The First Alphabet (NOVA) (2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The First Alphabet is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2020.

 

It is part one of a miniseries in two parts called A to Z. The title of part two is How Writing Changed the World.

 

We are talking about two episodes of the long-running program NOVA, which is dedicated to the history of science and technology.

 

Part one is about the history of writing in the ancient world, with special focus on two locations:

 

** Ancient Egypt and the writing system which was used there: hieroglyphs

** Ancient Mesopotamia and the writing system which was used there: cuneiform

 

This film focuses on these pictorial writing systems in order to find out how they paved the way for the creation of the first true alphabet, the Phoenician alphabet.

 

Here is some basic information about this film:

 

** Writer, producer, and director: Hugh Sington

** Narrator: Jeannette Robinson

** Language: English (mostly)

** Subtitles: English

** Available on the PBS website

** Run time: 54 minutes

 

Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants:

 

** Ahmad Al-Jallad – philologist, author

** Yongshen Chen – philologist

** Günter Dreyer – Egyptologist (he speaks German)

** Yasmin El-Shazy – Egyptologist

** Irving Finkel – philologist (he is an expert on ancient Mesopotamia)

** Orly Goldwasser – Egyptologist

** Dekuan Huang – author

** Yves Leterme – calligrapher (Belgium)

** Brody Neuenschwander – calligrapher

** Pierre Tallet – Egyptologist (he speaks French)

** Lydia Wilson – historian

** Bill Yidumduma Harney – artist (Australia)

 

The first writing systems in the world were created in two locations which are not far from each other. It happened at the same time (ca. 3000 BC) (perhaps 3200 BC):

 

Ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamia. 

 

These locations are part of the area which is known as the fertile crescent, a boomerang-shaped area, which was the cradle of the first civilizations in the ancient world. Egypt in the west and Mesopotamia in the east.

 

The people of ancient Egypt created a writing system which is known as hieroglyphs, while the people of ancient Mesopotamia created a writing system which is known as cuneiform. Both cases represent a pictorial writing system. We do not yet have an alphabet.

 

According to this film, we can identify the location where the transformation from a pictorial system (hieroglyphs) to an alphabet began: Serabit El-Khadim in the Sinai Peninsula.

 

Asian workers who came to work here were Canaanites who were related to the Phoenicians.

 

The Phoenicians were based in an area which corresponds to present-day Lebanon.

 

They lived between Egypt (in the south west) and Mesopotamia (in the north east).

 

They had contact with both civilizations and noticed that both of them had a writing system.

 

Inspired by Egypt and Mesopotamia, they created their own writing system, which was not a pictorial system but the first true alphabet (ca. 1200 BC).

 

The Phoenicians were traders who sailed all over the Mediterranean Sea and had contact with many peoples living in this area.

 

Inspired by the Phoenicians, the Greeks created their own version, the Greek alphabet (ca. 1000 BC).

 

Inspired by the Greeks, the Etruscans created their own version, the Etruscan alphabet (ca. 700 BC).

 

Inspired by the Etruscans, the Romans created their own version, the Latin alphabet (ca. 600 BC).

 

What do reviewers say about this documentary miniseries?

 

On IMDb, part one has a rating of 80 percent, while part two has a rating of 82 percent. Both ratings correspond to a rating of four stars on Amazon.

 

On Amazon the miniseries A to Z has at the moment 39 ratings, 8 with reviews.

 

The average rating is 4.8 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 96 percent. Here are the details:

 

5 stars = 84 percent

4 stars = 16 percent

3 stars = zero

2 stars = zero

1 star = zero

 

I understand the positive reviews and I agree with them. The topic is important. The story deserves to be told, and in this miniseries, it is done very well.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS. The miniseries A to Z, which runs for almost two hours, is a short version of a BBC program, broadcast in 2020, which runs for almost three hours: The Secret History of Writing presented by Lydia Wilson:

 

** Episode 1 = From Pictures to Words

** Episode 2 = Words on a Page

** Episode 3 = Changing the Script

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Books

 

Writing Systems of the World: Alphabets, Syllabaries and Pictograms by Akira Nakanishi (1990)

 

A History of Writing: From Hieroglyphs to Multimedia by Anne-Marie Christin (2002)

 

A History of Writing by Steven Roger Fischer (2004) (2021)

 

The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process by Stephen D. Houston (2004) (2008)

 

The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and Pictograms by Andrew Robinson (2007)

 

The Oxford History of Historical Writing - Volume One: Beginnings to AD 600 edited by Andrew Feldherr and Grant Hardy (2011) (2015)

 

The Golden Thread: A History of Writing by Ewan Clayton (2014)

 

# 2. Items available on the internet

 

Lydia Wilson, “Who Invented the Alphabet?” The Smithsonian Magazine, January 2021

 

Cari Shane, “Why was the alphabet invented, anyway?” Discover Magazine, 25 February 2022

 

*****

 

Go to the next installment:

 

How Writing Changed the World

 

*****

 

How Writing Changed the World (NOVA) (2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Writing Changed the World is a documentary film which premiered on US television (PBS) in 2020.

 

It is part two of a miniseries in two parts called A to Z. The title of part one is The First Alphabet.

