According to the book "Du scribe au savant" by Gingas - Keating - Limoges, the Egyptians around, 3100 B.C., had a very complex centralized government and therefore they had, by that time, developed phonetic pictograms (a consequence of having to administer resources and religion). read more
Writing pictograms and cursive symbols was not really possible on clay tablets and therefore, and due to the accessible materials in Egypt, Egyptians favored the papyri and ink with reed. As for the Sumerians/Akkadians (Mesopotamia), they developed cuneiform symbols which could be more properly written on clay tablets. read more
As Egyptian writing evolved during its long history, different versions of the Egyptian hieroglyphic script were developed. In addition to the traditional hieroglyphs, there were also two cursive equivalents: hieratic and demotic. read more
Marks on a clay tablet fragment found in Greece are the oldest known decipherable text in Europe, a new study says. read more