The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process

by Stephen D. Houston (Editor)

Although ancient writing offers our first glimpse of history, people and institutions, its origins remain mysterious. This book presents the most up-to-date analysis of the origins of ancient writing. Studying often neglected writing systems, such as those of Mesoamerica, leading scholars collectively discuss how these scripts came into existence and developed during their first centuries of use. Egypt, Mesopotamia, Elamite, Mesoamerica and the Maya, Shang and Runic are represented.

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, History, Anthropology

436 pages, Hardcover

First published December 13, 2004

Reviews

[Vella Marcin]

Let’s begin with the history of ‘scriptwriting’ and ‘play-writing’. Once, some folks wanted to write stories. You know: things that imaginative minds think when they are not sleeping. And then they wanted to show it to people. How would it be if we could even dress them up as characters and set up the stage with lights and paints?—They thought. But damn! Those needed coins—loads of foul coins. Of course, poor fellas didn’ have them. What should we do? What should we do?—they thought. They went to the local authority. ‘We don’t want it,’ they said. They went to the library, ‘We have no space for it,’ they said. They went to the fancy stores. ‘The play sounds garbage. No one will want it,’ they said. So the playwrights and script-makers decided to play the game differently. They suited themselves up in chivalry, which I remind you, we have it quite a lot in our—um, places where it matter let’s say instead of arses you know. Anyways, they went to the mayors and the kings this time. ‘If you planned a chivalry, you gotta post it to the write place of the body,’ they thought, and so, they played their chivalry right. Right enough, that is. And the kings … well, they were kings. They had other rival kings who they had to show off to. You know, about things like what jewels they have in their baggage and how many grass they have in their gardens. And how many mangoes get turned into poop everyday. Besides, it’s a bad reputation to turn down anyone who asks for patronage even if it’s a write in the costume of chivalry. Yeah. That’s what you are to the kings. But hey, you cannot just be too generous when you are kings. Right? You gotta sponsor a playwright or two to fancy up your reputation, but you can’t do it without some gain from every end. ‘What if his throat belongs to me?’ the kings thought. So the king called the playwright: “You have to make that stupid king of Dumbenhall fuck a pig on the stage. I don’t want to hear anything else. You put that on the scene or else no funding for you,” the king said. Well, what else the poor playwright can do? He wants his story out to be shown into the world like those scientists want their nukes and viruses out into the world. ‘It’s out passion,’ they thought, ‘I don’t care what effect it brings to people. I just wan’ my damn story out.’ So, there he goes. Sold his soul, not to devil, perhaps, yet it was the devils at play in all their whispering. He belonged to the devil. He parrots whatever his fat king dictates. He thinks he is making his dreams come true. But no. He is only making his fat kings’ pleasure come to his platter for a five minutes of laughter. So that’s the story of how plays and dramas came to be. It has become what today’s showbiz is. It has becomes today’s Hollywood, k-pop, and even the anime world in the far-east. Of course, folks are fighting. You can always recognize who are fighting by seeing what they make. We will always recognize whose voices are sold, while whose honors are still intact in their throats even if there are needles around their neck. God evolves their throats into something sublime for telling the truth so that the needles around their neck doesn’t bother them. I guess you have noticed it already? Good. This writing is for the post where it was notified to me that a young boy will lose his writing-job if I fight the false gods. How dare you? You hold one of your own kids as an emotion-hostage in front of me so that I act in favor of you? After you conspired against me and my companions?