Writing, at its core, is the process of recording information through physical symbols. The Sumerian writing system, one of the earliest forms of written language, employed two types of symbols to represent various concepts. These symbols were etched into clay tablets, with each sign serving a specific purpose. One set of symbols represented numbers—such as 1, 10, 60, 600, 3,600, and 36,000—encoded in a sexagesimal (base-60) numeral system. This system had a profound impact on our modern understanding of time, notably with the division of the day into 24 hours and the 360-degree circle. The second set of symbols represented people, animals, goods, land ownership, and time-related data. By combining these two types of symbols, the Sumerians achieved the ability to store vast amounts of data—far beyond the capacity of any human memory or even DNA encoding.
In the early stages, writing was limited to the recording of data and numbers. While historical events of great significance, such as major conquests or victories, may have occurred, they were not recorded in the early Sumerian tablets. Writing, often a time-consuming task, was not seen as necessary for anything beyond basic record-keeping. For thousands of years, what we now consider to be the earliest recorded words from our ancestors offer no philosophical insights, poetry, or even narratives about law and royal victories. Instead, these early records are simple economic writings, documenting tax payments, debts, and property ownership.
A surviving example from this period reads: "Barley 29,086, for 37 months, Kushim." This early inscription is one of the first written messages we have, and while it does not offer profound meaning, it represents an important step in recording transactions. What is most fascinating is that this early writing system did not involve any philosophical ideas or grand narratives; it was purely practical and economic in nature.
Another type of writing that has survived from this ancient period, though less captivating, consists of word lists copied repeatedly as part of training exercises by scribes. Unlike modern texts that contain elaborate stories or laws, these lists were more practical in nature, such as inventories or vocabulary lists.
The Sumerian writing system, however, was not a complete alphabetic system. Full alphabetic systems, such as Latin or Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, allow for the representation of an entire spoken language. In contrast, the Sumerian system was a partial script, designed to represent specific types of information within a narrow range of practical fields, such as administrative tasks, trade, and taxation. It is worth noting that the Sumerian script was not suited for the poetic expressions of love or history, much like modern mathematical notations or musical notations are not used for writing stories or poems.
The limitations of the Sumerian script were not seen as a hindrance. The system was specifically designed not to represent the full range of spoken language but rather to fulfill specific administrative functions. Similar partial scripts were used in pre-Columbian Andean cultures, where they served the same purpose—capturing data for administration and not for storytelling or poetry.
One of the most intriguing writing systems of the pre-Columbian Americas was the quipu—a system of knotted cords used by the Inca civilization. The quipu was not written on clay tablets or paper but on threads made from llama or alpaca wool. Different colored cords and the arrangement of knots on these cords represented various types of data, allowing the Inca to record vast amounts of information. The use of quipu was essential for the administration of the massive Inca Empire, which spanned modern-day Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, and parts of Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. The Inca needed a way to manage their empire’s vast population of 10 to 12 million people, and the quipu allowed them to track taxes, property ownership, and other crucial information.
The quipu was remarkably effective at recording data and performing calculations, but after the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, the Spanish had no understanding of how to read the quipu. This lack of knowledge led to the eventual loss of the quipu as a tool for record-keeping. The Spanish rulers, who had already established a Latin-based writing system, discarded the quipu and replaced it with written documents in the Latin alphabet and numerical records.
Despite its effectiveness, the quipu was eventually lost to history. Today, only a fraction of quipu records have survived, and we lack the knowledge to fully decode them. This loss of knowledge highlights how critical the understanding of writing systems is for the preservation of cultural history and knowledge.
What can we learn from the early systems of writing and record-keeping?
Both the Sumerian writing system and the quipu offer fascinating insights into the ways ancient civilizations organized and documented their societies. While these systems may not have been designed for artistic expression, they were integral to the functioning of these civilizations. The loss of such systems—whether through conquest or the passage of time—serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving cultural practices, languages, and technologies that help us understand our past.
What do you think the loss of ancient writing systems like the quipu means for the future of historical preservation? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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