The origin of Namescope gaming plate and alphabets
The alphabets of the seal maker are picked from the reconstructed ancient soil surface. The aim of the game is to reintroduce the forgotten bronze age environmental technique.
Namescope cultivation basics
In the year 1987 in Kenya, I became familiar with certain experiments, which tried to replicate an ancient fruit tree cultivation practice. It exploited water harvesting technology with the so-called micro-catchments (=surface irrigation with basins). Basins collected and infiltrated water deeper into the ground. They used an animal-drawn scoop to make the basins. It was unproductive since the soil was hard and the animals fatigued. So the method seemed to be uneconomical. I got some ideas to make them better, I also remembered that quite similar antique techniques have been found in the Negev desert in Israel. I started to explore ancient texts to find out, how exactly the method was applied. Basins were made by an animal-drawn tool, called a sledge/harrow. It had sharp teeth, so it was able to crush hard soil. In my view, there were not too many alternatives to do it, so I started to 3 D simulate them by PC, see images below. Driving paths are made continuous to minimize frequent stops (images 3-6). Additionally, the texts suggest, that the method was turned into symbols. So I started to explore Bronze Age symbols. I was lucky to identify Assyrian Sun God pattern. By that way, I ended up with Namescope 3 D plate. The driving paths of the agricultural tool and rising water in the basin form a mosaic that contains thousands of pieces. By coloring them and shifting ON-OFF, we can make mosaic sets. We can generate hundreds of familiar symbols, including numbers and alphabets.
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| Image 3. Namescope grid = Driving paths of the animal-drawn sledge | Image 4. 3 D shape of the basin | Image 5. Rising water in the basin |
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| Image 7. Quite similar Corel Galleryclip-art (click to enlarge) | |
Cultivation & Gaming Plate
I was surprised when I realized that the Namescope grid contains almost all classical jewelry patterns, numbers, and alphabets. The water infiltration pool seems to be like a “Mother of all symbols”. Symbol shapes consist of crossing driving paths of the sledge and water-raising zones of the pool (see images 3 and 11). Ancient civilizations may have picked from it symbols for their various needs. Namescope continues this tradition. The game turns any NAMEs or WORDs into Oracle Seals.
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Image 8. Namescope gaming plate |
Image 9. Namescope font map. Every letter has four positions. | Image 10. Oracle Seal example “Clinton” |
Alphabets in cultivation
Ancient soil surface works like “prehistoric graphical computer”. By shifting selected grid mosaic pieces (image 3.) ON/OFF we can get the patterns out. Due to the huge amount of pieces, the grid can produce millions of patterns. By turning proper pieces ON and giving them color we can get Namescope plate (image 8). It has six suites. Hearts (love), Cross (soul), Diamonds (wealth), Spade (authority), Knight (courage), Qudrefoil (fortune). Image 9 shows how the alphabets are organized in the grid. Fonts can be rotated. So every letter has four possible positions. The elemental Namescope alphabets are designed by a rough agricultural tool. Fonts are just picked out from desert soil. Therefore they have a unique and decorative 3D-shapes plate (images 13-16). They are excellent for many special purposes: TV, film, ads, etc. Just type any WORD or NAME the game engine converts it into Oracle Seal. We can distinguish around one hundred groups according the seal shape: ELF – ABRACADABRA.
| Origin of hearts. Compare to img 5 | Sledge paths + water | Compare to img 10. |
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| Image 11. Raising water zones in the pool | Image 12. | Image 13. Clinton seal unciphered, fonts still have suits (This feature is not yet in the game) |
These 3 D Features are not yet in the game.
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obama1-2010-kulta-o2b |
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| Image 14. Namescope 3D fonts | Image 15. OBAMA 3D seal with suits | Image 16. OBAMA 3D seal with golden plating |
Next acticle: Sister method in rugs & carpets
