A new documentary series surveys the inception and evolution of the written word Was there a single origin, circa 3100 BCE—either cuneiform in Mesopotamia or hieroglyphs in Egypt—or did writing arise in multiple places independently? When and how did Chinese characters, first identified on Shang oracle bones dated to circa 1200 BCE, originate? And what prompted the invention of the radically simple alphabetic principle, circa 1800 BCE, in a script that contains certain signs resembling Egyptian hieroglyphs? The Secret History of Writing—a BBC television series broadcast in three parts, two of which have been adapted as NOVA's A to Z: The First Alphabet and A to Z: How Writing Changed the World—explores these questions and more. Both versions of the series are intelligent, articulate, and visually imaginative, discussing five millennia of writing—by hand, by printing, and by computer keyboard.

中文翻译：

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字母表及其起源

一个新的纪录片系列调查了书面文字的起源和演变 大约公元前 3100 年是否有单一起源——美索不达米亚的楔形文字或埃及的象形文字——或者文字是否独立出现在多个地方？最早在公元前 1200 年左右的商甲骨上发现的汉字是何时以及如何起源的？又是什么促使在大约公元前 1800 年发明了极其简单的字母原则，其中包含某些类似于埃及象形文字的符号？写作秘史——BBC 电视连续剧分三部分播出，其中两部分改编为 NOVA 的 A 到 Z：第一个字母表和 A 到 Z：写作如何改变世界——探索了这些问题以及更多内容。该系列的两个版本都很聪明、善于表达和视觉上富有想象力，