International Conference
Origins of Early Writing Systems
Oct. 4 to 7, 2007 Peking University
╣ Conference Program ╠
Oct. 4 (10月4日)
9:00-17:30 Registration(Venue: Shao Yuan/勺园)
18:00 Reception Dinner (Venue: Shao Yuan/勺园)
Oct. 5 (10月5日)
Conference Venue: Lecture Hall of the Democratic Building/民主楼(the 2nd floor)
8:30-9:00: Opening Speeches
Introduction: Yushu Gong, Peking University Presentation
1) Welcome: Zhaoxiang Cheng, Dean, College for Foreign Languages, PKU Presentation
9:00-12:00 (1). Comparative Studies of Early Writing Systems
Chairs: Robert Englund (UCLA), Françoise Bottéro (French National Center for Scientific Research)
Speakers
1) Jerrold S. Cooper, Johns Hopkins University (9:30-10:00) Presentation
Pictures of the Mind: Early Writing in Ancient Iraq and Ancient China
2) Yushu Gong (co-authors: Haiying Yan, Yinghui Ge), PKU (10:00-10:30) Presentation
The Accounts of the Origin of Writing from Sumer, Egypt and China: A Comparative Perspective
10:00-10:20 Coffee Break
3) John Steele, University of Durham (10:20-10:50) Presentation
The Language of Astronomy in Babylonia and China
4) Gordon Whittaker, Universitat Göttingen (10:50-11:20) Presentation
Chinese and Mesopotamian Writing: A Further Comparison of Early Systems
5) Benjamin Studevent-Hickman, Oriental Institute, Chicago (11:20-11:50) Presentation
Directionality in the Cuneiform and Chinese Scripts
11:50-13:30 Lunch
13:30-17:30 (2). Writing and Its Uses
Chairs: David I. Owen (Cornell University), J-J. Glassner (CNRS, Paris)
Speakers
1) Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Freie Universitat, Berlin (13:30-14:00) Presentation
The Functions of Writing in the Earliest Documents
2) Gebhard Selz, University of Vienna
(14:00-14:30) Presentation
The
Evolution of Early Mesopotamian Writing Systems as Reflected in Lexical
Lists
3) Theodora Seal, University of Geneva (14:30-15:00) Presentation
A Peculiar Aspect of the Cuneiform Script: The Diri-Compound
15:00-15:20 Break
15:20-17:20 (3) Early Writing Systems in Western Asia
4) Robert Englund, UCLA (15:20-15:50) Presentation
The Smell of the Cage
5) Th. J. H. Krispijn, University of Leiden
(15:50-16:20) Presentation
The
Earliest Mesopotamian Script and the Dawn of Phonetics
6) Joachim Marzahn, Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
(16:20-16:50) Presentation
Scribal Techniques in the
Material of the Texts from Uruk IV-III
Discussion
following the afternoon talks
18:00 Dinner
Oct. 6(10月6日)
8:30-11:45 (4) Change Within, Spread Without
Chairs: H. Zemel (CAENO), G. Selz (Uni. of Vienna)
Speakers
1) Wayne Horowitz, Hebrew University (8:30-9:00)
Presentation
Old Babylonian Period
Tablets at Hazor: The Earliest Writings of the Cuneiform Southwest
2) Pier Giorgio Borbone, University di Pisa
(9:00-9:30) Presentation
Semitic
Writing in China
3) Jun Ikeda, Tsukuba, Japan (9:30-10:00) Presentation
An Examination of Early Japanese Writing
Break 10:00-10:15
4) Fan Lin, University of PLA, China (10:15-10:45) Presentation
A Calligrapher's Interpretation of Early Chinese Writing
5) John Tang, Peking University (10:45-11:15) Presentation
A Comparative Study of Phonetic Complements in Near Eastern Cuneiform and Jurchen Siniform
6) Mark Wilson, CCSG, London (11:15-11:45) Presentation
New Sources and New Implications: Fossil Rabbits in the Precambrian
11:45-13:30 Lunch
13:30-17:30 (5) Early Writing Systems in Western Asia (continued)
Chairs: Th. J. H. Krispijn (Univ. of Leiden), W. Horowitz (Hebrew University)
Speakers
1) Jean-Jacques Glassner, French National Center for Scientific Research (13:30-14:00) Presentation
The Invention of Writing, the Old Babylonian School and the Semiology of the Diviners
2) Isabelle Klock-Fontanille, University de Limoges
(14:00-14:30) Presentation
The Genesis of
Luwan Hieroglyphics
14:30-14:50 Break
3) Jacob L. Dahl, Max Planck
Institute for the History of Science, and Freie Universitat, Berlin
(14:50-15:20) Presentation
Deciphering Proto-Elamite
4) Grégory Chambon, FU, Berlin (15:20-16:40) Presentation
Calculating and Representing: Origins of Writing sexagesimal Numbers in Mesopotamia
18:00 Dinner
Oct.7 (10月7日)
9:00-12:00 (5) Indigenous Perspectives on Writing
Chairs: J. Cooper (Johns Hopkins Univ.), Yushu Gong (Peking University)
Speakers
1) Yinghui Ge, Peking University (9:00-9:30) with translation Presentation
The Origin of Numbers and Characters
2) Françoise Bottéro, French National Center for
Scientific Research (9:30-10:00) Presentation
missing Only Discussion
Chinese Writing:
Ancient Indigenous Perspective
Break (10:00-10:20)
3) Dali Xu (徐大立),Bengbu(蚌埠) Municipal Museum (10:20-10:40), with translation.
Prehistoric (ca. 5300 B.C.) Pottery Marks from Shuangdun, Bengbu
10:40-11:30 Closing Session and Discussions
Chair: Yiyi Chen, Peking University
Speakers
1) Henry Zemel (10:40-10:50) Presentation
2) Jerrold Cooper (10:50-11:00) Presentation
3) Yuhong Wu (11:00-11:10) Presentation
4) Yushu Gong (11:10-11:20)
5) Comments from participants (11:20-12:00)
12:00 Farewell Lunch