| 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 |