When writing about writing, it’s important to use the right words.
Scholars of history distinguish between prewritten signs used to represent objects and more precise signs that establish an exact match between the sign and the sound. Text and language are not the same thing.
new study to antiquities Demonstrates the transition from printed symbols to letters. This is the transformation that leads the author. Silvia FerraraPhilological researchers at the University of Bologna call it “fuzzy.”
“We should not assume that writing was the result of a series of scribes sitting around a table and creating symbols together,” says Ferrara. “This is a complex and gradual phenomenon and it is difficult to set a zero point on when an invention occurred.”
Between symbols and language
For this study, researchers started with a Mesopotamian city 6,000 years ago. UrukIt is located in present-day Iraq. Uruk was a major trading center extending into southwestern Iran and southeastern Türkiye.
To track the flow of goods and payments, merchants used cylinders engraved with designs. Think of this as an early version of a rubber stamp. However, instead of being tapped onto a paper surface, the stamp is rolled onto a wet clay plate.
Scholars then tried to find as many matches as possible between the images on the cylinder and the early, or primitive, versions of cuneiform. The proto version lies in the gray area between symbols and language. Unlike cuneiform, only about half of the primitive cuneiform symbols have ever been deciphered.
“The cuneiform writing system, which is slightly later than Proto, is completely deciphered and readable,” says Ferrara. “I am writing down the Sumerian language.”
Read more: The first words written down by ancient humans were 20,000 years ago.
invention of writing
Researchers looked for and found correlations between many seals and primitive cuneiform markings. For example, they found primitive cuneiform matches with seal images on things like linen and pottery. These matches essentially establish a direct link between the cylinder seal system and the invention of writing.
“The world’s first invention of writing deserves much better study.” Ferrara says. “Seals played a less minor role in creating signs than we thought.”
Or simply put, seals are important.
Read more: How humans invented writing — four different periods
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Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul was a science journalist for more than 20 years, specializing in U.S. life sciences policy and global science career issues. He started his career in newspapers but switched to science magazines. His research has been published in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
