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Lynne Spano
ARH 325
12/16/03
“The Origins of Writing in Southern Mesopotamia”
The first evidence of written word was discovered in the Sumerian culture and was created over 5,000 years ago. ... Through the development of language and writing, the Mesopotamian civilizations were able to create complex cities and societies, a fundamental step in the progression of mankind. The origins of writing were not in the conventional forms that we as a modern society utilize, but instead were in the form of pictographs and numerals. ...
The Sumerians first used writing as a practical means of keeping records. The development of writing has been categorized into three stages, with Uruk IV being the first stage. ... At this time the crude symbols and pictographs were employed by the Sumerians to keep records of inventories, but eventually writing developed into complex script, which expressed thought and abstract ideas. ...
The tablets that writing first appeared on were made of clay, the most plentiful raw material found in Mesopotamia. ... During these times clay had a vast array of uses such as for making pottery, mud-brick that would have been used in building and as tablets for use in writing. ... Thanks to the quality and durability of the clay used in Mesopotamia the origins of written language have been well preserved so that we now have great knowledge of the history of humankind. ... This early system of writing soon proved to be inefficient and cumbersome so early in the Third Millennium B. ... Instead of writing in vertical columns the scribes changed their method to horizontal rows. ... This new development in writing employed horizontal rows, which went from the top to the bottom of the tablet, and the inscriptions went from left to right.
Approximate Word count = 1385
Approximate Pages = 5.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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