Cylinder seal  

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- +A '''cylinder seal''' is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet [[clay]]. Cylinder seals were invented around [[3500 BC]] in the [[Near East]], at the contemporary sites of [[Susa]] in south-western [[Iran]] and [[Uruk]] in southern [[Mesopotamia]]. They are linked to the invention of the latter’s [[cuneiform]] writing on clay tablets.
-'''Graphics''' are [[visual]] presentations on some surface, such as a wall, [[canvas]], computer screen, paper, or stone to [[brand]], inform, illustrate, or entertain. Examples are [[photograph]]s, [[drawings]], [[line art]], [[graphs]], [[diagrams]], [[typography]], [[number]]s, [[symbols]], [[geometric]] designs, [[maps]], [[engineering drawings]], or other [[image]]s. Graphics often combine [[text]], [[illustration]], and [[color]]. Graphic design may consist of the deliberate selection, creation, or arrangement of typography alone, as in a brochure, flier, poster, web site, or book without any other element. Clarity or effective communication may be the objective, association with other cultural elements may be sought, or merely, the creation of a distinctive style. +
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-Graphics can be functional or artistic. The latter can be a recorded version, such as a photograph, or an interpretation by a scientist to highlight essential features, or an artist, in which case the distinction with imaginary graphics may become blurred.+
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-== History ==+
-The earliest graphics known to anthropologists studying prehistoric periods are [[cave painting]]s and markings on boulders, bone, ivory, and antlers, which were created during the [[Upper Palaeolithic]] period from 40,000–10,000 [[Before Christ|B.C.]] or earlier. Many of these were found to record astronomical, seasonal, and chronological details. Some of the earliest graphics and drawings known to the [[modern world]], from almost 6,000 years ago, are that of engraved [[stone tablets]] and ceramic [[cylinder seals]], marking the beginning of the historic periods and the keeping of records for accounting and inventory purposes. Records from Egypt predate these and [[papyrus]] was used by the [[Ancient Egypt|Egyptians]] as a material on which to plan the building of [[pyramids]]; they also used slabs of [[limestone]] and [[wood]]. From 600–250 BC, the Greeks played a major role in [[geometry]]. They used graphics to represent their mathematical theories such as the [[Circle Theorem]] and the [[Pythagorean theorem]]. +
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-In art, "graphics" is often used to distinguish work in a monotone and made up of lines, as opposed to [[painting]].+
-== See also ==+
-* [[Semiotics]]+
-* [[Editorial cartoon]]+
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A cylinder seal is a small round cylinder, typically about one inch in length, engraved with written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in ancient times to roll an impression onto a two-dimensional surface, generally wet clay. Cylinder seals were invented around 3500 BC in the Near East, at the contemporary sites of Susa in south-western Iran and Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. They are linked to the invention of the latter’s cuneiform writing on clay tablets.



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