Description
I recently spent some time in the Institute of Ancient Cultures in Chicago. I was charmed by one display that represented a small classroom where ancient Mesopotamian children would have been taught to read and write. The materials were clay and a stylus, and the museum encouraged the public to grab a small piece of clay to shape and “write” on. When finished, the clay was returned to the bucket for the next “class” to do the same. The small images, or pictograms, that the students would have been learning, have always fascinated me, and it was fun to try my hand at reproducing some of them. It was only after my experience in the model classroom that I realized today’s emojis are the latest version of pictograms. Check the 3 “Tablet” paintings for current and possibly future emojis, as well as some ancient ones.
