Considering that historians have traditionally identified the beginning of civilization with the emergence of written language, writing could well be considered humankind's most important invention. The various writing systems in existence today have followed different paths of development; all, however, have their origin in the use of pictures to represent objects. The earliest extant cave drawings are at least 15,000 years old. It appears that the most ancient writing systems emerged, changing from idiosyncratic drawings into organized representation, when primitive cultures developed into settled agricultural societies; anthropologists and historians speculate that the increased need for record-keeping spurred writing's development as trade and government became more complex.

The oldest known form of writing is probably cuneiform, developed by the Sumerians in the Near East as early as 4000 b.c. Cuneiform derives its name from the Latin cuneus (wedge), referring to the wedges that were used to inscribe such writing onto...