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This article cites its sources but its page reference ranges are too broad or incorrect. Please help in adding a more precise page range. (July 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Survey of eight prominent scripts (left to right, top to bottom): Sumerian cuneiform, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Chinese characters, Maya script, Devanagari, Latin alphabet, Arabic alphabet, Braille Part of ...
The oldest surviving books come from the 10th century CE, the earliest belonging to the Buddhist manuscript tradition. [54] Prior to the adoption of paper, these were written on palm leaves, a naturally abundant resource in the southern part of the subcontinent. [54] The pages were usually three feet wide and two inches tall. [54]
Writing was very important in maintaining the Egyptian empire, and literacy was concentrated among an educated elite of scribes. [53] Only people from certain backgrounds were allowed to train to become scribes, in the service of temple, pharaonic, and military authorities.
The form of writing now commonplace across the world—the novel—originated from the early modern period and grew in popularity in the next century. Before the modern novel became established as a form there first had to be a transitional stage when "novelty" began to appear in the style of the epic poem.
The period when a culture is written about by others, but has not developed its own writing system, is often known as the protohistory of the culture. By definition, [ 2 ] there are no written records from human prehistory, which can only be known from material archaeological and anthropological evidence: prehistoric materials and human remains.
Specimen of typefaces used to write numerous languages – from the 1728 Cyclopædia by letter founder William Caslon. A written language is the representation of a language by means of writing. This involves the use of visual symbols, known as graphemes, to represent linguistic units such as phonemes, syllables, morphemes, or words.
For broader world history, recorded history begins with the accounts of the ancient world around the 4th millennium BCE, and it coincides with the invention of writing. For some geographic regions or cultures, written history is limited to a relatively recent period in human history because of the limited use of written records. Moreover, human ...
Among the writing duties of a scriba was the recording of sworn oaths on public tablets. [83] The office afforded several advantages, including a knowledge of Roman law that was traditionally the privilege of the elite. [84] People who needed legal documents drawn up and whose own literacy was low could make use of a public scribe. [85]