The history of writing: from pictograms to cuneiform writing

Prerequisites for the emergence of writing The development of writing was a gradual process going back to ancient times. Early forms of symbolic communication included: 1. Petroglyphs: rock paintings dating back to the Upper Paleolithic (about 40,000 years ago). 2. Mnemonic devices: the knot writing of the Kipu Incas, the wampum of the North American Indians. 3. Pictographic writing: schematic representations of objects and phenomena. 4. 4. Ideographic writing: symbols denoting not only objects but also abstract concepts. These early systems, although a step forward in the development of communication, had significant limitations. They could not accurately convey grammatical constructions, abstract ideas, or phonetic aspects of language. Sumerian cuneiform Around 3200 BC, Sumer, located in southern Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), experienced a revolutionary breakthrough in the development of writing. The Sumerians created the cuneiform writing system, which became th