Collaborative Research - 4. Alphanumeric Notation and the Calendrical-Musical Kosmos

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The Creation of Order »  Query: 4. Alphanumeric Notation and the Calendrical-Musical Kosmos

Collaborative Research

Quoted text:

Seals were early writing. They were also symbol-systems, but their very artisticness was quite different from writing. The art which defined higher officials was complex, and writing must be standardized and regularized, and above all simple, to be understood (as pointed out by Gelb[1] in A Study of Writing).

Can you add some basic context about the materials used in early writing (the basics of cuneiform, reeds in clay, and cylinder seals) to Chapter 4’s opening?

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  1. I.J. Gelb, A Study of Writing (Chicago: 1962).