The invention and use of a complete writing system by the Sumerians in the Fertile Crescent. The cuneiform system, written from left to right and top to bottom, is the oldest known writing system and one of only two confirmed instances of independent invention of writing. The other occurred in Mesoamerica (present-day Mexico) around 600 BC. All other alphabetic writing systems (Cherokee, Cretan Linear A7B, Phoenician, Korean, Greek, Roman, Etruscan, etc.) or logograms (Egyptian hieroglyphics, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese kanji, etc.) are likely derived from or inspired by one of the previous two. The only question is whether Chinese and Egyptian writing systems arose independently or through “idea diffusion,” that is, invented from scratch but inspired by the Sumerian idea.
