Petroglyphs Writing History

Back in ancient times, the development of the first urban cultures was due to gradual changes and advancements that contributed to a communal society. As agriculture and specialized jobs started to become the norm in early cities, citizens began to realize that they were missing something that was crucial to their productivity and organization: a system of writing and recordkeeping. While most ancient civilizations created a form of writing, Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies utilized them for more than just recordkeeping. These advancements serve as ancient origins of how we use written language in the present day. While there are currently countless forms of writing in the modern age, the concept of writing and literacy is treasured

The first writing system in the world developed in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valley by Sumerians. It was based on pictograms and quickly developed to represent more abstract concepts.

They organized signs in a logical manner and made the system easier to remember by naming signs after familiar objects. These improvements constituted a major jump ahead in writing systems and communication. Through the spread of ideas, people inspired by existing alphabets created new writing systems. Writing reached almost the entire world. Tales of conquest flooded the literate world: “Written accounts of earlier expeditions motivated later ones, by describing the wealth and fertile lands awaiting the conquerors. The accounts taught subsequent explorers what conditions to expect, and helped them prepare themselves” (Diamond 216). The technology involved in writing (printing presses, ink, paper, etc.) made ideas travel the world and promoted many major

Imagine a world without writing. This is an almost impossible task because our world is completely inundated with writing. How would we keep track of commerce or maintain a record of history? It is interesting to me that humans have designed ways in which to communicate to each other using symbols carved into stone. This technology has not only been shaped by the people using them, the hieroglyphics have also directly influence the societies that used them. Hieroglyphics are such an important invented technology, because it has been vital in helping to shape and record the culture of two populations living at different times and across the world: the ancient Egyptians, and the ancient Mayans. In this paper, I will discuss the intriguing similarities

All four of the river valley civilizations created and utilized some form of writing. Each river valley civilization’s writing styles were similar in as many ways as they were different. However, the Sumerians are credited with being the civilization which truly invented writing. Their writing began as basic shapes on clay tokens. It then became one of pictograms. This then evolved into a new writing form which used wedge shapes. This language was named cuneiform because the word means “wedge-shaped” in Latin. The progression of cuneiform started as shapes on clay tokens which evolved into somewhat complex pictograms on clay tablets. As time progressed the Sumerians used a wedge-shaped tool called a stylus to carve similarly shaped impressions into clay which came to replace the pictograms. Most of the writing in ancient Sumer was done by scribes and a few high-ranking priests. Moreover, it is believed that cuneiform was initially created to keep track of trade and economic activity within the Sumerian empire.

Although writing in the New World did not originate among the Maya, they gave writing its greatest refinements.(Miller)

The communication technology of writing is thought to have emerged in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, from 3500 -3000 BCE. This form of writing was Cuneiform, which consists of making specific marks in clay with a reed tool. Cuneiform was invented due to the long distance communication needed for trade. Meanwhile, the writing system of the Egyptians, or Hieroglyphics, was in use before 3150 BCE. Although disputed, hieroglyphics are thought to be based on cuneiform. Therefore, cuneiform is the first written language that we know.

All of the listed river valley civilizations had some sort of writing system as a way for either communication

This will be accomplished through a thorough examination of The Beginning of writing by Lois Warburton, “The Code of Hammurabi”, “Cuneiform Writing”, “EDSITEment! The Best Of the Humanities on the Web”, The Rosetta Stone by Carol Andrews, “Number Systems”, “Hieroglyphics”, and “Hieroglyphics.” The origin of the first evaluated source is the book, The Beginning of Writing, by Lois Warburton. Lois Warburton had a double master’s degree in psychology and English from Clark University.

Cursive has infact been around for centuries. Although technology has evolved tremedously, causing more students in high school and college to type instead write, I personally believe cursive is an important factor. I have always loved to write in cursive when I was in high school. Taking notes was one of my favorite things to do in school because I could make it my own. Now, as an adult, mother, and fiance, i use cursive in my daily life. being a mom your always in a rush and when i make lists I usually write in cursive, saving me some time. If I had to chose to type or write I would chose to write. Writing has always been a strong point in my life, my handwriting in high school was my trademark. I always got complimented on my cursive

Writing helped the Sumerians keep track of everything like paid taxes and the creation of the cuneiform.

Have you ever wonder what hieroglyphics are? Hieroglyphics are Ancient Egypts form of writing. They wrote on papyrus reeds and use those same reed to write with too! They also use hieroglyphics for many reasons. As a result hieroglyphics are Ancient Egypts form of writing.

Written records have transformed early human society in many ways. The “Mesopotamians became the world’s first record keepers and readers.” It all started with the farmers and the officials. They were “using clay tokens and images carved on stones to seal off storage areas began to use them to convey messages.” Cuneiform is a form of wedge shape writing that you “press these signs into wet clay with the cut end of a reed.” From the Mesopotamians to the Sumerians with their complex messages, early writing has transformed our society today.

They created the system of writing, which led to a great amount of different art pieces such as sculptures, architectures and paintings that are still recognized today. Different ways that the development of writing arose was through pictographs, ideograms, and cuneiforms. The use of writing on stone also was a major advantage in the prehistory era that soon progressed to many other eras as well. This led to a new dramatic alteration for this civilization because it was a new way to communicate. Each one of these different writing styles, led to many benefits that helped create a new way to interconnect with other individuals as well as other societies. For example, the Mesopotamia era used these ideas to create many masterpieces of their own. Some of the most famous architectures present in the Mesopotamia era include ziggurats. Without the finding of writing in the prehistory era, these particular buildings would not exist. The existence of art and inscription was a major transformation and it led to a development of many great and inspiring works of art throughout many

Is the development of the writing system the most important factor that led to the rise of a civilization? How does our ancestor learned to write when school is not even available? Understand that writing system that I am referring is not the average of using tools such as ink and paper, but more of creative tool that has developed over time. In this essay, I will cover seven points on the importantance of a writing system in the ancient civilization.