Written Language

When language evolved into written work, clays and various types of paper surfaces were created. Soft clay tablets and a wedge-shaped tool were used by the Sumerians to record their pictographs, while the Egyptians created papyrus from a plant grown in the Nile region. Strips of papyrus were woven together, soaked, and pounded into a flat surface which was polished with a rock until a smooth finish was achieved. Hieroglyphics were painted or scratched into this surface with a brush or a pen. The Greeks, on the other hand, wrote on parchment made out of treated animal hides. While parchment was more durable than papyrus, it was far more expensive to manufacture. Finally, the Chinese developed the writing surface that we use today - paper. A combination of rags, tree bark, and various fibrous materials were soaked in tubs, pounded with mallets, pressed into sheets, and left to dry in the sun. This was around 100 B.C., but paper didn't become widely used in Europe for another thousand years.