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Writing and Civilization: From Ancient Worlds to Modernity

Season 1
The written word is so central to our lives that it can seem as if it has always existed. Yet writing is a relatively recent invention. Trace the remarkable saga of "visible speech" from its earliest origins to its future in the digital age. In this thrilling journey, you'll explore how an array of sophisticated writing systems developed, then were adopted and adapted by surrounding cultures.
IMDb 6.0201324 episodesTV-PG
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Episodes

  1. S1 E1 - What Is Writing?
    September 26, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    It has been said that writing exists only in a civilization and a civilization cannot exist without writing, but is that accurate? Consider the validity of this statement and examine several of the critical functions that writing has served during the past 5,000 years. Also, get an introduction to pictography and its limitations.#Literature & Learning
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  2. S1 E2 - The Origins and Development of Writing
    September 27, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    Now that you understand the significance of writing, explore three popular beliefs or myths about where writing comes from and how it developed. Investigate the theories of monogenesis versus polygenesis--whether writing was only invented once or independently in locations around the world--and the reasons writing systems are resistant to change.
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  3. S1 E3 - Where Did Our Alphabet Come From?
    September 27, 2013
    29min
    TV-PG
    Most alphabets in use today are derived from one script developed over 4,000 years ago. What accounts for the vast popularity of the Roman or Latin alphabet? This lecture takes you back to ancient Egypt as you investigate the origin of our alphabet and the contributions made to it by the Canaanites.
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  4. S1 E4 - The Fuþark--A Germanic Alphabet
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    Runes are often mistakenly thought to be a semimagical system of signs used for divination and ritual, but nothing could be further from the truth. Look at the real history of the Runic alphabet--also known as the Fuþark --as a case study for why writing systems rise and fall.
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  5. S1 E5 - Chinese--A Logosyllabic Script
    September 27, 2013
    29min
    TV-PG
    In continuous use for almost 3,400 years, the Chinese script and its derivatives are used by more than 1.5 billon people around the world. Examine popular myths about Chinese writing as you discover the earliest origins and evolutions of Chinese characters (known as Hanzi), and differentiate between the five sign groups found in Chinese.
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  6. S1 E6 - Japanese--The World's Most Complex Script
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    Borrowed and adapted from the Chinese, Japanese writing is the most complicated script ever devised, yet it's used by more than 100 million people daily. Investigate how and why Japanese writing took on the complex form it has today, why attempts to simplify it have had little success, and why it's unlikely the system will ever be abandoned.
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  7. S1 E7 - What Is Decipherment?
    September 27, 2013
    29min
    TV-PG
    The earliest writing systems are known to us only through the efforts of archaeological decipherment. But how can archaeologists be certain that the knowledge is accurate? Learn a bit of history on cryptography and the differences between decipherers and code-breakers as you examine the theory and methodology of decipherment, as well as the evidence it considers.
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  8. S1 E8 - The Five Pillars of Decipherment
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    First, get an introduction to the five preconditions or "pillars" necessary for decipherment to be possible, paying particular attention to the first pillar, known as script type. Then turn to the typology of the three main categories of signs found across the world--logograms, phonograms, and semantic signs--and consider how these signs are combined in different writing systems.
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  9. S1 E9 - Epigraphic Illustration
    September 27, 2013
    28min
    TV-PG
    As you turn to the second pillar of decipherment--the body of texts available for study--consider how epigraphers find a broad, accurate, and readily accessible corpus to examine. Walk through methods for recording inscriptions, and contrast early and modern illustrations of the Classic Maya site of Palenque in Chiapas, Mexico, to see the evolution of epigraphic illustration.
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  10. S1 E10 - The History of Language
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    Investigate the importance of language, the third pillar of decipherment, by starting with the story of the decipherment of ancient Sumerian, the language of ancient Mesopotamia. Learn how scholars known as philologists or historical linguists use the comparative method of linguistic reconstruction to compare related languages and reconstruct their shared ancestor.
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  11. S1 E11 - Proper Nouns and Cultural Context
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    As you consider the fourth pillar of decipherment, cultural context, see how most epigraphers' efforts begin with the recognition of proper nouns. Then meet the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, and learn how he became the source of much of our information for the cultural context of Old World writing systems.
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  12. S1 E12 - Bilinguals, Biscripts, and Other Constraints
    September 27, 2013
    29min
    TV-PG
    Napoleon's expedition to Egypt is most celebrated for its discovery of the Rosetta stone, which contains ancient Greek writing, Egyptian hieroglyphs, and demotic script. Consider this icon of decipherment as the first and most famous example of a biscript, and discover just how common such artifacts are around the world.
