hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2026-04-08

■ #6190. 文字史年表（Powell 版） [grammatology][timeline][history]

　「#1834. 文字史年表」 ([2014-05-05-1])，「#2399. 象形文字の年表」 ([2015-11-21-1])，「#2414. 文字史年表（ロビンソン版）」 ([2015-12-06-1]) に続き，もう1つ詳しめの文字史年表として Powell (xvii--xx) のものを掲載したい．

9000 BC
	Widespread use of geometric tokens throughout Near East, c.8500 BC
	Appearance of complex tokens, c.4500--3400 BC
4000 BC
	Round clay bullae that enclose tokens, impressed with cylinder seals, c.3500--3400 BC
	Protocuneiform numerical flat clay tablets, sealed or unsealed, with impressions of three-dimensional tokens or imitations of token shapes by means of a stylus, c.3400--3300 BC; first logograms with numbers c.3300 BC
	ProtoElamite writing, c.3300(?)--3000 BC
	Egyptian hieroglyphic writing, Pharaonic civilization emerges, c.3250 BC
3000 BC	EARLY BRONZE AGE
	Tokens disappear, c.3000 BC
	Sumerian cities flourish in Mesopotamia, c.2800--2340 BC
	Texts in Sumerian cuneiform that reflect order of words in speech; similar development in Egypt, c.2800--2400 BC
	Minoan civilization flourishes in Crete, c.2500--1450 BC
	Akkadian Empire in Mesopotamia, c.2334--2220 BC; Akkadian cuneiform
	Linear Elamite writing, c.2150 BC
	Third Dynasty of Ur, c.2120--2000 BC
	Cretan hieroglyphs, c.2100 BC--c.1700 BC
2000 BC	MIDDLE BRONZE AGE
	Arrival of Indo-European Greeks in Balkan Peninsula, c.2000 BC
	Babylon's ascendance under Hammurabi, c.1810--1750 BC; Old Babylonian cuneiform
	Old Assyrian cuneiform, c.1800 BC
	Cretan Linear A, c.1800 BC--1450 BC
1600 BC	LATE BRONZE AGE
	Hittite Empire rules in Anatolia, c.1600--1200 BC; Hittite cuneiform; Luvian Hieroglyphs
1500 BC	West Semitic syllabic writing invented, c.1500(?) BC
	Destruction of Cretan palaces, c.1450 BC
	Destruction of the rebuilt Cnossus, c.1375 BC
	Amarna tablets in Middle Babylonian cuneiform, c.1350 BC
	Trojan War occurs, c.1250(?) BC
	Chinese script first attested in the Shang Dynasty on oracle bones, c.1200 BC
1100 BC	IRON AGE begins with destruction of Mycenaean cities in Greece and other sites in the Levant
	Earliest Mesoamerican "writing," from Olmec territory, c.1140--400 BC
1000 BC	Greek colonies are settled in Asia Minor, c.1000 BC
	NeoAssyrian cuneiform, c.1000--600 BC
	NeoBabylonian cuneiform, c.1000--500 BC
900 BC	NeoHittite cities flourish in northern Syria, c.900-700 BC
	Earliest "Isthmian" writing, c.900 BC (?)
800 BC	GREEK ARCHAIC PERIOD begins with invention of Greek alphabet, c.800 BC
	Illiad and the Odyssey, attributed to Homer, are written down, c.800--775 BC
	Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, c.800--600 BC
	Olympic Games begin, 776 BC
	Hesiod's Theogony is written down, c.775--700(?) BC
	Rome, allegedly, is founded, 753 BC
600 BC	Formation of Hebrew Pentateuch (first "five books" of Bible) during Babylonian Captivity of the Hebrews, 586--538 BC
	Cyrus the Great of Persia, c.600--529 BC
	"Zapotec" writing from the valley of Oaxaca in Mexico, c.600--400 BC
	Expulsion of the Estruscan dynasty at Rome and the foundation of the "Roman Republic," 510 BC
500 BC	Late Babylonian cuneiform, c.500 BC--AD 75
	Behistun inscriptions (Old Persian cuneiform, Late Babylonian cuneiform, Elamite cuneiform), c.500 BC
	CLASSICAL PERIOD begins with the end of Persian Wars, 480 BC
	Herodotus, c.484--420 BC
	Thucydides, c470--400 BC
	Plato, c.427--347 BC
400 BC
	Aristotle, c.384--322 BC
	Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire, founds Alexandria 336--323 BC
	HELLENISTIC PERIOD begins with death of Alexander in 323 BC
300 BC
	Earliest Mayan writing, c.250 BC
	Mouseion founded by Ptolemy II, ruled 285--246 BC
200 BC
	Ptolemy V carves the Rosetta Stone, 196 BC
	ROMAN PERIOD begins when Greece becomes Roman province, 146
100 BC
	Diodorus of Sicily, c.80--20 BC
	Vergil, 70--19 BC
	Augustus defeats Antony and Cleopatra at battle of Actium and annexes Egypt, 30 BC
	Augustus Caesar reigns, 27 BC--AD 14
Year 0
	Last Mesopotamian cuneiform, AD 75
AD 200	Classic Maya Period, c.AD 250 until AD 900
	Plotinus, a NeoPlatonist Greek philosopher writes that the hieroglyphs are allegories, c.AD 250
	Coptic phase of pharaonic Egyptian recorded in modified Greek alphabet called Coptic script, c.third century AD
AD 300
	Last hieroglyphs inscribed at Philae near Aswan, AD 396
AD 400	European MEDIEVAL PERIOD begins with fall of Rome in AD 476
	Hieroglyphics, by Horapollo(?) c.fifth century AD
AD 1500
	Herná Cortés lands in Mexico, AD 1519
AD 1600	Mesoamerican writing disappears, c.AD 1600
	Travelers' reports bring information about cuneiform to Europe
AD 1700	MODERN PERIOD
	Rosetta stone found in Egypt, AD 1799
AD 1800
	Jean François Champollion deciphers Egyptian hieroglyphs, AD 1822
	Henry Rawlinson and others decipher Mesopotamian cuneiform, c.AD 1850
AD 1900
	Micahel Ventris deciphers Linear B, AD 1951
	Yuri Knorosov establishes the phonetic basis of some Mayan signs, AD 1952

　Powell は「#6158. Powell による文字の分類」 ([2026-03-07-1])，「#6159. 文字史における3つの重要な局面」 ([2026-03-08-1]) でも参照した重要な文字史の書籍である．

　・ Powell, Barry B. Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009.

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