Script is the written expression of a language. Cuneiform, the first script, was invented in Sumer, Mesopotamia c. 3500 BCE, hieroglyphics sometime prior to the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (c. 3150-2613 BCE), and Sanskrit in India during the Vedic Period (c. 1500 to c. 500 BCE). Writing was later adopted by other cultures enabling the development of civilization.
More about: Script8 days left
Server Costs Fundraiser 2024
Help our mission to provide free history education to the world! Please donate and contribute to covering our server costs in 2024. With your support, millions of people learn about history entirely for free every month.
$12679 / $18000
Definition
Timeline
-
c. 3500 BCEFirst written evidence of religion in the world recorded on Sumerian tablets.
-
c. 3200 BCEHieroglyphic script developed in Egypt.
-
c. 2150 BCE - c. 1400 BCEThe tales of Gilgamesh written which inform The Epic of Gilgamesh
-
c. 2000 BCE - c. 1650 BCECretan Hieroglyphic script is in use.
-
c. 1850 BCE - c. 1450 BCEThe Linear A script of the Minoan civilization is in use.
-
c. 1600 BCECanaanite alphabet.
-
c. 1400 BCEUgaritic alphabet of 30 letters is invented.
-
1100 BCEPhoenician alphabet.
-
c. 1000 BCEDeath of Ahiram (or Ahirom) of Byblos, whose sarcophagus bears the oldest inscription of the Phoenician alphabet.
-
c. 647 BCE - c. 629 BCEExtensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashurbanipal's Library at Nineveh.
-
c. 350 CE - c. 950 CEEstimated use of the Ogham in Ireland and southwestern England.