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  13. S1 E13 - Egyptian--The First Great Decipherment
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    Before Jean-Francois Champollion deciphered hieroglyphic writing in 1822, no one had been able to read a word of Egyptian. Why were Egyptian history and its ancient language and writing system forgotten? How did early attempts at decipherment go astray? Get the answers here as you learn what clues led Champollion to success.
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  14. S1 E14 - What Do Egyptian Hieroglyphs Say?
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    Join Professor Zender as he reads hieroglyphs that Champollion's efforts helped to recover from oblivion, and see how you too can learn to decipher this blend of phonetic signs, logograms, and semantic signs. Also, consider the interaction of Egyptian writing and culture, including how the practice of damnatio memoriae was used to strike names from official records.
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  15. S1 E15 - Old Persian--Cuneiform Deciphered
    September 27, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    Meet Georg Grotefend, a German high school teacher who made an incomparable contribution to the study of ancient writing and civilization. As you investigate the methods he used to decipher Old Persian cuneiform in the Achaemenid texts of Persepolis, delve into a bit of history on this culture's language and the foundation that was already established for the decipherment.
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  16. S1 E16 - What Does Cuneiform Say?
    September 27, 2013
    32min
    TV-PG
    See how scholars revealed a lost world of language and literature when they expanded upon Grotefend's breakthroughs by relating Old Persian to the ancient cuneiform scripts that preceded it. Next, trace the development of writing through 3,500 years of Mesopotamian history, and consider what ancient texts such as The Epic of Gilgamesh can teach us about ancient cultures of this region.
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  17. S1 E17 - Mycenaean Linear B--An Aegean Syllabary
    September 27, 2013
    32min
    TV-PG
    How did the decipherment of Linear B change perceptions of ancient Aegean civilization? Why are epigraphers still perplexed by many Linear B spellings? Wade into the discovery, decipherment, and contents of this intriguing ancient writing system--Europe's earliest attempt at writing--and measure it against what you've learned about decipherment of Egyptian and cuneiform scripts.
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  18. S1 E18 - Mayan Glyphs--A New World Logosyllabary
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    Investigate whether the features of Old World scripts such as Chinese and Japanese, Egyptian hieroglyphs, cuneiform, and Linear B apply to the unrelated scripts of the New World. Focus specifically on Yuri Knorosov's decipherment of Mayan hieroglyphic writing and how living in Cold War Russia both helped and hindered his work.
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  19. S1 E19 - What Do the Mayan Glyphs Say?
    September 27, 2013
    30min
    TV-PG
    How can the strikingly similar structural features of the Mayan and ancient Egyptian writing systems be explained? Continue your exploration of how Mayan writing works through a comparison with Egyptian hieroglyphs. Then find out what scholars have learned about ancient Maya civilization from decipherment, and examine a series of fascinating--and even humorous--inscriptions.
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  20. S1 E20 - Aztec Hieroglyphs--A Recent Decipherment
    September 27, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    Complex views of Aztec civilization are too often replaced with a one-note narrative that focuses only on the practice of human sacrifice. Look more closely at the system Aztecs invented to write their Nahuatl language, which is still spoken by more than one million modern Mexicans in the form of about a dozen regional dialects.
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  21. S1 E21 - Etruscan and Meroïtic--Undeciphered Scripts
    September 27, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    Despite decades of effort by many qualified epigraphers, there are still dozens of undeciphered scripts. Turn to the failures of decipherment and the lessons that can be drawn from them by focusing on the attempted decipherment of two scripts--Etruscan and Meroïtic--which recorded languages with no known relatives or descendants.
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  22. S1 E22 - Han'gul, Tengwar, and Other Featural Scripts
    September 27, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    Move from writing systems that developed over time to scripts that were deliberately designed by an individual or group, often for use as a universal system. See how these "featural" writing systems betray their intentional design through an examination of examples including Korean Han'gul, Lodwick's Universall Alphabet, and J. R. R. Tolkien's Tengwar and Certar.
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  23. S1 E23 - Medium and Message
    September 27, 2013
    31min
    TV-PG
    Whether on papyrus, bamboo, clay, stone, or wood, writing shows an important relationship between medium and message. Explore the influence media have had on writing's shape, direction, and use by delving into the origins of terms used for writing implements, the process for making papyrus, the phasing out of scrolls by codices, and more.
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  24. S1 E24 - The Future of Writing
    September 27, 2013
    32min
    TV-PG
    Will typing replace handwriting? Will e-books make printed books obsolete? Will speech-to-text software replace our need to physically write at all? Join Professor Zender as he speculates about the future of writing based on past developments, from the invention of movable type to new signs and spelling conventions inspired by the QWERTY keyboard.
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Subtitles
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Producers
The Great Courses
Cast
Marc Zender
Studio
The Great Courses
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