Typography Notebook - Early Writing Systems and Historical Milestones

This set of flashcards covers the historical timeline of early writing systems, from Sumerian pictograms and cuneiform to Egyptian hieroglyphics and the Phoenician Alphabeth.

What was the purpose of the first document created in Sumer around 3150 B.C.?

To keep records using pictograms on clay tablets before the writing system existed.

What is the name of the first writing system invented by the Sumerians in 3000 B.C.?

Cuneiform (wedge-shape on clay tablets).

What material did Egyptians create around 2500 B.C. using specific plants?

Papyrus.

What Egyptian structures were completed in 2600 B.C.?

Pyramids at Gyza, Egypt.

What artifact from 2400 B.C. featured hieroglyphic writing in Old Kingdom Egypt?

False Door Stele.

What specific data was listed on the cuneiform tablet from 2100 B.C.?

Expenditures of grains and animals.

Describe the physical characteristics of the Stongenge megalithic monument from 1800–1400 B.C.

30 foot tall stone set into circular patterns.

What type of sculpture with hieroglyphics originated from New Kingdom Egypt between 1570–1349 B.C.?

Polychromed wood sculpture.

What was the 1450 B.C. Book of Dead, associated with Tumosis III, written on?

Hieroglyphic inscription on papyrus.

How many characters were included in the Phoenician Alphabeth created in 1500 B.C.?

22 characters.

Which two works did Homer write around 800 B.C.?

The Iliad and the Odyssey.

Where and when was the first library established?

Athens, Greece, in 540 B.C.

On what material was the Phoenician Alphabeth inscribed in 389 B.C.?

A bowl of marble.

What specific form of writing emerged in the 4th Century B.C.?

Greek manuscript writing.