Ancient Writing Systems of Mesopotamia
Written language helps people to communicate over long distances, record history, and share ideas. Why did writing systems develop? In ancient times, civilizations formed in different parts of the world. As these societies grew, people needed a way to keep records of the things they traded. They wanted to write letters to each other, and they also wanted to preserve their stories. All of these needs led to the creation of writing systems.
Some of the earliest writing systems were created in Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was an area where many of the earliest civilizations formed. It was mainly located where the countries of Iraq and Kuwait are today. The Sumerian civilization formed in southern Mesopotamia about 6,000 years ago, and they were the first Mesopotamian society to develop a writing system.
The first system Sumerians created used pictograms. To write, Sumerians used clay tablets and a pointed tool made from a type of grass. They used this tool to carve pictograms into the clay tablet. Pictograms were drawings. Each pictogram represented a word or idea. For example, a drawing of a star symbolized the sky or heaven. The Sumerians created hundreds of pictograms.
To make written communication more efficient, Sumerians developed a faster way of writing. This new writing system was called cuneiform [kyoo-NEE-uh-form]. Each symbol stood for a word or a sound. In Mesopotamia, the people who wrote using this system were called scribes. It was their job to create or copy records. Scribes used a grass tool with a wedge shape at its tip to write things down. They pressed the tool into clay tablets to make the symbols.
Scribes spent years memorizing the symbols and what they represented. They also learned how to combine these symbols to create different words and meanings. A symbol that represented a sound could be combined with another sound symbol to create a new word. Over time, many other civilizations started using this system. The cuneiform system became the most widespread writing system in Mesopotamia. Using cuneiform signs allowed people to share ideas and develop large trade networks.
As time passed, cuneiform signs were used less and less, and new writing systems developed. These writing systems used alphabets instead. Today, researchers study cuneiform and pictograms from thousands of years ago. Through these writing systems, they learn more about the cultures of the people who lived in ancient Mesopotamia.
In the late 1700s and early 1800s, the Cherokee became the only Native American people in the United States at the time who kept written records.