The Invention of Writing

Earliest independent inventions of writing

Sumeria (Iraq) - by 3,200BC  - Cuneiform

Egypt - by 3,200BC - Hieroglyphs

Indus valley by 3,000BC (undeciphered pictographs)

Chinese - by 1,200BC - Characters (Hanzi)

Zapotec/Mayan - by 600BC  - Glyphs

Writing developed when pictures for concepts began to be used to denote specific syllables of sound

EYE/SEE       CAN/TIN        OCEAN/SEA    EWE/FEMALE SHEEP

[a^I]                        [kÓœ)n]           [si∆]                                      [juW]

I                            CAN                      SEE                   YOU

rebus - a game where pictures convey unrelated words

Shared features among early writing systems:

1. Early farming societies with large bureaucracies

2. Languages with simple syllable structure

3. All were syllabic, but very irregular, with retention of      pictographic and iconographic elements

Decipherment

Cuneiform deciphered last century

    by the Englishman RAWLINSON (Behistun inscription)

Hieroglyphs deciphered in 1820's

    by the Frenchman CHAMPOLLION using Rosetta stone

Maya glyphs first deciphered in 1980's