Writing 101

With the usage of writing and implementation of all that is associated with it, life became a lot less fun. You are no doubt familiar with the saying “ignorance is bliss”? Well, this is the time period that it came from. The first form of writing was a sketchy system called “Linear B” used by the Sumerians. They then upgraded to “Linear A” which included an entirely new interface. Despite this, they were essentially the same thing. Many historians believe they are the precursors to “Wingdings” and “Wingdings 2”.

There was also a rival language developing. The Babylonians were working on a system called “Cuneiform” which would blow all other primitive communication out of the water. Solely created with the use of triangular wedges, they were able to complete an alphabet that would transcend the bounds of spoken words. Cuneiform was a success, so much so that it was used to document Mesopotamia’s first legal system.

It was called “Hammurabi’s Code”. This primitive governmental structuring did not even try to hide the fact that it was the laws of a completely totalitarian regime. Note that it is called HAMMURABI’S code, not the People’s code. More than that, he wrote the laws to please his “sun god”. Legal systems that are based on the religious principles of a single individual generally do not hold up well through time, and the Mr. Hammurabi’s code was no exception. The laws were all inclusive and at the same time very specific. While there is no historical evidence, it is believed that they lead to much confusion and dispute. The 218 items listed range from the simple and straightforward: “If a robber is caught while stealing, he will be killed.” to the muddled and confusing: “If a wife has a relationship with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into water, but the wife can be pardoned by her husband and given to the king as a slave.”

With all the learning and legal jargon being thrown around, people began to realize that reading was no fun. The market was wide open for things that were both easy and enjoyable to read. This led to the world’s first cheap beach novels and tabloids. It is also thought that Mad Magazine was founded during this time period, which would explain its lack of new content for many years now. They also began to create movie versions. While the movie version of Hammurabi’s code was not exactly a blockbuster, movie renditions of popular literature like “Ben Hur” have dominated to stone-screen for thousands of years.

Despite the general dislike for written word, it continued to evolve and mature. After Cuneiform came Greek and after Greek came Latin, then came the modern alphabet which we know today. Some scholars devote entire books to the subject. We are better than that: we covered it in a few paragraphs.