Answer: The earliest known script, the Mesopotamian cuneiform was invented in Sumer, present-day Iraq, circa 3200 BC. It is the origin of our present-day alphabet and it was uninterruptedly used for over a period of 10,000 years as its prehistoric antecedent.
Explanation: The evolution of the cuneiform script is divided into four phases: Clay tokens representing units of goods were used for accounting purposes (8000–3500 BC). The three-dimensional tokens were transformed into two-dimensional pictographic signs, similarly to the tokens, the pictographic script served exclusively for accounting (3500–3000 BC). Phonetic syllabic signs initially introduced to write down the names of individuals marked the turning point when writing started imitating spoken language and, as a result, became applicable to all fields of human knowledge (3000–1500 BC). With two dozen letters, each standing for a single sound of voice, the alphabet perfected the interpretation of speech.
Hieroglyphic writing, which appeared at the end of the 4th millennium, was a complex system of phonetic signs corresponding to one or more consonants, ideograms objects or abstract concepts, and determinatives that determine the words. These specified their semantic categories (e.g. man, woman). Hieratic script, which arose in parallel time with the hieroglyphics, is the “cursive” format of hieroglyphics for easy use in daily and private matters, where appearance was less important than writing speed. These writings were used simultaneously for many centuries until the beginning of the 26th dynasty (664–30 BC), when a third one was introduced, the demotic script. Hieroglyphs from then on were used for monumental inscriptions, whereas religious texts were written in hieratic script, and the demotic script became that of the public administration and private documents.
