a history of science-1-第18章

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probable　that　the　later　Grecian　alphabet　was　introduced　from　Phoeniciathough　not；　of　course；　by　any　individual　named　Kadmus；　the　latter　being；　indeed；　a　name　of　purely　Greek　origin。　Further　studies　of　the　past　generation　tended　to　corroborate　the　ancient　belief　as　to　the　original　source　of　the　Phoenician　alphabet；　but　divided　scholars　between　two　opinions：　the　one　contending　that　the　Egyptian　hieroglyphics　were　the　source　upon　which　the　Phoenicians　drew；　and　the　other　contending　with　equal　fervor　that　the　Babylonian　wedge　character　must　be　conceded　that　honor。　But；　as　has　often　happened　in　other　fields　after　years　of　acrimonious　controversy；　a　new　discovery　or　two　may　suffice　to　show　that　neither　contestant　was　right。　After　the　Egyptologists　of　the　school　of　De　Rouge＇1＇　thought　they　had　demonstrated　that　the　familiar　symbols　of　the　Phoenician　alphabet　had　been　copied　from　that　modified　form　of　Egyptian　hieroglyphics　known　as　the　hieratic　writing；　the　Assyriologists　came　forward　to　prove　that　certain　characters　of　the　Babylonian　syllabary　also　show　a　likeness　to　the　alphabetical　characters　that　seemingly　could　not　be　due　to　chance。　And　then；　when　a　settlement　of　the　dispute　seemed　almost　hopeless；　it　was　shown　through　the　Egyptian　excavations　that　characters　even　more　closely　resembling　those　in　dispute　had　been　in　use　all　about　the　shores　of　the　Mediterranean；　quite　independently　of　either　Egyptian　or　Assyrian　writings；　from　periods　so　ancient　as　to　be　virtually　prehistoric。　Coupled　with　this　disconcerting　discovery　are　the　revelations　brought　to　light　by　the　excavations　at　the　sites　of　Knossos　and　other　long…buried　cities　of　the　island　of　Crete。＇2＇　These　excavations；　which　are　still　in　progress；　show　that　the　art　of　writing　was　known　and　practised　independently　in　Crete　before　that　cataclysmic　overthrow　of　the　early　Greek　civilization　which　archaeologists　are　accustomed　to　ascribe　to　the　hypothetical　invasion　of　the　Dorians。　The　significance　of　this　is　that　the　art　of　writing　was　known　in　Europe　long　before　the　advent　of　the　mythical　Kadmus。　But　since　the　early　Cretan　scripts　are　not　to　be　identified　with　the　scripts　used　in　Greece　in　historical　times；　whereas　the　latter　are　undoubtedly　of　lineal　descent　from　the　Phoenician　alphabet；　the　validity　of　the　Kadmus　legend；　in　a　modified　form；　must　still　be　admitted。　As　has　just　been　suggested；　the　new　knowledge；　particularly　that　which　related　to　the　great　antiquity　of　characters　similar　to　the　Phoenician　alphabetical　signs；　is　somewhat　disconcerting。　Its　general　trend；　however；　is　quite　in　the　same　direction　with　most　of　the　new　archaeological　knowledge　of　recent　decades…that　is　to　say；　it　tends　to　emphasize　the　idea　that　human　civilization　in　most　of　its　important　elaborations　is　vastly　older　than　has　hitherto　been　supposed。　It　may　be　added；　however；　that　no　definite　clews　are　as　yet　available　that　enable　us　to　fix　even　an　approximate　date　for　the　origin　of　the　Phoenician　alphabet。　The　signs；　to　which　reference　has　been　made；　may　well　have　been　in　existence　for　thousands　of　years；　utilized　merely　as　property　marks；　symbols　for　counting　and　the　like；　before　the　idea　of　setting　them　aside　as　phonetic　symbols　was　ever　conceived。　Nothing　is　more　certain；　in　the　judgment　of　the　present…day　investigator；　than　that　man　learned　to　write　by　slow　and　painful　stages。　It　is　probable　that　the　conception　of　such　an　analysis　of　speech　sounds　as　would　make　the　idea　of　an　alphabet　possible　came　at　a　very　late　stage　of　social　evolution；　and　as　the　culminating　achievement　of　a　long　series　of　improvements　in　the　art　of　writing。　The　precise　steps　that　marked　this　path　of　intellectual　development　can　for　the　most　part　be　known　only　by　inference；　yet　it　is　probable　that　the　main　chapters　of　the　story　may　be　reproduced　with　essential　accuracy。

