Category History

In man’s first attempts to write every mark represented a word: to write ‘bird’ the writer drew a bird and for ‘man’ the figure of a man was drawn. Actions also had to be represented in writing: to describe the action of fighting in writing the figure of a man wielding a club was drawn; to express the idea of freshness, a jar of sparkling water was drawn. The ancient Egyptians made further progress in writing but they never created a true alphabet.

Nobody really knows who drew up the first alphabet. It could have been the Semites who first saw Egyptian hieroglyphics in about 1500 B.C. The Semites probably borrowed some of these signs to represent certain sounds made in their own language. These signs were later modified by the Phoenicians and spread throughout the ancient world. The alphabet was an invention which proved to have enormous practical value. With only about twenty simple signs man could write any sort of message. With hieroglyphics and cuneiform (the wedge-shaped writing used by the Babylonianns and Assyrians), which still used images and symbols, hundreds of signs were needed.

The function of the alphabet is to convert into signs the various sounds we utter in speech. These sounds are few. Before any alphabet came into existence written signs tried to express whole words, which were many.

The alphabet passed from the Phoenicians to the Greeks who added various letters. The Etruscans then took it over, then the Romans until it came down to us. The word ‘alphabet’ itself comes from the first two letters of the Greek alphabet: ‘alpha’ and ‘beta’.

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Ever since man first began to use the letters of the alphabet he has tried to make writing as rapid an act as possible, to keep up with human speech at its normal speed.

The first stenographer, or shorthand writer, was Tiro, the Greek secretary of the famous ancient Roman orator, Cicero, Modern shorthand, however, began in England when Dr. Timothy Bright published his book on the subject in 1588. Many systems using symbols instead of letters and words were later invented.

People normally say 180 words a minute, when they speak. Most shorthand writers can write down 120 words a minute, and the highest speeds are about 350 words but these can only be kept up for short periods. Pitman and Gregg, named after their inventors, are also machines that write shorthand: they resemble adding machines and are operated by keys.

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No ancient Greek or Roman book has ever come down to us. Many were lost among the papyruses and the parchments that perished in the fires and destruction in which the once mighty Roman Empire fell. Others were destroyed by the slower but still sure action of time. But before these books vanished from the world many were copied by ancient scribes and scholars.

Much of this work was done by monks during the Middle Ages, especially the Benedictines. During the fourth century St. Jerome had exhorted monks to perfect their art of writing. In the centuries that followed every monastery has its scriptorium or writing room. This room was usually next to the library and only the senior monks, the librarian and copyist monks were allowed into it.

Absolute silence reigned in the room as the monks copied out the manuscripts carefully. The silence was broken only when one monk would dictate the contents of a manuscript for the other monks to write down.

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Beer is an alcoholic drink which has been made since ancient times. Man probably learned how to make beer much earlier than he discovered that the juice of the grape could be made into wine.

Beer-making was once a simple household task and families brewed their own supply. Today brewing is a major industry catering for millions of people throughout the world. The industry uses the most up-to-date and complex equipment and must follow strict rules of hygiene. But the basis of brewing remains the same as it did 5,000 years ago: beer is obtained by fermenting the mash obtained by mixing water with barley which has malted or sprouted after being kept in dark, warm, moist atmosphere. It is from this thick cloudy mash that the clear, sparking and refreshing drink finally comes.

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The Pueblo Indians lived in a matriarchal society which meant that the woman was honoured and was the true ruler. The clans, or family groups, were based on descent through them other and not through the father. Property therefore belonged to the women and when they died they left it to their daughters. The farmland was also the undisputed property of the women.

When a man married he went to live in his wife’s house. If structure of society, however, did not mean that men were the victims of the whims of the woman and that they had rights of their own. They were respected for their working skills and also for their contribution to the wealth of the whole Pueblo community.

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The Yuma, Pima and Papago were tribes of American Indians who lived mainly by farming, growing maize, beans and a kind of gourd called squash. They were so skillful at their work that they had learned to irrigate their fields during the dry season and since A.D. I had used flood water for this purpose. Their society was based on the clan system.

One of their main feasts was the annual ceremony celebrating the ripening of the giant cactus (saguaro) and the coming of the summer rains. During this feast the people drank a beverage made from the fermented juice of cactus fruit. The beverage was very potent and those who drank it soon became intoxicated.

The saguaro ceremony had a magical significance, the beverage representing rain soaked in the soil.

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