The Beginning

The history of books and writing begins 5,000 years ago when the development of sustained agriculture allowed nomadic tribes to remain in one place. As agriculture grew to support larger and more diverse populations, records became necessary to keep track of resources, experiences and observations.

One of the first agricultural based civilizations was Sumer. Cuneiform, meaning wedge-shaped, is what modern scholars have named the writing system used by the Sumerians. As Sumer grew and the needs of the population became more demanding, pictographic writing symbols became more abstract to accommodate multiple and varied uses. Geography and nature played important roles in writing development.

Societies are shaped by their environment and writing is no different. Sumer was built between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Sumerians used the mud on the banks to make clay tablets as support for their writing. While the clay was soft they would make wedge-shaped impressions with a sharpened stick or stylus. As more people became dependent on writing, speed and accuracy became important. It was easier and faster to make an abstract symbol then a detailed picture.

The Marriott Library has a set of authentic Sumerian clay tablets dating to the second century B.C.E. They were found in the city of ad-Diwaniyah in modern day Iraq. Their size indicates that they are likely to be tax receipts. They were donated as part of the Louis Zucker collection in 1982.

Other records were also kept. The first pharmacopeia was written in Sumer. This list of medicinal herbs is simple and direct with no appeals to magic or superstition.

Pharmacopeia (Facsimile) Donated By Luise S. Goodman, College of Medicine, 1986 Rare Books Division, Special Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah

Not long after a writing system was solidified, multiple uses for writing emerged. Religious text and literature appear early in the historical record. The Epic of Gilgamesh, for instance, tells the story of man’s failures and triumphs. The epic embodies themes that are found in all great literature and still, 4,ooo years later, express the human condition to the modern reader.

Writing has been central to human life, development and expression since its beginning, when mankind first brought thought, material and image together.