Sign, Symbol, and Script: Origins of Written Communications and the Birth of the Alphabet
Murphy Entertainment Group
Written language is arguably humankind's most important invention. This delightfully accessible documentary uses maps, tables, artifacts, and copious examples to trace the progression of communication through its six stages: gestures, picture writing, pictograms, ideograms, phonograms, and acrophonic characters. Through detailed narration, the program explores topics such as the function of tokens, wall paintings, and wampum; the flowering of Egyptian hieroglyphs, Mesopotamian cuneiform, and Chinese ideograms; the influence of Ugaritic cuneiform and Sinaitic script; and the metamorphosis of the Phoenician alphabet into the Latin characters used today. (40 minutes)