In addition, Petrie’s pre-Egypt theory of the early development of the alphabet needs to be taken more seriously. Based on the discovery that the small alphabet loop is also seen in Mesopotamia, and on the proto-writing glyphs being found in Tartaria, Karanovo, and China (such as found in Dawenkou,8 Shandong Province, and in Jiahu, Henan Province), it appears that there might have already existed a culture/tradition of proto-alphabetic signs based on theo-astronomical observations/rituals that not only pre-dated Egypt, Sumeria, and China, but that also had its roots in Northern Europe. Given Marshak’s findings that Cro-magnon man in Europe appeared to keep track of lunar appearances via vertical scratches/marks on bone (Marshak 1972), it seems that writing was perhaps a natural, southern and then eastern extension/maturation of the observations/notations of the moon and sun moving through the sky via what they perceived to be divine forces. This early and sophisticated dependence on the sky for information seems inevitable, as Krupp noted that the stars and constellations provided “practical services: timekeeping, season marking, calendrics, weather signs, concentrations of supernatural power, and symbolic containment of important cultural data” (Krupp 2000: 58).
On the origins of the alphabet
Brian R. Pellar. On the Origins of the Alphabet. Sino-Platonic Papers, 196. December 2009. (pdf):
All European alphabets are of non-European origin. Even the ancient Greek alphabet is of Phoenician origin, and there are no Alphabets in Northern Europe which don’t trace back to the ancient Greek alphabet (sometimes through intermediaries).
ReplyDeleteThe idea that Europeans invented the alphabet and then were so stupid as to forget about it is fanciful and absurd.
I think this study is saying certain early developments of the alphabet can be traced to northern europe, not that they invented it.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it pretty set in stone that the alphabet, in the old world, was independently developed multiple times?
And this obviously had no effect on the mayan alphabet.
And this obviously had no effect on the mayan alphabet.
ReplyDeleteThe Solutrean culture of prehistoric Northern Europe probably made its way to the Americas. There's a good chance the Mayan alphabet derives from this ancient Northern European culture.
Reginald,
ReplyDeleteRead the paper if you want to argue with it. It's freely available.
Okay.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stands out to me is that it says the alphabet developed from proto-astro-alphabetic glyphs.
But the only two examples of proto-astro-alphabetic gylphs they gave were the ones discussed in these two quotes:
“Furthermore, this astro-alphabetic pattern is not only found in Modern Hebrew, the Chinese Lunar Zodiac, Phoenician, Proto-Sinaitic, Egyptian Hieratic and Hieroglyphs, but, in accord with Petrie’s assertion, proto-astro-alphabetic glyphs also appear on a European stag bone from 3800 BC, and on a Karanovo Culture zodiac from 4800 BC. All of these manifestations will be discussed in the course of this study.”
“Older astro-alphabetic glyphs than the Egyptian are seen in the six stag bone glyphs
found in Spain and dated to around 4000 BC to 3800 BC. See Figure 17.”
The Karanovo Culture was in what is now Bulgaria, and Spain is in what is now Spain.
Those aren't really my idea of Northern Europe, and I'm not sure why later in the piece Pellar says that the proto-astro-alphabetic glyphs came from Northern Europe.
Obviously it could've come from Northern Europe, but given the evident lack of earlier surviving examples of these sorts of glyphs from there I don't see what the basis is for saying that.
Interesting, regardless.
"The Solutrean culture of prehistoric Northern Europe probably made its way to the Americas. There's a good chance the Mayan alphabet derives from this ancient Northern European culture."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that'd be helpful if you could point to all of the cultural discontinuities and genetic evidence indicating these nordic aryan godmen went all the way down to mesoamerica.
And the solutreans lived a long time ago- they didn't have any scripture, did they?
And I'm not Reginald. You shouldn't assume anyone who opposes norditards is some portuguese boogeyman or whatever.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not Reginald. You shouldn't assume anyone who opposes norditards is some portuguese boogeyman or whatever.
ReplyDeleteOpponents of Nordish preservation are invariably Jews, swarthoids and the like.