There is a controversial issue about the people who first invented the writing system whether it was the Egyptians or the Sumerians of Iraq. What do you think and when was that?
According to most accepted accounts,, the concept of writing where the writing could be interpreted by other was done in Sumerian AKA Mesopotamian civilization, between 3400 and 3300 BC. In Egypt, the writing system was developed around 3100 BC.
The first known writing derives from the lower reaches of the two greatest rivers in this extended region, the Tigris and the Nile . So the two civilizations separately responsible for this totally transforming human development are the Sumerian and the Egyptian . It has been conventional to give priority, by a short margin, to Sumer – dating the Sumerian script to about 3100 BC and the Egyptian version a century or so later.
Cuneiform in Mesopotamia: from 3100 BC
In about 3200 BC temple officials in Sumer develop a reliable and lasting method of keeping track of the animals and other goods which are the temple's wealth. On lumps of wet clay the scribes draw a simpified picture of the item in question. They then make a similar mark in the clay for the number counted and recorded. When allowed to bake hard in the sun, the clay tablet becomes a permanent document. .
Significantly the chief official of many Sumerian temples is known by a word, sangu, which seems to mean 'accountant'. But however non-literary the purpose, these practical jottings in Sumer are the first steps in writing.
As writing develops, a standardized method of doing it begins to emerge. This is essential to the very purpose of writing, making it capable of carrying a message over unlimited distances of space or time. Doing so depends on the second scribe, in a faraway place or the distant future, being able to read what the first scribe has written .
Hieroglyphs and papyrus in Egypt: from 3000 BC
The second civilization to develop writing, shortly after the Sumerians, is Egypt. The Egyptian characters are much more directly pictorial in kind than the Sumerian, but the system of suggesting objects and concepts is similar. The Egyptian characters are called hieroglyphs by the Greeks in about 500 BC, because by that time this form of writing is reserved for holy texts; hieros and glypho mean 'sacred' and 'engrave' in Greek.
Because of the importance of hieroglyphic inscriptions in temples and tombs, much of the creation of these beautiful characters is by painters, sculptors in relief and craftsmen modelling in plaster. But with the introduction of papyrus, the Egyptian script is also the business of scribes.
The Egyptian scribe uses a fine reed pen to write on the smooth surface of the papyrus scroll. Inevitably the act of writing causes the hieroglyphs to become more fluid than the strictly formal versions carved and painted in tombs.
Thank you very much Dr. Khansaa Azeez for your marvellous detailed answer. Best regards.
Dr. Nimala SV.S.G, thank you very much for your marvellous information about Ancient Iraqi Civilizations. Best regards. Hazim.
جميل هذا التذكير دكتور حازم بأهم الإنجازات للحضارات القديمة .السومريون هم اول من أخترع الكتابة على لوائح من الطين بالخط المسماري.
This reminder of Dr. Hazem's most important achievements of ancient civilizations. Sumerians are the first to invent writing on the lists of mud in the cuneiform font.
According to most accepted accounts,, the concept of writing where the writing could be interpreted by other was done in Sumerian AKA Mesopotamian civilization, between 3400 and 3300 BC. In Egypt, the writing system was developed around 3100 BC.
Dear Sir Hazim,
The first line of writing is the Sumerians (the Cuneiform Line). However, there was a picture writing in the Pharaonic civilization which took time to represent expressions and sentences. Therefore, the Sumerian script was regarded as more sophisticated and sophisticated.
The description of over 3000 BC may be biased. If we beieve the popular documentation’s then Sumerian is the answer.
The writing system, invented by the Sumerians, emerged in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE.
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