History of Written Word by Riley Wonnenberg

Cave Paintings

30,000 BCE

Information was painted as rock art. This was the original method of storing or sharing information by documenting on a substance or material. The first calendar created by people dates back 15,000 years ago.

Petroglyphs

10,000 BCE

Cave paintings evolved into carvings made in the rock surface. They were a way to communicate or store information in a more permanent way.

Pictograms & Ideaograms

9000 BCE

These were another evolution in ancient documentation. Symbols were used to represent a concept, object, activity, place or event. These were precursors to symbols used in first written languages.

Clay Tokens Used in Mesopotamia

8000 BCE

Also as the precursors to the written language, cuneiform, tokens were used to keep records of goods. While a cone may have represented barley, a disc may have represented sheep. There were hundreds of different token shapes used as representations of objects or goods.

Writing for Accounting

3500 BCE

Tokens were held in clay envelopes with markings on the outside of the envelope to represent the tokens within. Eventually they ditched the envelope altogether and replaced it with markings on a tablet to represent the same thing the tokens did. This was the very first Sumerian writing.

Sumerian's Cuneiform Evolved

3400 BCE

Sumerians made marks with reeds on clay tablets. This writing was called cuneiform. At this time, cuneiform was still used for economic and administrative transactions only. There were over 2000 symbols in use and few people had access to writing.

Egyptian Writing

3100 BCE

Another culture was also working on written language. In Egypt hieroglyphics were used for governmental, fiscal, magical and religious purposes. Only scribes could write and most could not read, so access to written language was very limited. They had over 1500 symbols that were inscribed on rocks which made it not very portable and not accessible to most people.

Papyrus for Writing in Egypt

3000 BCE

A more portable writing substance started to be used in Egypt. Made from plants, papyrus, allowed written word to travel across greater spaces and become accessible to more people for more purposes.

Cuneiform Now Used for Funery Inscriptions

2700 BCE

Cuneiform started to be used for funery inscriptions. In place of clay tablets writing was being placed on valuable items such as gold. The writing of individual's names was also a departure from the purely accounting function of writing. Writing had a new purpose.

Akkadian Language from Cuneiform

2300 BCE

The Akkadian people took over Cuneiform and reduced the symbols from around 2000 to around 600 symbols by using sound signs instead of word signs. By simplifying written language, more people had access to it and so it could be used in less formal ways.

Writing for Art

2285 BCE

No longer reserved for transactions, the written word recorded music, hymns and stories. The priestess-poet Enheduanna wrote hymns around 2285 BCE and other great literary works of Mesopotamia followed, such as the Atrahasis, The Descent of Inanna, The Myth of Etana, The Enuma Elish and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh. All were written in cuneiform.

Sinai Inscriptions

1700 BCE

Ancient Semetic people made symbols in the Sinai Peninsula that depicted consonants with no word signs. This is a big development that led to our current written language. Writing using sound signs allowed people to create meaning by merging signs and making writing something for the people because it was much easier to learn.

Hieratic Script

1600 BCE

Egyptian symbols evolved as more people began writing. They changed to make writing faster and easier. This lead to a shorthand script called Hieratic. The number of symbols also reduced to around 700 making is easier to learn and use by more people

Invention of the Phoenician Alphabet

1100 BCE

The Phoenician Alphabet created in Lebanon had 22 letters which were all consonants. This written language became widely used throughout the Mediterranean. The symbols were often borrowed from hieroglyphics and became the source of the Greek and Roman alphabets.

Greek Alphabet - May I Buy a Vowel

800 BCE

From Egyptian hieroglyphs through the Phoenician alphabet became the Greek alphabet which was the first alphabet to have vowels in addition to consonants. It has 24 letters.

Latin Alphabet

700 BCE

The Latin alphabet consisted of 23 letters, 21 of which were derived from the Greek alphabet.The Latin alphabet became widely used by many languages.

Demotic Script

650 BCE

Now that writing was accessible to more people, the system continued to evolve into an even faster and easier script called Demotic. By using sound symbols instead of word symbols, the number of symbols used was again reduced and made it easier for children to learn to write. As writing became easier it's usefulness increased and people began to use it for more than its original transactional purposes.

26 Letter Alphabet

476

When the Latin alphabet evolved in medieval times, the letter I was differentiated into I and J and V into U, V, and W, producing an alphabet equivalent to that of modern English with 26 letters.

Past 200 Years

2017

American English has compressed even more over the past 200 years to get to the point faster. An idea once conveyed in 62 words may now be written in 15. Written language from its beginning has been condensed or reduced so that people could communicate faster and further.

Even Shorter

2018

Modern writing is becoming almost text like and function words are no longer being used. Shorter attention span and use of technology are likely involved in the current evolution of the written word. Language used for texting includes many shorthand words such as ,"nvm", for never mind. We are still on the path started by ancient people to continue to speed up and increase the distance we can communicate with written word. This will continue in the future.

Phones, Tablets, Computers for Writing

2018

Computers, phones, tablets and electronic reading devices have become one of the most popular ways to communicate through written language. We are in the most portable and accessible time for sharing written word. We can communicate faster and more efficiently than ever over great distances.

Telepathy

4000

The written word has disappeared being replaced by telepathy.