Editing Written language (section)

=== Origins ===
[[File:Sales contract Shuruppak Louvre AO3766.jpg|thumb|A clay tablet with cuneiform writing]]
The origins of written language are tied to the development of human civilization. The earliest forms of writing were born out of the necessity to record commerce, historical events, and cultural traditions.{{sfnp|Robinson|2007}} The first known true writing systems were developed during the early [[Bronze Age]] (late 4th millennium&nbsp;BCE) in ancient [[Sumer]], present-day southern Iraq. This system, known as [[cuneiform]], was [[pictographic]] at first, but later evolved into an alphabet, a series of wedge-shaped signs used to represent language [[phonemically]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Harriet |title=Sumer and the Sumerians |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-521-53338-6}}</ref>

At roughly the same time, the system of [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]] was developing in the [[Nile]] valley, also evolving from pictographic proto-writing to include phonemic elements.{{sfnp|Schmandt-Besserat|1997}} The [[Indus Valley civilization]] developed a form of writing known as the [[Indus script]] {{circa|2600&nbsp;BCE}}, although its precise nature remains undeciphered.{{sfnp|Parpola|1994}} The [[Chinese script]], one of the oldest continuously used writing systems in the world, originated around the late 2nd millennium&nbsp;BCE, evolving from [[oracle bone script]] used for [[divination]] purposes.{{sfnp|Boltz|1994}}