Feb 6 - Chapter 1

Unknown where and when Homo sapiens emerged, there is reason to believe they have been around for over 200,000 years. Most likely originating from Africa, the earliest form of communication of humans began with pictographs, which were pictures or sketches representing things depicted. Petroglyphs, which were carved from rock, began showing up all around the world. As people would make these carvings from rock, they eventually would reduce these pictographs and petroglyphs almost to a point that would resemble letters. As human beings continued interacting with each other, they began illustrating these symbols into tablets made of rows and columns that would be read from one side to the other. As communication between humans became more sophisticated, they were able to write in cuneiform. Developing years after cuneiform, cylinder seals were created to mark personal objects or letters. As writing became more and more popular, papyrus was developed to write on. Through a tedious process, this paper was produced to create scrolls and manuscripts. Egyptians used the manuscripts to write prayers, funerary text, and other passages. As manuscripts became more common, scribes would design the manuscript, while artists would draw illustrations next to the writing.

One thing that was interesting involved the development of Mesopotamian proprietary marks and seals. They were used to mark property and ownership among the village. This was a visual breakthrough that allowed people to know who created pottery and who the cattle belonged to. As you continued reading about seals, you noticed that almost everyone had one, no matter your class status. If you look around today, everything is marked and has ownership. We know where everything came from and what company created it.

How long would it take to create a hieroglyphic? Looking at some of these engravings it appears it would take hours or even days to write out a message.