Egypt Tablets May Represent Earliest Writing

Clay tablets uncovered in Egypt from the tomb of a king named Scorpion may represent the earliest known writing by humankind, an archeologist said Tuesday.

If confirmed, the discovery would rank among the greatest ever in the search for the origins of the written word.

But the subject the tablets mostly deal with may be of no surprise at all. It’s taxes.

Gunter Dreyer, head of the German Archeological Institute, said the tablets record linen and oil deliveries made about 5,300 years ago as tithes to King Scorpion I.

He said the tablets have been carbon-dated with certainty to between 3300 BC and 3200 BC.

The discovery throws open for debate a widely held belief among historians that the first people to write were the Sumerians of the Mesopotamian civilization sometime before 3000 BC. The exact date of Sumerian writing remains in doubt.

The Egyptian writings--in the form of line drawings of animals, plants and mountains--are the first evidence that hieroglyphics used by later-day Pharaonic dynasties did not “rise as phoenix from the ashes” but developed gradually, Dreyer said.

One American archeologist called the tablets an “exciting” find. “This would be one of the greatest discoveries in the history of writing and ancient Egyptian culture,” said Kent Weeks, professor of Egyptology at American University in Cairo.

But John Baines, a professor of Egyptology at Oxford University, was more cautious.

“Undoubtedly, [Dreyer’s] findings are very important, but I . . . would like to see” more evidence on the comparative ages of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian samples, Baines said. At this point, “I would say it is likely that writing was invented in both places.”

Since 1985, Dreyer and his team have unearthed about 300 pieces of written material.

Dreyer said the writings kept a record of taxes, paid in commodities.

Although the records are made up of symbols, they are considered true writing because each symbol stands for a consonant and makes up syllables.