Obed Ledezma

ART HISTORY 3311

02/10/18

Today in class I learned about the invention of the alphabet. When you think about the alphabet you think of it as something so simple never get more in depth with its origin and complex history. The alphabet has had a large evolution through history with language and everything around us today. The alphabet started off as the sound of words and numbers which I think is very interesting because the two are very different from each other yet still have a correlation because it used within language and for communication. Language has been around for centuries and continues to strive today. I learned that the alphabet was the combination of alpha and beta. Alpha meaning the first letter in the Greek alphabet and also meaning the beginning. The letter is frequently used in physics and chemistry. Beta meaning the second letter in the Greek alphabet it is also used in chemistry and physics as the possible positions of an atom or ground within a compound.

In class we also learned about the Sumerians Cuneiform. The Sumerians is one of the earliest known civilizations located in Africa. During the time it was Mesopotamia Ancient Egypt. They believe it is the first civilization to exist. Their form of alphabet was cuneiform. Cuneiform was one of the earliest systems of writing and it was invented by the Sumerians. Identifiable by wedge shaped marks into clay tablets. Cuneiform writing was gradually replaced by the Phoenician alphabet later on. The Sumerians were around for 4500 to 1900 BC. It was known as the age of The Late Neolithic to Middle Bronze Age.

During class the professor put up a video on the life of a Teenger during the Ancient Roman Empire. The teenager was named or formerly known as Lucius Popidius Secundus. He lived in the Subura which was within the center of the city. The word Suburb likely evolved from the Subura in ancient Rome. At the age of 17 Lucius was already a high leveled, intellectually experienced and accomplished soldier. During the Ancient Roman Empire many boys were raised this way to become soldiers and men of high ranking. The higher the ranking the more power you had within the society that sometimes made things go south.

Throughout the time Lucius was going through a big quarrel with his father because wanted to dig into a more high leveled form of trade. Even though Lucius was grown and extremely skilled within his craft, his father wouldn’t let him do business deals since he doesn’t have the experience yet since he’s still a child. I learned that war was a way of life in the Ancient Roman Society and in fact in the video they said “wars were a fact of life even in A.D 73.” The wars they had helped them dominate a lot of the world. The Roman Empire was thriving and winning when it came to everything. They were expanding and growing agriculturally also had one of the greatest armies to exist. Through domination they helped spread their influence, language, writing systems, way of living and culture.

Finally we learned about Massimo Vignelli. Massimo designed the subway maps of the New York City MTA. The famous designer is famously known for his contribution to the MTA system in the New York tri-state area.  Massimo Vignelli was born in Milan, Italy on January 10, 1931. He once said and believed that “If you can design one thing, you can design anything. This is a great way of thinking because I believe in the expansion of creativity and design. The subway maps were designed with an aesthetic and a design to process within your mind in a way where you can understand while still being aesthetically pleasing with a minimalist taste. In the video they say “The map was geographically accurate and easy to read. It was designed with 45 and 90 angles only. Each train line had its own color. Each stop also has its own dot. Knowing about designers like Vignelli always inspires me because I would like to be a great designer like Vignelli.