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The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process

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Writing is one of the key things that distinguishes humans from other animals. An attribute of civilisation that was independently invented by several peoples throughout the world. So here Houston gives us an overview of the current best understanding of these early efforts.

Of these, perhaps the best known are those of the Middle East - Egypt and Mesopotamia. But there has also been important advances in recent decades in our understanding of MesoAmerican scripts, which is well explained here.

The reader should be cautioned that there is a well nigh inevitable frustration with this subject. A lot of our current lack of knowledge of these early writings may always remain unresolved. And some of our understandings are understood to be best effort speculation.