Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The Egyptians combined both images and words to communicate information on pa-
pyrus scrolls, such as their religious beliefs on the afterlife. These are well documen-
ted in the tombs of the pharaohs and also the religious scrolls found in Egypt.
Over centuries of development, cuneiform and other ancient forms of pictographic
writing turned into the alphabets and styles of writing we use to communicate today.
As a result of this, communication between individuals can be more precise. Images
can be restricting and open to misinterpretation, whereas words are unmistakable and
can communicate complex ideas. Writing allows us to communicate to a mass audi-
ence and to document our history down the generations. It also allows us to exchange
important information between cultures and races.
Cartography
Cartography, the science, skill or work of making maps, demonstrates the first re-
cognizable form of information design as we know it today. The ancient Egyptians
created maps that communicated information about the stars. A star map dating from
around 1500 BCE was discovered in the tomb of the great Senmut (a highranking of-
ficial in royal service to Thutmose II) near Luxor. This map apparently shows a gath-
ering of planets in particular positions in the night sky, thereby referring to a specific
point in time.
The first maps indicating land or territory are harder to identify. One artifact that
could be described as an early land map was found in 1930 at a dig in the ruined city
of Ga-Sur at Nuzi (the modern city of Yorghan Tepe), 200 miles north of the site of
Babylon in modern-day Iraq. The map is drawn with cuneiform characters and sym-
bols inscribed on a small clay tablet thought to date from 2500-2300 BCE. It repres-
ents a district bounded by hills or mountains and bisected by water. It is interesting to
note that the hills or mountains are shown as overlapping semicircles - a device used
by mapmakers and illustrators for centuries afterwards.
By the 2nd century CE, mapmaking had become more sophisticated. Ptolemy, a Ro-
man citizen of Egypt, was an astronomer and mathematician who wrote
Geographia
,
or
The Geography
. This substantial work provided information about map projections
on what was known about the world's geography between 127 and 150 CE. Ptolemy
was the first recorded person to assign coordinates to geographic features and im-
posed a grid system on a map, using the same grid system for the entire globe.
