An archaeologist and art historian examines the impact of literacy on visual art during the early urban period in the Near East. Denise Schmandt-Besserat opened

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An “utterly lucid, thoughtfully illustrated, and thoroughly convincing” book on the origins of the world’s oldest known system of writing (American Journa

“Only someone who deeply loves and understands the Metropolitan Museum could deliver such madcap, funny, magical, tender, intimate fables and stories.” —M

Writing: Theory and History of the Technology of Civilization traces the origins of writing tied to speech from ancient Sumer through the Greek alphabet and bey