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Proto-cuneiform Numerals
The Proto-Cuneiform numerals are one of the most complex Numeral system, systems of enumeration in any early writing system. Their decipherment took place over several phases in the 20th century, including major advances in Adam Falkenstein’s 1936 signlist, specific studies by Jöran Friberg [:de:Jöran Friberg, de] and A. A. Vajman, and ultimately the identification and decipherment of fifteen distinct systems of enumeration in the collaborative efforts of Peter Damerow and Robert Keith Englund, Robert K. Englund in the 1980s as part of the Archaische Texte aus Uruk project. Basis Alongside the decipherment of specific numerical systems, Denise Schmandt-Besserat has long argued that Proto-Cuneiform signs generally, including both numerical and non-numerical signs, were based on three-dimensional tokens that were in use in the ancient Near East for millennia. This idea, which seems to be based on a suggestion from Amiet, has been subjected to a great deal of discussion and cr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Cuneiform
The Proto-Cuneiform script was used in Mesopotamia from roughly 3300 BC to 2900 BC. It arose from the token based system used in the region for the preceding millennia and was replaced by the development of early Cuneiform script in the Early Dynastic I period. While the underlying language of Cuneiform is definitively Sumerian, the language base for Proto-Cuneiform is as yet uncertain. History Beginning around the 9th millennium BC a token based system came into use in various parts of the ancient Near East. These evolved into marked tokens and later marked envelopes, often called clay bullae. It is usually assumed that these were the basis for the development of Proto-Cuneiform. Proto-Cuneiform emerged in the Uruk IV period, circa 3300 BC and continued though the Uruk III times. The script slowly evolved over time with signs changing and merging. It was initially used in Uruk, later spreading to a few additional sites like Jemdet Nasr. Finally, in the Early Dynastic I (c. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Numeral System
A numeral system (or system of numeration) is a writing system for expressing numbers; that is, a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using Numerical digit, digits or other symbols in a consistent manner. The same sequence of symbols may represent different numbers in different numeral systems. For example, "11" represents the number ''eleven'' in the decimal numeral system (used in common life), the number ''three'' in the binary numeral system (used in computers), and the number ''two'' in the unary numeral system (e.g. used in Tally marks, tallying scores). The number the numeral represents is called its value. Not all number systems can represent all numbers that are considered in the modern days; for example, Roman numerals have no zero. Ideally, a numeral system will: *Represent a useful set of numbers (e.g. all integers, or rational numbers) *Give every number represented a unique representation (or at least a standard representation) *Reflec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Writing System
A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable form of information storage and transfer. Writing systems require shared understanding between writers and readers of the meaning behind the sets of characters that make up a script. Writing is usually recorded onto a durable medium, such as paper or electronic storage, although non-durable methods may also be used, such as writing on a computer display, on a blackboard, in sand, or by skywriting. Reading a text can be accomplished purely in the mind as an internal process, or expressed orally. Writing systems can be placed into broad categories such as alphabets, syllabaries, or logographies, although any particular system may have attributes of more than one category. In the alphabetic category, a standard set of letters represent speech ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Adam Falkenstein
Adam Falkenstein (17 September 1906 – 15 October 1966) was a German Assyriologist. He was born in Planegg, near Munich in Bavaria and died in Heidelberg. Life Falkenstein studied Assyriology in Munich and Leipzig. He was involved primarily with cuneiform, particularly discoveries in Uruk, and with the Sumerians and their language. From 1930 onward, Falkenstein taught as a professor of Assyriology at the Göttingen University. In 1940 he accepted a teaching assignment at Heidelberg University as a professor of semitic languages. He joined the Nazi Party in 1939. In 1941 he flew to Baghdad with Fritz Grobba when Haj Amin al-Husseini and Rashid Ali al-Gaylani organized a brief, pro-German coup supported by weapons shipments from the German Reich. Afterward he was employed by the German foreign service in Turkey. Nothing is known about his de-nazification. From 1939 to 1944 he was editor of the professional journal ''"Orientalische Literaturzeitung"''; from 1950 until his deat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peter Damerow
Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) Culture * Peter (actor) (born 1952), stage name Shinnosuke Ikehata, Japanese dancer and actor * ''Peter'' (album), a 1993 EP by Canadian band Eric's Trip * ''Peter'' (1934 film), a 1934 film directed by Henry Koster * ''Peter'' (2021 film), Marathi language film * "Peter" (''Fringe'' episode), an episode of the television series ''Fringe'' * ''Peter'' (novel), a 1908 book by Francis Hopkinson Smith * "Peter" (short story), an 1892 short story by Willa Cather Animals * Peter, the Lord's cat, cat at Lord's Cricket Ground in London * Peter (chief mouser), Chief Mouser between 1929 and 1946 * Peter II (cat), Chief Mouser between 1946 and 1947 * Peter III (cat), Chief Mouser between 1947 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Keith Englund
Robert K. Englund (March 29, 1952 - May 24, 2020) was an American Archaeologist and Assyriologist. Biography Robert Keith Englund was born in Bellingham, Washington; attended high school in Yakima, WA; and enrolled in mathematics at the University of Washington in 1970. He quit in 1972 to travel the world (supporting himself through jobs such as carpentry), then enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley (1974) where he completed a BA in Near Eastern Studies in 1977. After a year of graduate work at the University of Chicago, he transferred to the University of Munich, where he completed his PhD dissertation "Verwaltung und Organisation der Ur III-Fischerei (The Administration and Organization of Ur III Fisheries)" under advisor Dietz-Otto Edzard. The thesis analyzed accounting in the Ur III period Third Dynasty of Ur in the third millennium BC to provide economics-based insight into the organization of state-dependent workers and supervisors in fisheries. After post-d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denise Schmandt-Besserat
Denise Schmandt-Besserat (born August 10, 1933 in Ay, Marne, France) is a French-American archaeologist and retired professor of art and archaeology of the ancient Near East. She spent much of her professional career as a professor at the University of Texas. Austin American-Statesman, Michael Barnes, ''The Austinite who discovered origin of writing'', 3 July 2016, p. D1 She is best known for her work on the history and invention of writing. While her research is highly cited, it has been controversial among scholars. The controversies, as detailed below, concern the interpretation of early tokens, particularly the complex ones; however, the idea that writing emerged out of the counting, cataloging, management, and transactions of agricultural produce has been largely accepted. Early life and education Denise Besserat was born into a family of lawyers and winemakers. Her early education was at the hands of tutors. Her family evacuated to southern France during World War II, after ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proto-Elamite Script
The Proto-Elamite period, also known as Susa III, is a chronological era in the ancient history of the area of Elam, dating from . In archaeological terms this corresponds to the late Banesh period. Proto-Elamite sites are recognized as the oldest civilization in the territory of present-day Iran. The Proto-Elamite script is an Early Bronze Age writing system briefly in use before the introduction of Elamite cuneiform. History Background During the period 8000–3700 BC, the Fertile Crescent witnessed the spread of small settlements supported by agricultural surplus. Geometric tokens emerged to be used to manage stewardship of this surplus.Salvador Carmona & Mahmoud Ezzamel:''Accounting And Forms Of Accountability In Ancient Civilizations: Mesopotamia And Ancient Egypt'', IE Business School, IE Working Paper WP05-21, 2005), p.6 The earliest tokens now known are those from two sites in the Zagros region of Iran: Tepe Asiab and Ganj-i-Dareh Tepe. The Mesopotamian civ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sexagesimal
Sexagesimal, also known as base 60 or sexagenary, is a numeral system with sixty as its base. It originated with the ancient Sumerians in the 3rd millennium BC, was passed down to the ancient Babylonians, and is still used—in a modified form—for measuring time, angles, and geographic coordinates. The number 60, a superior highly composite number, has twelve factors, namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, and 60, of which 2, 3, and 5 are prime numbers. With so many factors, many fractions involving sexagesimal numbers are simplified. For example, one hour can be divided evenly into sections of 30 minutes, 20 minutes, 15 minutes, 12 minutes, 10 minutes, 6 minutes, 5 minutes, 4 minutes, 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute. 60 is the smallest number that is divisible by every number from 1 to 6; that is, it is the lowest common multiple of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6. ''In this article, all sexagesimal digits are represented as decimal numbers, except where otherwise noted. For e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
