Name: ___________________________________________________________________Period: __________ Date: __________
Development of Writing
Standard: Analyze the origins, structures, and interactions of complex societies in the ancient Eastern
Mediterranean from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE.
Essential Question: What were the origins, structures, and interactions of complex societies in the ancient
Eastern Mediterranean?
Explain the development and importance of writing; include cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and the
Phoenician alphabet.
Cuneiform
Development:
Importance:
Hieroglyphics
Development:
Importance:
Phoenician Alphabet
Development:
Importance:
Development of Writing
Standard: Analyze the origins, structures, and interactions of complex societies in the ancient Eastern
Mediterranean from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE.
Essential Question: What were the origins, structures, and interactions of complex societies in the ancient
Eastern Mediterranean?
Explain the development and importance of writing; include cuneiform, hieroglyphics, and the
Phoenician alphabet.
Cuneiform
Development:
 created by Sumerians
 “wedge-shaped”
 form of pictograph = the use of pictures that
represent a word or phrase
 used a reed stylus to make wedge-shaped marks
on clay tablets, which were then baked in the sun
Importance:
 used to keep records and to pass on knowledge
 allowed people to communicate in new ways
 The Epic of Gilgamesh is an important
Mesopotamian epic poem
Hieroglyphics
Development:
 created by Egypt
 around 3000 B.C.
 “sacred carvings”
 form of pictograph =used pictures and abstract
forms
 written on temple walls and tombs
 hieratic script - a simplified version, written on
papyrus
Importance:
 used for:
o business transactions
o the general needs of everyday life
Phoenician Alphabet
Development:
 developed by the Phoenicians
 form of phonetics = used symbols to represent
sounds
Importance:
 introduced writing systems to trade partners
 influenced the Greeks to use this system of
writing as well