Invention of writings

The Egyptians believed in a god named Thoth, who was considered one of the most important deities in their pantheon. Thoth was associated with the moon and was believed to have endowed the Egyptians with literacy. He was also associated with the art of magic and held responsibility for writing and the judgment of the dead.

The Greeks, on the other hand, attributed the introduction of literacy to Prometheus in ancient Greece.

The Sumerians, an ancient civilization located in the region that is now modern-day Iraq, believed that the god Nabu was responsible for gifting humanity with writing and reading abilities. Nabu was highly revered among the Sumerian deities as he held the tablets of destiny, which contained the fate of the universe.

While the Sumerians were not entirely accurate in attributing the invention of writing to a god, it is true that the origins of writing can be traced back to the Sumerian civilization.

There was a question among scientists regarding the invention of writing: how could someone write something if no one knew how to read? This question may seem amusing, but upon closer examination, it makes perfect sense.

In the early 1970s, French-American archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat provided a very plausible answer. She proposed that writing emerged alongside the development of counting.

Humanity settled down and began farming and herding around 10,000 BC in the territories of modern-day Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. As crops and animals became essential for their livelihood, ancient farmers devised a system for counting and controlling them. They created clay tokens in the shapes of doubles for animals and grain. For instance, a small cone represented a small basket of grain, a roundel denoted a large basket of grain, and cylinders represented animals.

Around 3500 BC, someone from Sumer had the idea of impressing these clay tokens onto a clay tablet. The shapes of the rounds, cones, and cylinders were replicated on the tablet, providing a more convenient and efficient method of calculation than carrying around the physical clay tokens.

Interestingly, it appears that the invention of writing had much to do with debt. People, particularly early proto-governments, were more focused on counting and tracking debts rather than their own possessions.

Thus, humanity discovered how to store and transmit information using abstract signs. Over time, people would attempt to extend these abstract signs to encompass all aspects of reality, going beyond mere counting. The invention of writing marked a significant milestone, and the subsequent developments are just details in the evolution of written communication.