A Short History of Writing and the Paper - By: Tauqeer Hassan

The art of writing is as old as human race existed on this planet. This art distinguishes from other symbolic communication systems. Although other possible symbolic systems like information signs, painting, maps and mathematics do not require previous knowledge of a spoken language. Writing marks the dividing line between history and prehistory.

When paper was not invented, writing was usually done on any available object like leaves, stones or slabs. The process of digging land for building purposes led to the discovery of ancient artifacts. This revived a new interest as a result during the past in the 18th century.

The basic advantage of writing was that a person could convey his message far away. The early writing was privilege of kings and priests which was also used for propaganda. Kings used to record their victories while ignoring the defeats.

Chinese are credited with the invention of paper in 105 AD. They had guarded their secret for a long time to ensure their monopoly in paper making. However some of their paper makers were captured in a war and the secret was exposed.

The written official history which is centuries old explains that writing was usually done on bamboo and pieces of silk but the materials were not convenient because bamboo was heavy and silk was expensive.

The evidences of writing were also found from ancient pyramids and temples in Egypt. However, the French scholars who were investigating could not understand and were not able to decode the inscribed writings. The importance of ancient treasures could only be guessed by decoding of objects.

Writing has the third rank in importance as a discovery and is just behind the invention of wheel and fire. Writing was certainly like magic for those who had first encountered it as it was initially only limited to face-to-face communication. The Egyptians had learned the art of paper making from Arabs. Paper arrived in North Africa around 1100 AD and arrived in Spain by 1150 AD.

As time passed, the art of paper making also progressed and moved to the east and reached Korea. Mulberry, bamboo, fibers of hemp, rattan, seaweed and rice straw were used to prepare pulp for paper making. The first paper industry was built in Europe.
The development of writing and the process by which they have replaced traditional oral systems of communication has been uneven and slow. Every human community possesses language which is a feature regarded by many as an inborn and defining condition of mankind.

A combination of symbols or letters could express any concept. The invention of alphabets was the next major development after writing and phonetic symbols replaced drawings.

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Learn in details the history of paper and also the history of writing.

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