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The History of Communication
3500 BC to 2900 BC
The Phoenicians develop an alphabet.
The Sumerians develop cuneiform writing - pictographs of accounts written on clay tablets.
The Egyptians develop hieroglyphic writing.
1775 BC
Greeks use a phonetic alphabet written from left to right.
1400 BC
Oldest record of writing in China on bones.
1270 BC
The first encyclopedia is written in Syria.
900 BC
The very first postal service - for government use in China.
776 BC
First recorded use of homing pigeons used to send message - the winner of the Olympic Games to the Athenians.
530 BC
The Greeks start the very first library.
500 BC to 170 BC
Papyrus rolls and early parchments made of dried reeds - first portable and light writing surfaces.
200 BC to 100 BC
Human messengers on foot or horseback common in Egypt and China with messenger relay stations built.
Sometimes fire messages used from relay station to station instead of humans.
The invention of writing and in particular of alphabetic writing marked a milestone in cultural development. It provided humanity with a new means of communication that literally inscribed in stone the spoken word. Communication could now span both space and time. Space, because writing could be sent from one place to another. Time, because writing could preserve the words for generations to come.
Since the art of writing was discovered, nearly every form of writing material has been used. Some were intended to ensure permanence while others were simple and inexpensive but temporary. From the wax notepad of the schoolboy to the grand inscriptions on monuments, almost everything we know about antiquity is derived from writings such as those written on animals, vegetables and minerals.
Stone
Stone was mainly used for writing on permanent monuments and public buildings. The writing on stone usually requires the use of hammer and chisel. The most comfortable, accurate and hence productive manner of carving stone
3500 BC to 2900 BC
The Phoenicians develop an alphabet.
The Sumerians develop cuneiform writing - pictographs of accounts written on clay tablets.
The Egyptians develop hieroglyphic writing.
1775 BC
Greeks use a phonetic alphabet written from left to right.
1400 BC
Oldest record of writing in China on bones.
1270 BC
The first encyclopedia is written in Syria.
900 BC
The very first postal service - for government use in China.
776 BC
First recorded use of homing pigeons used to send message - the winner of the Olympic Games to the Athenians.
530 BC
The Greeks start the very first library.
500 BC to 170 BC
Papyrus rolls and early parchments made of dried reeds - first portable and light writing surfaces.
200 BC to 100 BC
Human messengers on foot or horseback common in Egypt and China with messenger relay stations built.
Sometimes fire messages used from relay station to station instead of humans.
The invention of writing and in particular of alphabetic writing marked a milestone in cultural development. It provided humanity with a new means of communication that literally inscribed in stone the spoken word. Communication could now span both space and time. Space, because writing could be sent from one place to another. Time, because writing could preserve the words for generations to come.
Since the art of writing was discovered, nearly every form of writing material has been used. Some were intended to ensure permanence while others were simple and inexpensive but temporary. From the wax notepad of the schoolboy to the grand inscriptions on monuments, almost everything we know about antiquity is derived from writings such as those written on animals, vegetables and minerals.
Stone
Stone was mainly used for writing on permanent monuments and public buildings. The writing on stone usually requires the use of hammer and chisel. The most comfortable, accurate and hence productive manner of carving stone