 

We are talking about two episodes of the long-running program NOVA, which is dedicated to the history of science and technology.

 

Part two is about writing in the ancient world. You can write on bones and on stones, but if you want to have mass production and mass circulation, you need to have some kind of paper.

 

This film is about writing in the ancient world with special focus on the different types of paper which were available to those who knew how to read and write.

 

Here is some basic information about it:

 

** Writer, producer, and director: Hugh Sington

** Narrator: Jeannette Robinson

** Available on the PBS website

** Language: English (mostly)

** Subtitles: English

** Run time: 53 minutes

 

Several persons are interviewed in the film. Here are the names of the participants:

 

** Ahmad Al-Jallad – philologist, author

** Joost Depuydt – curator, Plantin-Moretus Museum, Antwerpen

** Nick Jardine – philosopher of science

** Wang Jianing – calligrapher

** Giles Mandelbrote – author, librarian and archivist, Lambeth Palace Library

** Lee Mapley – parchment and vellum maker

** Sunatullo Muhkhitdinov – historian

** Brody Neuenschwander – calligrapher

** Matthew Nicholls – historian

** Samah Salah Elliathy – papyrus expert (Egypt)

** Ludo Vandamme – librarian, Openbare Library, Brugge (Bruges)

** Jiang Xun – publisher

 

In the ancient world, several types of paper were available to those who knew how to read and write:

 

# 1. Papyrus was made from the papyrus plant which grew and still grows along the river Nile in Egypt.

 

Papyrus is relatively cheap. According to calligrapher Brody Neuenschwander, it is easy to write on papyrus. This means the writing can be quite fast.

 

In other words: mass production and mass circulation can happen. Papyrus is mainly associated with the Roman Empire.

  

# 2. Parchment was made from the skin of animals, for instance the skin of a goat.

 

Parchment was invented in Pergamon in Asia Minor in present-day Turkey. The product is named after the location where it was invented.

 

Parchment is relatively expensive. According to calligrapher Brody Neuenschwander, it is difficult to write on parchment. This means the writing is quite slow.

 

In other words: mass production and mass circulation cannot happen. Parchment is mainly associated with the Middle Ages.

 

# 3. Paper was made from the bark of the mulberry tree. It was invented by the Chinese around AD 100.

 

The Chinese wanted to have a monopoly on this product. They did not want other people to know how it was made. The method was a carefully-guarded secret, just like the production of silk.

 

The Chinese managed to keep the recipe for paper secret for 700 years. But around 800, the secret was revealed. From this moment in time, other people could produce paper, if they wanted to do so.

 

Paper was relatively cheap. As we all know, it is easy to write on paper. The writing can be quite fast.

 

In other words: mass production and mass circulation can happen. During antiquity and the Middle Ages, paper was mostly used in China and other parts of Asia.

 

The Chinese writing system was created long before the invention of paper. The Chinese writing system was created around 1500 BC. Before the invention of paper, the Chinese wrote on bones and on stones.

 

# 4. Thin wooden tablets can be used for writing. This type of paper was used in the Roman Empire. In most cases, this product will not last long.

 

But numerous thin wooden tablets have survived in one location: the Roman fort Vindolanda, near Hadrian’s Wall, in the north of England.

 

The discovery of the Vindolanda tablets is well-known in the classical community, but for some reason, this type of ancient paper is not mentioned in the film.

 

What do reviewers say about this film?

 

On IMDb, part one has a rating of 80 percent, while part two has a rating of 82 percent. Both ratings correspond to a rating of four stars on Amazon.

 

On Amazon the miniseries A to Z has at the moment 39 ratings, 8 with reviews.

 

The average rating is 4.8 stars, which corresponds to a rating of 96 percent. Here are the details:

 

5 stars = 84 percent

4 stars = 16 percent

3 stars = zero

2 stars = zero

1 star = zero

 

I understand the positive reviews and I agree with them. The topic is important. The story deserves to be told, and in this miniseries, it is done very well.

 

I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars (100 percent).

 

PS. The miniseries A to Z, which runs for almost two hours, is a short version of a BBC program, broadcast in 2020, which runs for almost three hours: The Secret History of Writing presented by Lydia Wilson:

 

** Episode 1 = From Pictures to Words

** Episode 2 = Words on a Page

** Episode 3 = Changing the Script

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. Books

 

Writing Systems of the World: Alphabets, Syllabaries and Pictograms by Akira Nakanishi (1990)

 

A History of Writing: From Hieroglyphs to Multimedia by Anne-Marie Christin (2002)

 

A History of Writing by Steven Roger Fischer (2004) (2021)

 

The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process by Stephen D. Houston (2004) (2008)

 

The Story of Writing: Alphabets, Hieroglyphs and Pictograms by Andrew Robinson (2007)

 

The Oxford History of Historical Writing - Volume One: Beginnings to AD 600 edited by Andrew Feldherr and Grant Hardy (2011) (2015)

 

The Golden Thread: A History of Writing by Ewan Clayton (2014)

 

# 2. Items available on the internet

 

Lydia Wilson, “Who Invented the Alphabet?” The Smithsonian Magazine, January 2021

 

Cari Shane, “Why was the alphabet invented, anyway?” Discover Magazine, 25 February 2022

 

*****