Lesson · Grade 7 · Social Studies
The First Writing: Cuneiform and Hieroglyphs
- Grade 7
- Social Studies
- 1 min 11 s
- British Columbia
- BC7-SS-17
A map of Mesopotamia and Egypt shows where two of the world's first writing systems began, both about 3200 BCE: in Mesopotamia, scribes pressed a cut reed into wet clay to keep records of grain, and picture signs like a star turned into groups of wedges called cuneiform, meaning "wedge-shaped". In Egypt, people carved picture signs called hieroglyphs ("sacred carvings") into stone, some standing for whole words like sun and some for sounds like n, and the video ends by showing writing as a new technology for saving and sharing knowledge.
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In one sentence
The question this lesson answers
How did people first begin to write?
Some of the earliest writing comes from two river valleys, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Transcript
What the lesson says
How did people first begin to write?
Some of the earliest writing comes from two river valleys, Mesopotamia and Egypt.
In Mesopotamia, people began writing about 3200 BCE.
At first, they wrote to keep records, such as how much grain was stored.
Scribes pressed the end of a cut reed into wet clay.
Over time, picture signs, like this star, turned into groups of wedges.
This writing is called cuneiform, which means wedge-shaped.
In Egypt, people were also writing by about 3200 BCE.
Egyptians carved picture signs into stone.
These signs are called hieroglyphs, from Greek words meaning sacred carvings.
Some signs stood for whole words, like sun, and some for sounds, like n.
Writing was a new technology that let people save and share knowledge.
Cuneiform and hieroglyphs were two of the world's first writing systems.
Curriculum
Where this fits
- British Columbia, Grade 7
Social Studies, Ancient world to the 7th century: scientific, philosophical, and technological developmentsBC7-SS-17
Previous: The Maya: How Their Cities Rose and FellNext: Ancient Inventions We Still Use
The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.
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