Ancient Writing Systems

Writing is so completely central to modern life that it is easy to assume it must have been invented in order to record great stories or to share deep ideas. In fact, the very earliest writing seems to have been created for a far more humble and practical purpose: keeping careful track of goods. In several different ancient societies, the first written marks recorded simple but vital information, such as how much grain was being stored or how many animals a person owned. Only very much later was writing used for poetry, history, and law.

Remarkably, writing appears to have been invented quite independently more than once, in different parts of the world that had no contact whatsoever with one another. This strongly suggests that, as human societies grew larger and more complex, the practical need to record information accurately became increasingly pressing. A ruler who governed many thousands of people and collected taxes from them could not possibly rely on memory alone. Writing allowed important information to be stored, checked, and passed on reliably, and in this way it helped large and complicated states to function at all.

Many ancient scripts were eventually forgotten completely, and for long centuries their true meaning was entirely lost. Scholars have nonetheless managed to decipher some of them, often through years of patient detective work combined with a few lucky discoveries, such as a single object carrying the very same text in more than one language. Each success opens a small window onto a vanished world, allowing us to read the actual words of people who lived thousands of years ago. Yet some ancient writing systems still remain complete mysteries, their silent messages waiting patiently to be understood.