Playing with Writing in the Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth Centuries
Playing with Writing in the Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth Centuries
This chapter discusses the shift from representation using images to the use of writing. By adding a few supplementary characters to Semitic written characters, the Greeks produced a modified alphabet that was able to represent not only consonants but also vowels and could thus, more or less, mirror the sound shape of oral expressions. From the second half of the eighth century onward, written characters have been found on Greek ceramics. These writings were used for three different functions that appear in chronological stages. The first stage comprises vessels with an inscription carved into them after, as opposed to during, production. The second stage comprises inscriptions that are not engraved after the completion of the vessel but painted on prior to firing. Finally, the third stage comprises written text that is related to the images themselves.
Keywords: writing, written characters, Greeks, modified alphabet, Greek ceramics
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