At the end of 4000BC, the Sumerian people arrived in Mesopotamia and settled in the lower part of the land.

In 3100BC, Mesopotamia influenced mankind's civilization in the Egypt and Phoenicia. It refers to the land between two rivers. Here, early humans ceased their restless nomadic wanderings and established a village culture. Ziggurat is a series of recessed level getting smaller to the top of the shrine. Sumerian was the first known written language. Its script was known as Cuneiform. They invented: - Wagon wheel - Number system based on 60 and a - 12-month calendar - 60 minutes - 360 degree circles - Code of laws - Cuneiform writing system Of all the inventions, the invention of writing brought about an intellectual revolution that had a vast impact upon social order, economic progress and technological and cultural developments. Petroglyph means signs or simple figures carved or scratched on rocks. Petroglyphs: Signs or simple figures carved or scratched on rocks. Throughout the world, from Africa to North America to New Zealand, prehistoric people left numerous petroglyphs. Before the invention of writing, information was handed down by word of mouth. An abundance of clay in Sumer made it the logical material for record keeping. Cuneiform is considered the earliest documented form of written language and expression. It was an ancient writing in wedge-shape. After Cuneiform words was being pushed onto the clay, it was being lay under the sun for drying it up. In 3100BC, it was an important recording for maintaining order and stability, showing ownership, keeping record of stocks and also a symbol of status. Besides being used by the authority and religion, clay Cuneiform was widely used as a form of trademark to prevent forgery for commercial purpose.

In the 1600BC, this Cretan pictograph was being used as a bulletin, a passenger will walk around with this to different villages, people will gather around to see and hear the announcement.

Ancient people from land and current-day's Europe traded with Phoenicians to acquire spices, jewels and silks. People from different region went there to trade goods, it was known as a cosmopolitan of that era. Over 3000 years ago, ancient Phoenician had developed alphabet with 22 symbols. Phoenician alphabet writing and reading were more simplier to learn than the rest of the alphabets. Pictographs is picture drawing or sketches to represent the things depicted. When the Egyptian scribes were confronted with words difficult to express in visual form, they probably devised a rebus, using pictures for sounds, to write the desired word. At the same time, they designated a pictorial symbol for every consonant sound and combination of consonants in their speech. Book of Dead is an ancient Egyptian book. It was a third phase in the evolution of funerary texts. Beginning with the pyramid of Unas (2345BC), the walls and passages of the pyramids were covered with the pyramid texts of hieroglyphic writings, including myths, hymns, and prayers relating to the godlike Pharaohs life in the afterworld. It was written in a first-person narrative by the deceased and placed in the tomb to help triumph over the dangers of the underworld. The artists who illustrated The Book of the Dead papyri were called upon to foretell what would occur after each subject died and entered the afterlife. Magical spells could enable various states of the underworld were provided, and the protection of the gods was sought. Greek Civilization laid the foundation for most of the western world including art, architecture, literature, philosophy, etc. Alpha and Beta were the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. It is a set of visual symbols or characters used to represent the elementary sounds of a spoken language.

They can be combined to make visual configurations, signifying sounds syllables and words uttered by the human month. The hundreds of signs and symbols required by cuneiform and hieroglyphs were replaced by twenty or thirty easily learned elementary signs. Lots of alphabets were being invented under the influenced of Cuneiform. The subsequent invention of the alphabet was a major step forward in human communications.

Chinese character is strictly pictorial mnemonics. Chinese calligraphy is a purely visual language. It is not alphabetical, and every symbol is composed of a number of differently shaped lines within an imaginary square. Chinese calligraphy, an ancient writing system, is used today by more people than any other visual language system. It comes in 2 versions, simplified and complicated. Learning the total vocabulary of forty-four thousand characters was the sign of wisdom and scholarship. In earlier times the Chinese wrote on bamboo slats or wooden strips. Being developed from drawing, this Chinese character was self explainatory by its descriptive forms. Chinese words are graphic characters or signs that represent an entire word.

moon

sun mountain water

fish wood