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Pliny on the origin of writing (1)

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Topics (move over topic to see place in topic list)
Education and transmission of knowledge
11 Language, communication, libraries and education
11.05 Education and transmission of knowledge
Nabû/Ninurta (Mercury)
01 Religious and ideological doctrines and imagery
01.04 Concept of god (1)
01.04.03 Plurality of god (polytheism)
01.04.03.06 Seven planetary gods
01.04.03.06.06 Nabû/Ninurta (Mercury)
Writing systems and writing media
11 Language, communication, libraries and education
11.02 Writing systems and writing media

Keywords
inventions
scripts

Period
1st century CE
Roman Empire

Channel
Roman philosophers and scholars

Text
Pliny the Elder, Naturalia Historia 7.57 (56):
I am of opinion that the Assyrians have always had writing, but others, e.g. Gellius, hold that it was invented in Egypt by Mercury, while others think it was discovered in Syria; both schools of thought believe that Cadmus imported an alphabet of 16 letters into Greece from Phoenicia.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Pliny the Elder, Naturalia Historia 7.57 (56)

Bibliography

Jones and Rackham 1938-1963, III 634-637

Jones, W. H. S. and H. Rackham. Pliny, Natural History. 10 Vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, London: Heinemann 1938-1963.

Amar Annus

URL for this entry: http://www.aakkl.helsinki.fi/melammu/database/gen_html/a0000241.php

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