February 2011 Dinner Meeting

  • 02/16/2011
  • 5:00 PM
  • Cliff Dwellers, 200 S. Michigan, Chicago, 22nd Floor

Registration


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Speaker: Christopher Woods

“Visible Language: The Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Near East and Beyond”

There have been four instances in human history when writing was invented from scratch, with no previous exposure to writing - in Mesopotamia and Egypt in the second half of the fourth millennium BC, in China at the end of the second millennium BC, and in Mesoamerica in the first millennium BC. These are the four "pristine" writing systems from which all others likely developed. Christopher Woods, curator of the current exhibit of the same title at the Oriental Institute, will illustrate and talk about some of the more important objects on display, discuss the newest research on the origins of writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt, and how these relate to the Chinese and Mesoamerican inventions.

Cliff Dwellers, 200 S. Michigan, 22nd floor. Timing: spirits at 5:00, dinner at 6:00, program at 7:30.



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