| | Publishing Timetable |
| | Year | | Event | Keyword |
| | -3500 | | Sumerians use cuneiform alphabet, pressed in clay with a triangular | SUMERIAN CLAY TABLETS |
| | stylus. Clay tablets were dried and/or fired for longevity. Some |
| | even had clay envelopes,' which were also inscribed. Some people |
| | consider them to be the earliest form of the book. |
| | -2500 | | Animal skins are used for scrolls in Western Asia. | WESTERN ASIAN SCROLLS |
| | -2400 | | Date of the earliest surviving papyrus scroll with writing. | PAPYRUS |
| | -1900 | | Hittites, from between 1900 and 1200 BC, left appr. 15,000 clay | HITTITES |
| | -1800 | | Book of the Dead, Egypt | BOOK OF DEAD |
| | -1500 | | c. BC 1500, Shang dynasty in | paper |
| | China. The traditional date for the invention of |
| | paper is 150 AD by the court eunuch T'sai Lun (Cai Lun |
| | in pinyin spelling). The first emperor of China's |
| | name and title is Chin Shihuangti. I'm not sure where |
| | the Tain in your list comes from. Thhe earliest xylo- |
| | graphs are probably from the late 600s and were discovered |
| | at the Tunhuang finds at the early part of this |
| | century. As for movable type, the Chinese during |
| | 11th and 12th centuries favored earthenware type, but |
| | the Koreans were the first to produce a book with |
| | movable metal type (now in the Bibliotheque National). |
| | Mention might also be made of the stone stelae set |
| | up the Han dynasty to record the orthodox versions |
| | of classical texts. Speaking of early "books," in |
| | addition to writing on slips of bamboo, the Chinese |
| | also wrote on silk. |
| | |
| | I hope I haven't gone on too much. Let me say again |
| | that I really enjoyed your site and appreciate the |
| | work you've put into it. |
| | |
| | Sincerely, |
| | |
| | Charles Randles |
| | -1500 | | The 'Phaistos disc', found on the island of Crete in 1908, was | PHAISTOS DISC |
| | produced by pressing relief-carved symbols into the soft clay, then |
| | baking it. Although it contains the germ of the idea of printing, it |
| | appears to be unique. |
| | -950 | | Leather is made and used for scrolls and writing. | LEATHER USED FOR SCROLLS |
| | -800 | | Moabite stone is created with one of the finest specimens of | PHOENECIAN WRITING |
| | Phoenician writing. The letters resemble Greek. |
| | -650 | | Papyrus. First rolls arrive in Greece from Egypt | PAPER |
| | -650 | | Papyrus. First rolls arrive in Greece from Egypt | PAPYRUS |
| | -600 | | 6th C. BC General agreement among Mediterranean cultures on | WRITING SYSTEM DEVELOPED |
| | left-to-right writing and reading. Before that, there was L-R, R-L, |
| | top-to-bottom, and boustroph |
| | edonic (back-and-forth). The Hebres kept R-L. |
| | January 17, 2003 | Page 1 of 32 |