I. Writing
 

A. Mesopotamia
 

1. Beginnings
 
 
 
 
 

2. Second Stage (reduction of number of signs e.g.), c. 3500-2900 B.C.E.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

3. Third Stage, c. 2600-2400 B.C.E.

4. Different Theories of the Origins of Writing

5. Duration of Sumerian

 
 
 
 

B. Egypt
 

1. hieroglyphics: by c. 3,100 B.C.E.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. hieratic script: c. 3,000-2,600 B.C.E.
 
  

3. scribes: emerge fully by Middle Kingdom

 

C. Religion and Writing

1. The Sacred Meaning of Writing
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. Tying Sacred & Secular

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A. Principles in Common

1. The Role of Believers








2. The Role of Priests







3. Physically Present Deities









4. Modified Polytheism

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

B. The Babylonian Kingdom

1. Gods, Afterlife, and the Divine in Everyday Life

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

C. Death and Afterlife in New Kingdom Egypt
 

1. The Democratization of Death

a. Cult of Osiris

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

2. Pharaoh vs. the Priests of Amun?