부산대학교 도서관

The earliest Egyptian complex sign system was ancestral to the scripts that developed from around 3100 BCE onward. In China the first writing is not securely attested until c. 1400-1250. In both civilisations the principal writing media were perishable and are lost but must be allowed for. Both systems had two realisations, one more pictorial and less cursive than the other. Egypt retained this feature, whereas it disappeared in China from c. 1050. Display inscriptions included titles relating to king and court. Shang 商 dynasty titles written with pictorial signs are generally termed ‘clan emblems’. Interpretation as titles provides a more consistent reading, rendering desirable a rethinking of administrative structures. Kings manipulated titles as an instrument of control, as is exemplified by rather later inscriptions.