Automoderated users, edit
3,552
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
mLine 14:
Line 14: + − [[Image:Letter Luenna Louvre AO4238.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A cuneiform letter from a Sumerian queen to her king, dating from 2400 BC.]]+
History of Written Language (view source)
Revision as of 03:57, January 4, 2010
, 03:57, January 4, 2010→Sumer
==Sumer==
==Sumer==
[[Image:Letter Luenna Louvre AO4238.jpg|200px|right|thumb|A cuneiform letter from a Sumerian queen to her king, dating from 2400 BC.]]
In the "fertile crescent," which is modern-day Iraq, the Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations developed a writing system known as cuneiform. Cuneiform appears to have developed as a tallying system developed for commercial trade. As the economy of the region diversified, it became necessary to keep track of transactions, as well as to write contracts and legal codes.
In the "fertile crescent," which is modern-day Iraq, the Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations developed a writing system known as cuneiform. Cuneiform appears to have developed as a tallying system developed for commercial trade. As the economy of the region diversified, it became necessary to keep track of transactions, as well as to write contracts and legal codes.
As the tallying system used by the early Sumerians became more complex, the cuneiform symbols began to represent individual sounds, which came from the first sound of the word they once represented.
As the tallying system used by the early Sumerians became more complex, the cuneiform symbols began to represent individual sounds, which came from the first sound of the word they once represented.