Subject: Re: [HM] First kind of writing
From: Milo Gardner (milo.gardner@24stex.com)
Date: Thu Jan 27 2000 - 18:09:55 EST
Dinesh makes the point that writing may have first appeared in the
Indus Valley around 3,300 BC. My two part question to him is:
1. Has he seen the broader literature of the origin of writing
including Egypt around 3,300 BC? Artifacts were reported in
in the USA press last year, or so. Associated with this question,
Sumer's writing has been dated to around 3,000 BC, based on a
'fingers and toes' view of its related arithmetic (per Denise S-B).
Elam should also be considered in this race for first in writing.
2. Was a high level of math existant prior to writings' emergence
in any or all the 'first' Western cultures? It has been noted
that Sumer first built a huge canal system, requiring significant
math and engineering skilles before 3,000 BC (I have read as
early as 3,500 BC). Denise S-B's 'fingers and toes' token view
of writing may be wrong, or short-sighted, in several respects.
If so, a high level of math may have existed in the Indus Valley,
Sumer, Elam and Egypt, providing a required intellectual basis for
writing to take form (as independently repeated in Mesoamerica,
and possibly China).
That is, the Indus Valley has been under reported with respect to
the dating and contents of its early math and writing system(s).
Dinesh is correct on his reports. However, he same under reporting of
early math and writing history can be ascribed to Elam and Egypt.
Regards to all,
Milo Gardner
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b28 : Fri Jan 28 2000 - 17:07:27 EST