Taps Coogan – May 15th, 2022

It’s been a long time since the last installment in our ongoing series featuring historical video-maps from around the web, but it’s back with the following video about the spread of written languages by YouTube creator Ollie Bye.

The first known emergence of writing occurred roughly simultaneously around 3,000 BC in the Egyptian Nile Valley, the Sumerian Fertile Crescent, and India/Pakistan’s Indus Valley. Around 2,000 BC a still undeciphered script was developed by the Minoan Civilization in Crete, and in 1,300 BC the “Oracle Bone Script” emerged in present day China. Writing again emerged independently in Mesoamerica around 800 BC. The video shows the spread of the major language families/alphabets as they spread around the world until the present day. Of note, the overwhelming majority of the world’s alphabetic tradition today has its earliest origins in Greece around 800 BC, subsequently spread by the Romans, and then the European colonial empires.

Enjoy:

To see other interesting historical maps check out:
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How the World Got Obese
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