Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Sumerian clay tablet, probably from southern Iraq, c. 3100-3000 BCE. The tablet is inscribed
with cuneiform, an early form of writing inscribed with a sharp instrument. It records the allocation
of beer.
Early forms of writing
The earliest evidence of writing did not emerge until around 3000 BCE, in the
Sumerian culture of Mesopotamia. This writing system was based on pictographs. It
was read from top to bottom and was constructed on a grid with equal vertical and
horizontal spacing. It is thought that this early version of writing was a system of ac-
counting, as the first written records are tablets that show commodities listed with ac-
companying names and numerals organized in columns. As the writing was inscribed,
it would often be smeared as the scribe moved his hand across the writing surface.
Consequently, scribes turned the pictographs on their sides and wrote the rows hori-
zontally to make the writing easier. The pictographs became less literal-looking and
began to represent ideas rather than physical objects, so a pictograph of the sun might
mean 'light' or 'day'. This in turn led to a form of rebus-style writing (substituting an
image for a letter or word), which then developed into cuneiform - a phonographic
writing system in which images represented sounds or syllables.
In Egypt a similar system was utilized to communicate, though, unlike Sumerian
script, this did not develop into a more abstract form of writing for almost 3,500
years. The Egyptians did, however, produce illustrated manuscripts using papyrus, a
material similar to paper, that was made from the pith of the reed-like papyrus plant.
