus shipments
Sejong
- 1397-1450 ce
- Korean monarch who introduced Hangul, the Korean alphabet, by royal decree in 1446
