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1900 BCE
Egyptian For Dummies
At the same time as Egypt's Literary Golden Age, Semitic Mercenaries, who were taken with the Egyptian's method of storing records and data, could not learn each intricacy of Egypt's vast set of signs. Thus, they created a simplistic version of Egyptian that their people could easily learn and understand (Gnanadesikan 145). -
1800 BCE
Egypt's Literary Golden Age
It was at this time that short alphabetic inscriptions were discovered on the cliffs of the Valley of Terror. This marked some of the first discoveries of an alphabet (Gnanadesikan 144). -
1780 BCE
Funerary Texts
In the Middle Kingdom in Egypt, it became customary to write texts on the coffins of nobility. Words were considered to be alive and to forever hold the memory of the deceased (Gnanadesikan 45). This is one of the first occurrences of noting the spiritual power of words and writing. -
1529 BCE
Book Burnings
Holy Roman Emporer, Charles V, ordered the burning of all copies of Martin Luther's work. The church worried about the spread of "bad ideas" through the more efficient use of the printing press as opposed to handwriting (256-257). -
1400 BCE
No More Pictures
It was in this time period that new, simple lines became the standard form or writing; a rudimentary system of words. The use of images was less frequent. The new set of lines was a transition from proto-Canaanite to Old Canaanite (Gnanadesikan 146). -
1265 BCE
Dante
A prominent literary who championed the success of Italian vernacular. This allowed people who struggled with Latin (illiterates) to enjoy stories (Gnanadesikan 251). -
1200 BCE
Fake News
A writing technique and tactic used to demean and cause harm to someone or something. It is usually written in the form of a news article and can sometimes be hard to detect. This is another example of the power of writing and technology. (This dates back to the 13th century, but is still alive and well today). -
1051 BCE
Moveable Type
Developed by Bi Sheng, the first form of moveable type was carved into clay, baked into hard blocks, and arranged onto an iron frame that was pressed against an iron plate. This replaced the traditional panels of printing blocks (https://www.history.com/topics/inventions/printing-press). (Photo from Google.) -
1050 BCE
Syria-Palestine
Writing now ran left to right and most letters faced the same direction creating uniformity (Gnanadesikan 148). -
775 BCE
Greek Beginnings
The Greek people were interested in the Phoenician concept of writing. They did not follow the Phoenician alphabet entirely due to the fact that many letters and sounds could not be translated exactly. They, therefore, created an interesting mash-up of Greek and Phoenician (Gnanadesikan 208-213). -
580 BCE
Sappho
The great female poet (dubbed "The Tenth Muse" by Plato) refined the Sapphic Meter. This is typically meant to be sung alongside the accompaniment of a lyre. This is the fundamental creation of "lyric poetry" (https://poets.org/poet/sappho) and is atypical of the idea of writing being used merely for record-keeping. (Photo from Smithsonian Magazine.) -
509 BCE
Roman Adaptation
The Romans adopted different parts of Etruscan words and alphabet which is essentially a different spin on the Greek alphabet. This is further evidence of how languages evolve through different patterns and paths and often take notes from prior alphabets and words (Gnanadesikan 229). -
330 BCE
Byzantine Diacritics
(330-1453) This time in history yielded small letters. Alphabets, like the Greek alphabet, were written in all capital letters. The invention of minuscule letters added a new balance to letters, and perhaps better legibility (Gnanadesikan 221). -
Standardized Writing Tests
"Formal written testing begins to replace oral examinations administered by teachers and schools at roughly the same time as schools changed their mission from servicing the elite to educating the masses" (http://www.nea.org/home/66139.htm). This shows a shift in the idea that writing is an important skill. Oral communication does not equal literacy. -
Word Processor
"Word processing", first used by IBM, refers to a typewriter that stores words on magnetic tape. This was different than a normal typewriter that churned out clunky letters with information not as easily stored compared to a word processor (Gnanadesikan 267). -
Laptops
The creation of laptops provided new ways to write. The portability of laptops also changed how people wrote. The added technology of a computer you can carry with you plus writing as technology created opportunities to write on-the-go. Portable writing is not something that would have been possible back in ancient Rome for example. -
World Wide Web
The first website was created this year, and in just four short years the number of websites multiplied in astounding numbers. Some say this created a threat to print writing because everything that needs to be stored and recalled can be done at the push of a few buttons and keys (Gnanadesikan 270-271). -
Kirstyn is born!
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Emojis
These simple images have the ability to convey numerous, sometimes ambiguous, emotions. Having gained immense popularity throughout the years, emojis are incredibly prevalent in today's texting culture. This harkens back to hieroglyphics and other image-based writing. -
Tweet This!
The creation of Twitter spurred a new and interesting way to communicate thoughts and snapshots of information. With only 140 characters at their disposal, writers had to learn to be concise. This may have been the beginning of a downfall of grammar and punctuation as users had to accommodate limited space. (Photo from Vanity Fair.) -
The Kindle
With the ability to store hundreds of books on a tiny device, this digital library and bookstore further changed how we read and store data. It's another example of how digitized writing has become.
