Schmandt besserat has worked on the origin of writing and counting. How writing came about draws material from both volumes to present schmandt besserat s theory for a wide public and classroom audience. The units to be represented whether individual solulds, syllables, parts of words, or some combination of all three are a function of the structure of the language, the needs and. Ii on the texas data repository available as a pdf or an xml file. When writing met art, literate civilization was born. April 4, 2020 10 results visit s denise schmandt besserat page and shop for all denise schmandt besserat books. The paper analyses the development of the power of abstraction as illustrated by the evolution of counting in the ancient near east. This acclaimed book by denise schmandt besserat is available at in several formats for your ereader. By innovating a new way of keeping records of goods with signs, the envelopes created the bridge between tokens and writing. Pdf a persian translation of how writing came about.
Denise schmandt besserat opened a major new chapter in the history of literacy when she demonstrated that the cuneiform script invented in the ancient near, isbn 97802927345. Denise schmandtbesserat is assistant professor of art at the university of texas at austin and assistant director of the universitys center for middle eastem studies. Denise schmandtbesserat is the author of the history of counting 4. Ii by denise schmandt besserat in this volume, schmandt besserat presents the primary data on which she bases her theories of the development of writing. Denise schmandt besserat s most popular book is the. The excavations at ain ghazal generated an assemblage of 151 animal figurines, most of which depict horned animals such as bulls, goats, rams, and gazelles. Lebanon has always been a welltraveled bridge between east and west, sea and desert that is dense with history. Conversations with guests conference languages in contact 1112 june 2011 wroclaw, poland. How the worlds first accountants counted on cuneiform. From counting to cuneiform, austin 1992, classical world 87.
In these two volumes, denise schmandt besserat set forth her groundbreaking theory that the cuneiform script invented in the near east in the late fourth millennium b. Briscoe center for american history the university of texas at austin 2300 red river street. Based on the analysis and interpretation of a selection of 8,000 tokens or counters from 116 sites in iran, iraq, the levant, and turkey, it documents the immediate precursor of the cuneiform script. Tokens were clay symbols of multiple shapes used to count, store and communicate economic data in oral preliterate cultures. Denise schmandt besserat presents a system of counters tokens that it points out that when writing began in mesopotamia it was not, as previously thought, a sudden and spontaneous invention. These tokenssmall, geometrically shaped objects made of clayrepresented various units of goods and were used to count and account for them. Through a study of archaeological and epigraphic evidence, schmandt besserat traces how the sumerian cuneiform script, the first writing system, emerged from a counting device. Denise schmandt besserat michael erard university of texas, austin writing is a system of graphic marks that represent the units of a specific language. Research materials, manuscript drafts, page proofs, and editorial materials document the creation of denise schmandtbesserat s published works, including before writing 1992, how writing came about 1996, when writing met art 2007, and scholarly articles.
A catalog of near eastern tokens, schmandt besserat presents the primary data on which she bases her theories. Making tokens talk with niloufar moghimi, making tokens talk in anna margherita jasink, judith weingarten and silvia ferrara, eds. How writing came about draws material from both volumes to present schmandt besserat s. From counting to cuneiform, denise schmandt besserat describes how in about 8000 b. Denise schmandt besserat pdf 10 results visit s denise schmandt besserat page and shop for all denise schmandt besserat books. Denise schmandt besserat is assistant professor of art at the university of texas at austin and assistant director of. In her foundational study of neolithic clay tokens, the renowned archaeologist denise schmandt besserat identified that different token shapes represented different goods and were used in accounting and distribution. The origins of writing with denise schmandtbesserat. The invention of the alphabet about 1500 bc ushered in the third phase in the evolution of writing in the ancient near east sass 2005.
The artifacts were cursorily made of coarse clay in a style that combined stylized withers and. Denise schmandt besserat s most popular book is the history of counting. When writing met art from symbol to story by denise. Denise schmandtbesserat born august 10, 1933 in ay, marne, france is a frenchamerican archaeologist and retired professor of art and archaeology of the ancient near east. Her field is the art and archaeology of the ancient near east. Catalogue of animal figurines read on texas scholar works. A catalogue of near eastern tokens denise schmandt besserat. Instead, it was the outgrowth of many thousands of years worth of experience at manipulating symbols.
Pdf archaeology of accounting and schmandtbesserats. Tokens indicate that counting was first done concretely in onetoone correspondence. She spent much of her professional career as a professor at the university of texas. Wed love you to buy this book, and hope you find this page convenient in locating a place of purchase. Denise schmandtbesserat is professor emerita of art and middle eastern studies at the university of texas at austin. The first, socalled protosinaitic or protocanaanite alphabet, which originated in the region of presentday lebanon, took advantage of the fact that the sounds of any language are few. Count her in denise schmandt besserat s new way of seeing by ada calhoun, fri. Denise schmandt besserat opened a major new chapter in the history of literacy when she demonstrated that the cuneiform script invented in the ancient near east in the late fourth millennium bcthe worlds oldest known system of writingderived from an archaic counting device. Books by denise schmandtbesserat author of the history. Denise schmandtbesserat author of the history of counting. Above the layers of antiquity lies a land of mesmerizing beauty and contrast from the modernity of beirut, once known as the paris of the middle east to the lush cedars.
The origins of writing with denise schmandtbesserat youtube. How writing came about denise schmandt besserat on free shipping on qualifying offers. Schmandt besserat s pioneering investigation of the interface between writing and art documents a key turning point in human history, when two of our most fundamental information media reciprocally multiplied their capacities to communicate. It is generally agreed that writing was invented in sumer, ancient mesopotamia and presentday iraq, and spread from there to other parts of the. The history of counting schmandt besserat, denise, hays, michael on. No wonder nobody had made the connection before schmandt besserat. A guide to the denise schmandtbesserat papers, 19532016. Download the pdf 548 kb read on texas scholar works.