FIRST　STEPS　For　the　very　first　chapters　of　the　story　we　must　go　back　in　imagination　to　the　prehistoric　period。　Even　barbaric　man　feels　the　need　of　self…expression；　and　strives　to　make　his　ideas　manifest　to　other　men　by　pictorial　signs。　The　cave…dwellers　scratched　pictures　of　men　and　animals　on　the　surface　of　a　reindeer　horn　or　mammoth　tusk　as　mementos　of　his　prowess。　The　American　Indian　does　essentially　the　same　thing　to…day；　making　pictures　that　crudely　record　his　successes　in　war　and　the　chase。　The　Northern　Indian　had　got　no　farther　than　this　when　the　white　man　discovered　America；　but　the　Aztecs　of　the　Southwest　and　the　Maya　people　of　Yucatan　had　carried　their　picture…　making　to　a　much　higher　state　of　elaboration。＇3＇　They　had　developed　systems　of　pictographs　or　hieroglyphics　that　would　doubtless　in　the　course　of　generations　have　been　elaborated　into　alphabetical　systems；　had　not　the　Europeans　cut　off　the　civilization　of　which　they　were　the　highest　exponents。　What　the　Aztec　and　Maya　were　striving　towards　in　the　sixteenth　century　A。D。；　various　Oriental　nations　had　attained　at　least　five　or　six　thousand　years　earlier。　In　Egypt　at　the　time　of　the　pyramid…builders；　and　in　Babylonia　at　the　same　epoch；　the　people　had　developed　systems　of　writing　that　enabled　them　not　merely　to　present　a　limited　range　of　ideas　pictorially；　but　to　express　in　full　elaboration　and　with　finer　shades　of　meaning　all　the　ideas　that　pertain　to　highly　cultured　existence。　The　man　of　that　time　made　records　of　military　achievements；　recorded　the　transactions　of　every…day　business　life；　and　gave　expression　to　his　moral　and　spiritual　aspirations　in　a　way　strangely　comparable　to　the　manner　of　our　own　time。　He　had　perfected　highly　elaborate　systems　of　writing。

EGYPTIAN　WRITING　Of　the　two　ancient　systems　of　writing　just　referred　to　as　being　in　vogue　at　the　so…called　dawnings　of　history；　the　more　picturesque　and　suggestive　was　the　hieroglyphic　system　of　the　Egyptians。　This　is　a　curiously　conglomerate　system　of　writing；　made　up　in　part　of　symbols　reminiscent　of　the　crudest　stages　of　picture…writing；　in　part　of　symbols　having　the　phonetic　value　of　syllables；　and　in　part　of　true　alphabetical　letters。　In　a　word；　the　Egyptian　writing　represents　in　itself　the　elements　of　the　various　stages　through　which　the　art　of　writing　has　developed。＇4＇　We　must　conceive　that　new　features　were　from　time　to　time　added　to　it；　while　the　old　features；　curiously　enough；　were　not　given　up。　Here；　for　example；　in　the　midst　of　unintelligible　lines　and　pot…hooks；　are　various　pictures　that　are　instantly　recognizable　as　representations　of　hawks；　lions；　ibises；　and　the　like。　It　can　hardly　be　questioned　that　when　these　pictures　were　first　used　calligraphically　they　were　meant　to　represent　the　idea　of　a　bird　or　animal。　In　other　words；　the　first　stage　of　picture…writing　did　not　go　beyond　the　mere　representation　of　an　eagle　by　the　picture　of　an　eagle。　But　this；　obviously；　would　confine　the　presentation　of　ideas　within　very　narrow　limits。　In　due　course　some　inventive　genius　conceived　the　thought　of　symbolizing　a　picture。　To　him　the　outline　of　an　eagle　might　represent　not　merely　an　actual　bird；　but　the　thought　of　strength；　of　courage；　or　of　swift　progress。　Such　a　use　of　symbols　obviously　extends　the　range　of　utility　of　a　nascent　art　of　writing。　Then　in　due　course　some　wonderful　psychologistor　perhaps　the　joint　efforts　of　many　generations　of　psychologistsmade　the　astounding　discovery　that　the　human　voice；　which　seems　to　flow　on　in　an　unbroken　stream　of　endlessly　varied　modulations　and　intonations；　may　really　be　analyzed　into　a　comparatively　limited　number　of　component　soundsinto　a　few　hundreds　of　syllables。　That　wonderful　idea　conceived；　it　was　only　a　matter　of　time　until　it　would　occur　to　some　other　enterprising　genius　that　by　selecting　an　arbitrary　symbol　to　represent　each　one　of　these　elementary　sounds　it　would　be　possible　to　make　a　written　record　of　the　words　of　human　speech　which　could　be　reproducedrephonatedby　some　one　who　had　never　heard　the　words　and　did　not　know　in　advance　what　this　written　record　contained。　This；　of　course；　is　what　every　child　learns　to　do　now　in　the　primer　class；　but　we　may　feel　assured　that　such　an　idea　never　occurred　to　any　human　being　until　the　peculiar　forms　of　pictographic　writing　just　referred　to　had　been　practised　for　many　centuries。　Yet；　as　we　have　said；　some　genius　of　prehistoric　Egypt　conceived　the　idea　and