Reflection Paper #6

Without writing what would be of us today? How crucial was the invention of writing to the establishment of ancient civilizations? Very crucial indeed. How would we be able to keep any record keeping in our everyday lives? How would Banking institutions and Court systems be able to record things.

The writing system was and is so important. In ancient times as they went through the transition from hunter to gatherer it became very important and necessary to count their property, whether it was parcels of land, grains, animals or the transfer of property from one person to another. They first used tokens which then became symbols that could be impressed and inscribed in clay.

The following are some examples of how the writing system was established and how important is was for some ancient civilizations.

The Sumerians built a series of city states by the Euphrates river and in 3200BC the Sumerians developed the writing called cuneiform, which was pictures and the represented what they were and eventually the pictures started to represent an idea or concept. They consider that pictures were used first to represent syllables of sound. The Sumerians they began to use this writing for farming. Tokens were marked with simple pictures to label farm produce.

In ancient Egyptian times the god that was recognized for the invention of writing was Thoth. He was the scribe and historian of the gods he to kept the calendar and invented the art and science. These ancient Egyptian times were also mystical and writing possessed a divine nature because it was there way to extend their memory and also a tool for the rich to rule over the common person.

Thanks to these ancient civilizations we know how to communicate both verbally and by writing.