Early Civilization & The History of Writing

A History of Western Writing Systems 101
Renowned scholar PhD David Neiman (1921 - 2004)gives an introductory lecture on the history of early Western writing systems. The lecture has some exciting moments, when the good doctor's immense command of the subject shines through, but, in general, the off-the-cuff manner of the delivery of the lecture and the very basic and few visual aids detract from the lecture. Editing the lecture to add a timeline at the bottom of the screen and more photos and better labeling of those artifacts already shown in the video would improve the video greatly.

Notes:

I would add that the word Phoenician means "The Purple People" in Greek. The Canaanites were so called because of their costly and beautiful purple dye derived from the murex. These early traders developed the alphabet on which our own is based. It was far simpler than other writing systems of the time and was probably developed to keep track of trade goods. The new alphabet was adopted by the Greeks and later the...





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