History of Western Civilization

Origins of Writing

The sounds of spoken language are a system of standardized symbolic signs. We do not know when language first emerged although changes in the physiology of the tongue and throat that make modern speech possible occurred around 400,000 years ago.

The evidence for using physical objects as a code for communication starts with Tokens in the Near East ca. 8000 BC - about the time of the earliest cities.

The first writing that we have good evidence for comes from Mesopotamia around 3100 BC. Developments in China are of comparable age. The cuneiform system of writing is so called because of the cone shapes produced in clay by the styluses used by the scribes.

What did they write about? Early symbols include numbers, nature, food, religion, and art. Several competing theories (e.g. commerce, kings lists, religion) try to explain the purpose for the first writing. Many of the clay tablets from later Mesopotamia are business records. However these do not predominate in the earliest "writings".