Name ___________________

Date ____________________

Class ____________________

 

 

Fill in the blanks.

 

Writing was invented about _____________ years ago in ancient Sumer which was part of the land between two rivers knows as _________________________.  Before the Sumerians used pictures to represent objects, they put ____________ inside bullas. Later, they put ______________ on the outside of the bullas. They used bullas to help them keep track of ______________ records. Next, _____________________ were used to represent objects and later objects and/or sounds. Using just pictures was limiting, so the crafty Sumerians developed ________________ which literally means wedge-shaped. Some of the wedge-shaped symbols were very confusing to use because they were made with up to 30 wedges. There were over____________________ symbols! It would take professional writers, known as ___________________, over 12 years to learn all the symbols. A ____________________ was used to make the marks in the wet clay that was then hardened in the sun. Although this first writing system was complicated, it was used for over ____________ years. Sometime around ___________ BC, the ___________________, a group of seafaring merchants who lived along the Mediterranean Sea, developed a much easier writing system made of just _________ letters. The Greeks and Romans adapted this first alphabet and today the modern Roman alphabet of ____________ letters is used in over ______________ languages in over ___________ countries.

 

The benefits of writing are many. Kings and queens like writing because written records of ________________ allow them to be able to make sure they stay wealthy.  Hammurabi was a fan of writing because it allowed him to write _______________________. Teachers love writing because we can use _________________ to help doctors better learn how to operate and hopefully heal the body! Writing allows people to write the __________________, or the story of their people, places, and events. Writing has led to an explosion of ____________________. With writing, humans can share large amounts of information quickly, easily, and cheaply. Talented writers are remembered for their ability to write about abstract ideas like _________________and _________________. Famous documents about abstract ideas such as the ________________________ and the ___________________ could never have been created if we still lived in a pictograph only world. The spread of religions owes a debt to writing. Many __________________ books like the Bible tell followers the story of their faith; its laws, its people, and its _______________. Finally, writing is a terrific invention because without it Shakespeare, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jessica Simpson wouldn’t have the same chance to sing and write and therefore be remembered for their songs and poems about ___________________.

The invention of writing was one of the most important inventions in the history of the world.

 

 

DEVELOPMENT

 

       Invented by Sumerians in Mesopotamia at first   for keeping track of trades and farm records

 

       Tokens in bulla

       Symbols on outside of bulla

       Pictographs represented objects

       Cuneiform represented sounds (5100 yrs. ago)

 

       Cuneiform used for about 2,000 years

 

       Phoenicians (modern day Lebanon – traveled      along Med. Sea) need less complex writing systems to track trade transactions – invented 22 letter alphabet

 

       Greeks revised the Phone. Alphabet

 

       Romans revised the Greek alphabet and today     over 100 modern languages in 120 countries use        the 26 letter Roman alphabet

      

 

BENEFITS

 

 

Info

 

       Laws like Hammurabiís Code – everyone could know the laws, laws would be less likely to change

 

       Kings/queens could collect taxes more efficiently      thanks to written tax records

 

       History of people, places and events could be      passed on from generation to generation in a       more accurate and complete manner

 

       Technology explosion thanks to the ease of communication and sharing of complex info; for       example: doctors can learn from medical       textbooks how to safely operate on        a brain, astronauts can travel to the moon, and we can     build nuclear power plants

 

       Info could be shared by courier/messenger rather       than face to face encounters

 

       Later, multiple copies of books would allow for the cheap and widespread exchange of ideas and facts

 

Ideas

 

       Abstract ideas

 

              Freedom & democracy shared in Declaration of Independence and Constitution

 

       Feelings

 

               songs, poems, novels about love and the human condition – the greatest artists of the day like Shakespeare and the Beatles are famous  because their works capture what it means to having feelings

 

 

       Religion-

 

              Many religious books tell the reader how to live a good life, the laws of good, and the origins of the people and faith. For example, The Old Testament section of the Bible used by Jews and Christians tells of Adam & Eve, the     Ten Commandments, and Noahís Ark. Sumerian writings also talk about the creation of the world and a great flood and how one man built a boat and saved all the animals.

 

Writing

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Ancient Sumerian record keepers marked pictographic symbols in soft pieces of clay with a pointed reed. The clay tablets were then baked to make them hard. We call the Sumerian writing system cuneiform. Cuneiform means wedged shaped, because the marks in the clay were wedges.

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†The first pictographs were simple. A writer would draw an object like a fish or a broom to communicate to others. This system worked well in a simple society, but it would be difficult to describe abstract concepts such as justice or liberty in pictographs

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Eventually, most cultures developed phonetic writing systems where a symbol represents a sound rather than an object. English speaking people, agree that the symbols D-O-G refer to an animal. English, French, Spanish, German and Russian are examples of phonetic languages.

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Effects of Writing

1. Writing allowed people to keep records of their transactions.

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2. People could send messages with couriers to far away lands without traveling.

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3. Writing allowed people to pass on their accumulated knowledge to future generations

Writing allowed civilization to develop Writing allowed people to keep records of their transactions.

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People could send messages with couriers to far away lands without traveling.

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Writing allowed people to pass on their accumulated knowledge to future generations. .

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