Writing is one of the most important inventions ever made by humans.
‘Writing is an instrument of power’ wrote Claude Hagège.
‘Writing is basically a technology’ wrote Fernand Braudel. Empires and organised societies extending over space are the children of writing.
The invention of writing and of a convenient system of records on paper has had a greater influence in uplifting the human race than any other intellectual achievement in the career of man. It was more important than all the battles ever fought and all the constitutions ever devised.
– James H. Breasted
Time line (cf. Woods 2015)
- 8.500 BC – Simple tokens in the Middle East
- 3.500 BC – Complex tokens
- 3.400 BC – Numerical tablets
- 3.300 – Earliest writing in Mesopotamia and Egypt
The decisive breakthrough was the Alphabet.
The Minoans (Cretans) developed writing independently at around 2.500 BC. Linear A is yet undeciphered.
- 1.000 BC – Phoenician alphabet
- 800 BC – South Arabian script
- 400 BC – Earliest Maya writing
- 250 BC – Jewish square script
The Chinese moved on and invented printing, however their writing system required a large number of typefaces. According to Hagège, ‘the origin of Chinese writing appears to have been magicoreligious and divinatory rather than economic and mercantile.’ That’s a topic for next time.
Further Reading
- Creasman, P. P. & R. H. Wilkinson (2017): Pharao’s Land and Beyond. Ancient Egypt and its Neighbours. Oxford.
- Woods, C. (2015): Visible Language. Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond. Boston.