Jean-FrançoisChampollion(1790 - 1832)

Deciphered the Egyptian hieroglyphic, hieratic and demotic scripts in 1822.

Yuri Knorosov (1922 -

1999) Deciphered Mayan writing in 1952-1958, based on a phonetic key provided by the 16th-century Franciscan friar Diego de Landa.

Where do we find writing in our world?

For what purposes do we use writing today?

“... God ... in mysterious Sinai’s awful cave To Man the wond’rous art of writing gave ...”

- William Blake, Jerusalem (1820)

(With thanks to Kendra Brown, and apologies to Michael Coe 1999:18)

Bend One Knee Swiss Cheese Zone Excitement Ahead

Harry Potter and theForehead Caterpillar

No BoomerangsAllowed

SasquatchCrossing

Z O Ö L O G YZ O Ö L O G Y

Pictography

‘Yukaghir Love Letter’ (c. 1892)

- See Robinson, p.57

ba c d

x

Chief Big Road's Pictorial Roster, ca. 1883

Photograph courtesy of the National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution, Washington

Translated Names fromChief Big Road's Pictorial Roster:A ‘Rosetta Stone’ for Plains Pictography?

fr. Mallery, 1887, Pictographs of the North American Indians, p.175

Olmec Colossal Head 2, San Lorenzo(ca. 1200-400 BC)

Three Macaws?

Pictography and name of the Aztec Emperor Ahuitzotl (AD 1486-1502)

Images of the ahuitzotl ‘river otter’

EYE SAW (n.) ANT ROSE

I saw (v.) aunt Rose.

Rebus

EYE CAN KNOT BEE MAID 2 PICK TIE + KNEE FLOWERS

I cannot be made to pick tiny flowers.

Rebus letter written by Lewis Carroll to a young friend (c. 1869)

Rebus letter written by the twelve-year-old JRR Tolkien

(Bodleian Library, Oxford)

MM

EYEEYE DEERDEER OWLOWL FRANCEFRANCE HISSHISS

My dear ol’ Francis...My dear ol’ Francis...

‘Narmer’ in the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, preceded by his scribe and general. His name is written nr-mr, an abbreviation

of nr-mr-tʒ-(w), perhaps meaning ‘Livid Catfish’.

Names and titles of ‘Narmer’ on an ivory label, found in his probable tomb at Abydos

Pictography, Rebus andPhoneticism in the name ofK’ahk’ Tiliw Chan Chahk,ruler of Naranjo (AD 693-728)

K’AHK’-TIL-wi CHAN-na-CHAHK

K’AHK’-TIL-wi CHAN-na-CHAHK

Quipu andQuipucamayoc(Quipu keepers)

Aztec Number Signs in the Matricula de Tributos

P – U – SH O – N – C – E FOR H – E – L – PP – U – SH O – N – C – E FOR H – E – L – P

I N C A S E O F F I R E O R E M E R G E N C Y

U S E S T A I R W A Y S