-
3500 BCE
Cuneiform
The earliest form of writing was a cuneiform script invented in Sumer, a historical region in Mesopotamia, that is now modern-day Iraq. Cuneiform started out as a pictographs, which involves using signs or pictures for words. They would use a stylus to wedge the images, or pictographs, into soft clay tablets. It then evolved from using pictographs to phonetic signs( could be compared to modern-day alphabet). The clay tablets were mostly used for accounting. -
Period: 3500 BCE to
History of Writing
-
3200 BCE
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Around the same time as Sumerian cuneiform began to spread, Egyptians began to use their own form of writing, known as hieroglyphs.The first Egyptian inscriptions were words( such as names) were written phonetically (like in Sumer) on ceremonial items, for example, ceramic, metal, and stone.In Egyptian hieroglyphs,symbols were also used to represent objects (such as animals, tools, etc.) and ideas (such as time). -
2285 BCE
Enheduanna
Enheduanna, the high-priestess of Ur in Sumer, is known as the world's first author. She used cuneiform to write hymns in praise of Inanna, a Sumerian goddess. Three of her most famous hymns are ones that she wrote for Inanna: Inninsagurra, Ninmesarra, and Inninmehusa, which mean "The Great-Hearted Mistress’, The Exaltation of Inanna’, and 'Goddess of the Fearsome Powers’. -
1100 BCE
Phoenician Alphabet
The Phoenician alphabet is known as the first phonemic script. Unlike cuneiform and hieroglyphs, the Phoenician alphabet had only about two dozen letters, which made it much easier to learn. 22 symbols made up the consonants, while the vowels were written. -
800 BCE
Greek Alphabet
The Greeks modified the Phoenician writing system to create their own alphabet. The used the Phoenician script as a guide to help them develop their own writing system. They added new letters, changed some, and dropped others.In the their alphabet, the Greeks represented both consonants and vowels with individual signs that were arranged in a line. -
600 BCE
Latin Alphabet
The Latin alphabet is a variation of the Greek alphabet. The Etruscan alphabet was the one that directly followed the Greek, and then the Latin alphabet follows the Etruscan. The Latin alphabet includes 23 letters, 21 of which are from the Etruscan. In the Roman times, Latin was written in both cursive and capital letters. There are different versions of the Latin alphabet. -
800
Old English Alphabet
The Old English alphabet was first introduced when a writer named Byrhtferth ordered it for numerological uses. The Old English alphabet was first written in runes. The runic alphabet were written in various German languages before the Latin alphabet was adopted. Old English shifted from runes to the Latin alphabet which was introduced by christian missionaries during the 9th century. The Old English Latin alphabet consisted of 24 letters. -
1000
Beowulf
Beowulf is the oldest and most important English epic poem written in Old English. No one knows for sure when Beowulf was written, but scholars have suggested that date of it's composition is between 700 and 1000 A.D. The only preserved manuscript is thought to have been written around 1000 A.D. Beowulf is one of the most popular pieces of writing studied inside of English classes today. -
1400
Modern English Alphabet
The Modern English Alphabet we use today is a combination of the Latin alphabet the Old English runic alphabet. English became more standardized and modern when the the printing press was invented by Johann Gutenberg in the 15th century.
In the 16th century, V and U were split into two letters: V became the consonant, and U became the vowel.
