The Codex and the Illuminated Manuscript | 1st century AD

Post an example of a scroll.
What were the drawbacks of the scroll?they only had a sequence of reading the scrolls

Post an example of a codex.

What is a codex?covered and bound collection of hand written pages

"Codex" is derived from the Latin meaning "block of wood". Why?bc it was written on a block of wood

What is the difference between "sequential access" and "random access"?random access- one can go to any point to find info
sequencial access- one must go through the scroll to find a certain passage


What were the advantages of using the codex?codex was easier to organize in libraries bc the titles could be written on the spines

What helped spread the use of the codex?
christians

What replaced papyrus? Describe the process used to create it?
Parchment paper which was basically hair and fat removed                                                                                                                                                      What is vellum?
finer qualities of parchment were made from skins of young calves


Name several examples of current technology that utilizes the format of the codex?books that use the binding method, paper making

What led to a period of cultural and economical deterioration?
the decline of the Roman Empire 













Post an example of an illuminated manuscript.

Who began creating books by hand, taking the creation to an art form?
the church and monastic monks


What does "illumination" refer to? What was included in this ornamentation?
borders, illustrations and text. everything was included

What tool was used for creating the illuminated manuscripts?
feathers from birds

Why were these manuscripts reserved for religious purposes?
bc they were used in craftsmanship and things

What is craftsmanship? Why is it important?
Craftsmanship is how much time and effort you take on making something

The Greek Alphabet | 800 BC

How did Greeks come in contact with the Phoenicians?
Phoenicians regularly traveled to greece and formed trade agreements

How was the Greek adaptation of the alphabet different from its predecessor?
bcd they had vowels and constants which they were not familiar with

Why is the Greek alphabet considered to be the world's first true alphabet?
it has given rise to all the other alphabets

Name several similarities and differences between the Greek and modern English alphabets?

the greek alphabet was similar however it did not have vowels like the alphabets do now.


Post an example of the Greek alphabet in visual form. 

Assignment 15: research and inspiration

Research:
Illuminated Manuscript is a "manuscript in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as initials, borders, etc." says wikipedia.

Brainstorming: 
- use mostly primary colors (red, green, blue, maybe orange)
- Song choice:

1. Dont Change
2. I'd Rather
3. Let Me Love you
4. California King Bed

Inspiration:

This specific design i like because it has the "L" illuminated and the background is very bright so it attracts me to the piece, they have different sizes for the beginning letters for important sentences. However, the letter is the same color and i just find this piece of art very interesting. I want to idolize the background in my piece.

This piece has a nice flowing design without the whole piece. The background and the letter "D" both use the same colors and the "D" reminds me of the stained glass you may see while staring at a church window around this time. Which has a nice flow to me.

I like the idea of the illuminated letter not being in the top left corner which in most of the examples it was in the top left corner. This piece is unique to me because it is not found there. It makes you look around the whole piece instead of making the main picture or illumination in the center of the entire piece that we are forming.

The Roman Alphabet | 7th Century BC

What was the basis of the Roman uppercase alphabet?greek alphabet


What were the purposes of the formal and informal styles of lettering?
formal- important manuscripts/documents
informal- used to letter and routine types of writing


Why is the Roman alphabet the most widely used and what contributions did it make?
they originated serif and it uses root words for words today

From where did serifs originate?
with the carving of words onto stone

When and where did lowercase, or minuscule, letters develop?
they developed in latin in the 7th century

What is a ligature and why were they utilized?
Ligature is the space in between lines and they were used within the roman alphabet



Post an example of the Roman alphabet in visual form. 

The Greek Alphabet | 800 BC

How did Greeks come in contact with the Phoenicians?
Phoenicians regularly traveled to greece and formed trade agreements

How was the Greek adaptation of the alphabet different from its predecessor?
bcd they had vowels and constants which they were not familiar with

Why is the Greek alphabet considered to be the world's first true alphabet?
it has given rise to all the other alphabets

Name several similarities and differences between the Greek and modern English alphabets?

the greek alphabet was similar however it did not have vowels like the alphabets do now.


Post an example of the Greek alphabet in visual form. 

The Phonetic Alphabet | 1050 BC

The Phoenician alphabet is based on what principle?
based on the principle that one sign represents one spoken sound

Describe the shape of the letters and what tool created them?most of the shapes were angular and straight and written from right to left

What two reasons made the Phoenician alphabet so successful?
this system used complex characters and were difficult to learn

What long term effects on the social structures of civilizations did the Phoenicians have with the creation of their alphabet?
First Widespread Script 

Post an example of the Phoenician alphabet in visual form.

Hieroglyphics and the Egyptians | 3,000 BC

In the sixth century BC, what three civilizations invaded Egypt?
Persians, Greeks, and Romans


Post an example of the inside wall(s) of an Ancient Egyptian temple.

What was discovered on the inside of the temples?
carved and painted images all inside the temples

Scholars believe that Ancient Egyptians were inspired and influenced by which written language?
by the concept of expressing words in writing

What is the difference between logographic and alphabetic elements?logographic- visual symbols representing ideas or objects
alphabetic- used for document writings


The term Hieroglyphic derived from what two Greek words?
hiero meaning sacred and glyphic means engraving or writing

What is a scribe?
a way of allowing the people to communicate and record data

Who else was trained to read and write? Why?
everyone because they wanted everyone to be able to communicate with one another.



Post an example of hieroglyphics on papyrus.

What is papyrus and how was it made?
Papyrus- substrate made from reeds native to egypt, wet reeds are placed criss-cross over each other flattened and dried then rubbed with flat stones until the surface becomes smooth.

What is a substrate?

What were the Books of the Dead?
scribes that had instructions and spells to help them find their way to the afterlife

How did Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics become a forgotten language?
those who could read and write hieroglyphics began to disappear.


Post an example of the Rosetta Stone.

What is the Rosetta Stone? Where was it discovered?
had the three different inscriptions written in three different languages found in rosetta



What three languages are included on the stone?
Egyptian hieroglyphics, demotic and greek

Why couldn't the text on the Stone be deciphered?
a chunk of the stone was missing none of the three texts were complete

Who finally deciphered the text? What was his breakthrough?
jean francois champollian he was able to match up the hieroglyphics and the greek

Why does the interpretation of the Rosetta Stone have such significance?

discovered that the inscprition referred to king ptolemy v. epiphanies at the time of his coronation around 196 bc