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The Origins of Writing
The alluvial plains of southern Mesopotamia in the later half of the fourth millennium B.C. witnessed a immense expansion in the number of populated sites. Scholars still debate the reasons for this population increase, which seems to be too large to be explained simply by normal growth. One site, the city of Uruk, surpassed all others as an urban center surrounded by a group of secondary settlements. It covered approximately 250 hectares, or .96 square miles, and has been called "the first city in world history." The site was dominated by large temple estates whose need for accounting and disbursing of revenues led to the recording of economic data on clay tablets. The city was ruled by a man depicted in art with many religious functions. He is often called a " priest-king ." Underneath this office was a stratified society in which certain professions were held in high esteem. One of the earliest written texts from Uruk provides a list of 120 officials including the leader of the city, leader of the law, leader of the plow, and leader of the lambs, as well as specialist terms for priests, metalworkers, potters, and others. Many other urban sites existed in southern Mesopotamia in close proximity to Uruk. To the east of southern Mesopotamia lay a region located below the Zagros Mountains called by modern scholars Susiana. The name reflects the civilization centered around the site of Susa.
The Origins of Writing | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art ubaid period in the ancient near east uruk in the ancient near east geography/place... iraq object... amulet cylinder seal stamp seal tablet writing implement subject matter/theme... archaeology from asia cuneiform ... share... | more ... recent archaeological research indicates that the origin and spread of writing may be more complex than previously thought. complex state systems with proto-cuneiform writing on clay and wood may have existed in syria and turkey as early as the mid-
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/wrtg/hd_wrtg.htm [1195 words]
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Associated subjects: ancient near eastern art (+), cyprus (+), city of uruk (+), minoan (+), hittites (+), mycenaean pottery (+), roman empire (+), ottoman empire (+), rome (+)
Ugarit | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art . it is clear from excavations that ugarit was first settled in the neolithic period (about 6500 b.c. ) and had grown into a substantial town by the early third millennium b.c. ugarit is mentioned in cuneiform documents discovered at mari on the euphrates dating to the middle bronze age (ca. 2000–1600 b.c. ). however, it was in the fourteenth century b.c. that the city entered its golden age.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/ugar/hd_ugar.htm [1140 words]
![Administrative tablet with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars [Mesopotamia] (1988.433.1) ¦ Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History ¦ The Metropolitan Museum of Art](http://kunstbus.com/images/k/me/www.metmuseum.org/toah_2F_images_2F_h2_2F_h2_1988.433.1.jpg)
Administrative tablet with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars [Mesopotamia] (1988.433.1) but from the beginning a significant component of the written tradition consisted of lists of words and names that scribes needed to know in order to keep their accounts. signs were drawn with a reed stylus on pillow-shaped tablets, most of which were only a few inches wide. the stylus left small marks in the clay which we call cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, writing. this tablet most likely documents grain distributed by a large temple, although the absence of verbs in early texts makes them difficult to interpret with certainty.
http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/1988.433.1 [281 words]
Administrative tablet with cylinder seal impression of a male figure, hunting dogs, and boars ¦ Highlights ¦ Ancient Nea but from the beginnings a significant component of the written tradition consisted of lists of words and names that scribes needed to know in order to keep their accounts. signs were drawn with a reed stylus on pillow-shaped tablets, most of which were only a few inches wide. the stylus left small marks in the clay which we call cuneiform, or wedge-shaped, writing. this tablet most likely documents grain distributed by a large temple, although the absence of verbs in early texts make them difficult to interpret with certainty.
http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/all/administrative_tablet_with_cylinder_seal_impression/object [348 words]