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Writing

For different meanings of text, see Text.
The Edwin Smith papyrus is the world's oldest surviving surgical document. It was written in hieratic script in ancient Egypt around 1600 BC. The text describes 48 types of medical problems in exquisite detail. These pages discuss facial injury
Letter on a clay tablet sent by the high-priest Lu’enna to the king of Lagash It tells the king of his son's death in combat. The script is cuneiform, the date ~2400 BC
Trilingual inscription of Xerxes at Van Fortress in Turkey
Scribe at work

Writing is the act of recording language on a visual medium using a set of symbols. The symbols must be known to others, so that the text may be read.

A text may also use other visual systems, such as illustrations and decorations. These are not called writing, but may help the message work. Usually, all educated people in a country use the same writing system to record the same language. To be able to read and write is to be literate.

Writing differs from speech because the readers need not be present at the time. We can read writing from long ago, and from different parts of the world.[1][2] Text stores and communicates knowledge. Writing is one of the greatest inventions of the human species. It was invented after people settled in towns, and after agriculture started. Writing dates from about 3,300BC, which is over 5000 years ago, in the Middle East.

Writing today is usually on paper, though there are ways to print on almost any surface. Television and movie screens can also display writing, and so can computer screens. Many writing materials were invented, long before paper. Clay, papyrus, wood, slate and parchment (prepared animal skins) have all been used. The Romans wrote on waxed tablets with a pointed stylus; this was popular for temporary notes and messages. The later invention of paper by the Chinese was a big step forward.[3][4][5][6]

Writing is traditionally done using a hand tool such as a pencil, a pen, or a brush. More and more, however, text is created by input on a computer keyboard.

  1. ↑ Ong, Walter J. 1982. Orality and literacy: the technologizing of the word. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-415-02796-9
  2. ↑ Martin H-J. 1994. The history and the power of writing. University of Chicago Press, Chapter 2 The written and the spoken word. ISBN 0-226-50836-6
  3. ↑ Robinson. Andrew 1995. The story of writing. Thames & Hudson, London.
  4. ↑ Christin, Anne-Marie (ed) A history of writing. Flammarion, Paris.
  5. ↑ Gaur, Albertine 1992. A history of writing. 3rd ed.
  6. ↑ Diringer, David 1968. The alphabet: a key to the history of mankind. 2 vols, Hutchinson, London.
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