excerpts from the book...
ETHIOPIC
An African Writing System
Its History and Principles
by Ayele Bekerie
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...Writing is a way of transforming our sensual perceptions into recognizable imagery. It is a
means to describe phenomena.
Writing systems are, indeed, rich sources of human intellectual activities, such as history,
philosophy, social order, psychology and aesthetics.
The Ethiopic writing system has evolved from mono-vocal and monumental graphs to
multi-vocal and philosophical graphs. In fact, its advanced and holistic nature made it to be
one of the most literary and aesthetic tools ever designed by humans.
...the Ethiopic system is one of the few writing systems with historical continuity from antiquity
to the present. In other words, it is one of the oldest and yet still extant writing systems in the
world.
...we find in Ethiopia is an extraordinary and quite elegant writing system created and
developed by African people. The Ethiopians used their writing system to write philosophy,
religion, grammar, literature, mythology, theocracy and history.
... The holistic sense of the Ethiopic writing system is retained in its ideographic, cosmological,
numerical, ecological, musicological and grammatological properties. All these, and some
other additional properties, are literally put to a world order, to a world outlook, to a unitary
view emanating from the center stage of the African people of north-east Africa.
..."wisdom is not synonymous with knowledge; it does involve knowledge, but it also includes
the ability, the inclination and the steady purpose of putting knowledge to good use. ..."
... The Ethiopic writing system is perhaps one of the greatest cultural accomplishments in the
history of knowledge systems.
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