Geschichte der Schrift

Writing is one of the oldest cultural techniques of humanity. The challenge of memory in cultures without writing is replaced by new, revolutionary possibilities for storing and transmitting knowledge with the development of writing. But who develops and who uses these new possibilities? What function does writing serve, and how does it change human coexistence? Whether it’s word spelling or phonetic transcription, Harald Haarmann succinctly and vividly describes the various writing systems that have evolved since the first pictorial precursors 7,000 years ago and how our alphabet came into being. In doing so, he offers a fascinating insight into the cultural history of humanity and life in long-lost advanced civilizations.