History of Reading

1. SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
Sumerian Logographs -- circa 4000 BC
The first writing - Sumerian logographs from
4000 BC - were simply pictures of objects and
activities.
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
Egyptian Hieroglyphs -- 3200 BC – AD 400
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing
system used by the ancient Egyptians that
combined logographic and alphabetic elements.
Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious
literature on papyrus and wood.
PHOENICIAN CIVILIZATION

Phoenician Alphabet -- 2000 BC

The Phoenicians developed the first methods
to represent spoken language - an alphabet
consisting entirely of consonants.
GREEK CIVILIZATION

The Greeks added vowels -- 1000 BC

The Greeks added vowels to the alphabet. This
is essentially the same alphabet we use today -
and it is considered one of humanity's greatest
inventions.



USE OF PUNCTUATION


200 BC--Aristophanes' plays add punctuation

Punctuation was first observed in Alexandrian
manuscripts of plays written by Aristophanes.



USE OF LOWER CASE

700 AD--lower case

Yet another 1000 years passed before the next
improvement in text, namely the invention of
lower case characters by Medieval Scribes
900 AD--spaces between words
About 1000 years ago, in 900 AD, the last major
upgrade in text took place: the insertion of spaces
between words. Also developed by Medieval
Scribes, this invention made it possible, for the
first time, for the vast majority of readers to be
able to read silently.



USE OF SPACES