The Writings of the Ancient Hebrews, Indian, Persian and Arabians - Essay Example

?Early Writings and Their Significance Introduction Writing s back to 3500 B.C. following its invention by the Sumerians, according to Puchner (4). Writings have since developed and used for many purposes other than those for which people initially thought it was meant. People have thought that writing was invented as a means of expressing the innermost thoughts in order for us to be able to understand each other better, write literature, poetry, and philosophy, and thus record the daily experiences. Puchner claims that it has also been widely thought that it was invented to enable us keep in close contact with loved ones, or as a means of communicating with each other or express dreams and sorrows (5). Additionally, some people believed that writing was invented to preserve literature. However, an analysis of early writings suggests that the invention was meant for other purposes other than as preservation of literature. Early writings as depicted in Hebrews, Indian, Persian and Arabic early writings contains commercial, legal, and political information, which is a clear manifestation that early writings were not meant to preserve literature per se. This paper will explore the extent to which early writings as contained in the writings of the ancient Hebrews, Indian, Persian and Arabians is a prove that writings were not invented for preserving literature, rather contains commercial, administrative, legal and political information. Pictograms were the earliest forms of writings by the Sumerians in which the signs resembled the object it depicts, according to Puchner (9). The pictograms were used as a means of communicate vital message about taxes and crops. The depiction of crops on the pictograms was an expression of the economic activities the Sumerians practiced. The taxes, on the other hand, were an administrative expression. This clearly shows that writings were not invented to preserve literature rather depict the economic and administrative works of the Sumerians. The administrative table developed by the Sumerians is also a proof that writing was not invented for preserving literature. The administrative tablets were used to record taxes of different types of livestock such as sheep, goat, and cattle (Puchner et al. 16). For instance, the top of a typical Uruk III administrative tablet lists 21 fatted Cows, a lamb and 2 sheep. The administrative tablets during the reign of Urukagina (2370 B.C.) show records of offerings of livestock and grains at the temple. The writings and records contained in the tablets were purely administrative rather than literary. Woods, Emberling, and Teeler also noted that about 90% of archaic text corpus was administrative in nature (37). In this regard, they noted that the texts were economic figured into a complex bookkeeping system consisting of expenditures and receipts of animals and goods. According to Woods, Emberling and Teeler, the tablets were used for identifying the commodities, their quantities, the institutions and individuals involved in the transaction (37). The records provided details of activities that were involved in the Eana, the Uruk’s central economic unit and sacred precinct. This provides a clear proof that writing was not invented to preserve literature, rather had many other purposes such as for keeping administrative information. The writings of ancient Hebrew also provide a proof that writing was not invented to preserve literature, rather for spiritual and administrative purposes. The Hebrew language, according to Benner, dates back to early 10th century BCE, when it appeared in the form of Geze Calendar (6). However, the first sign of Hebrew writing is found in Genesis 4:15 where God places a ‘mark’ on Cain. Several other pre-flood writings have been discovered in Kish city (Strong 11). Most of these tablets have spiritual meanings rather than just a literary preservation. Genesis chapter 5 gives a genealogical account from the days of Adam to Noah where it becomes evident that all the names are Hebrew. We understand that the names are Hebrew since their meanings are only in Hebrew, which are related to characters of the personalities as enumerated in the Biblical text. For example, the name Adam means ‘man’ in Hebrew language, and Adam also happened to have been the first ‘man’ (Strong 11). Adam has spiritual meaning for Christians as the Bible tells us that he was the first to be created by God and placed in the Garden of Eden where he committed sin after he was deceived to eat the forbidden fruit. In this regard, Christians believed that the sins committed by Adam are what brought them all the sufferings they undergo on their daily lives. Methuselah is also a Hebrew word which h means “his death brings” and there was flooding in the same year he passed on (Strong 12). Noah is also a Hebrew word, which means “comfort.” The name was given in relation to the fact that he was to bring comfort to his people. In this regard, we find that the name had spiritual significance as opposed to being used as a means of preserving literature. Additionally, Noah had three sons Japheth, Ham, and Shem, according to Genesis 9:1. The Bible tells as that God brought flooding during their lives because of man’s sins. From the Bible, we learn that only Noah and his family survived the flooding. It was then that God commanded Noah and his descendants to be fruitful and multiply, which is very spiritual as far as Christianity is concerned. This clearly manifests that writing was not invented to preserve literature rather for spiritual purposes (Benner 6). The Indian early writings also show that writings were not invented as a means of preserving literature. Cioppa notes that most ancient Indus writings are found on approximately 4000 inscribed soapstone seals (2). Most of these seals are hollow which suggest that they might have been strung to enable people to wear them on their necks. Ciopa also noted that inscriptions containing both writings and pictures have been located on small copper tablets and fragment pottery. The writing system in Indus seals, according to Ciopa, is quite different from that of Sumerians (3). Apart from the writing symbols, ancient Indus writing systems had pictures of animals such as water buffalo, tiger, elephant, rhinoceros, antelope, crocodile, goat, and bull. In addition, unicorns were also depicted on the seals. Further, the Indian pictograms had a common theme of a figure seated on the wearing a buffalo-horned headdress and surrounded by several animals, notes Kak (276). These writings and pictograms represent the early form of the Hindu deity, Shiva, Lord of the Beast. These spiritual and cultural representations prove that writing was not invented to preserve literature. The analysis of the Indian early writings also shows that most of the writings were on woven clothing and tatting that are widely believed to have been attached to bales of goods. This implies that they were once involved in economic transactions, according to Kak (376). Some of the Indus seals found in the western Asian sites show that the Indian civilization once traded with Mesopotamia. The Indus ancient writings also had spiritual significance in the sense that most of their early pictorials were in the form of a fish, which according to Indian believe may have meant god, claims Kak (378). Conclusion Based on the analysis of the writings of the ancient Hebrews, Indians, and Persians, it became apparent that writing was not invented for preserving literature. According to the analysis, early writings contained commercial, administrative, spiritual, political, and legal information, which proves the statement right. Works Cited Benner, Jeff A. The Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet: Understanding the Ancient Hebrew language of the Bible based on Ancient Hebrew Culture and Thought. Pp. 1-220. Cioppa, Caren D. The Language and Writing of the Ancient Indus Civilization. University of Alaska Anchorage. P. 1-33. Kak, Subhash. The Evolution of Early Writing in India: Indian Journal of History of Science, vol. 28, 1994, pp.375-388. Puchner, Martin, Suzanne Conklin A., Wiebke Denecke, Vinay, Dharwadker, and Barbara Fuchs. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. New York, NY: W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 2012. Print. Strong, James. New Strong's Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Hebrew Bible. London: Nashville, Nelson, 1995. Print. Woods, Christopher, Geoff Emberling, and Emily Teeter. Visible Language. Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond. The Oriental Institute of the University Of Chicago. Pp. 7-237. Read More