Script

Definition

Script is the written expression of a language. Cuneiform, the first script, was invented in Sumer, Mesopotamia c. 3500 BCE, hieroglyphics sometime prior to the Early Dynastic Period in Egypt (c. 3150-2613 BCE), and Sanskrit in India during the Vedic Period (c. 1500 to c. 500 BCE). Writing was later adopted by other cultures enabling the development of civilization.

More about: Script

Timeline

  • c. 3500 BCE
    First written evidence of religion in the world recorded on Sumerian tablets.
  • c. 3200 BCE
    Hieroglyphic script developed in Egypt.
  • c. 2150 BCE - c. 1400 BCE
    The tales of Gilgamesh written which inform The Epic of Gilgamesh
  • c. 2000 BCE - c. 1650 BCE
    Cretan Hieroglyphic script is in use.
  • c. 1850 BCE - c. 1450 BCE
    The Linear A script of the Minoan civilization is in use.
  • c. 1600 BCE
    Canaanite alphabet.
  • c. 1400 BCE
    Ugaritic alphabet of 30 letters is invented.
  • 1100 BCE
    Phoenician alphabet.
  • c. 1000 BCE
    Death of Ahiram (or Ahirom) of Byblos, whose sarcophagus bears the oldest inscription of the Phoenician alphabet.
  • c. 647 BCE - c. 629 BCE
    Extensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashurbanipal's Library at Nineveh.
  • c. 350 CE - c. 950 CE
    Estimated use of the Ogham in Ireland and southwestern England.
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