What writing developed in Sumer?

What writing developed in Sumer?

• A. Cuneiform
• B. Hieroglyphics
• C. Alphabet
• D. Pictographs

Answer: (A)

Writing in Sumer emerged to meet practical needs of administration, trade, and record-keeping in the city-states of southern Mesopotamia. Sumerians started with signs drawn on clay, initially pictographic, and over time these signs were simplified into wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay with a reed, creating cuneiform. This development allowed for not just recording goods and transactions but also laws, literature, and scholarly works, making administration more efficient and culture more enduring. Hieroglyphics are from Egypt and use pictorial symbols, the alphabet is a later development consisting of phonetic letters, and pictographs refer to the earliest, simplest drawings before the wedge-based script—the distinctive Sumerian system is cuneiform.

Writing in Sumer emerged to meet practical needs of administration, trade, and record-keeping in the city-states of southern Mesopotamia. Sumerians started with signs drawn on clay, initially pictographic, and over time these signs were simplified into wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay with a reed, creating cuneiform. This development allowed for not just recording goods and transactions but also laws, literature, and scholarly works, making administration more efficient and culture more enduring. Hieroglyphics are from Egypt and use pictorial symbols, the alphabet is a later development consisting of phonetic letters, and pictographs refer to the earliest, simplest drawings before the wedge-based script—the distinctive Sumerian system is cuneiform.