• Hieroglyphics were among the first forms of writing systems from early civilizationsegyptian hieroglyphics image by Albo from Fotolia.com
  
  Writing as a form of communication has been around for thousands of years. It was the first form of effective communication that came to pass and it has taken on different forms since its creation. Cultures, such as the Sumerians or the Assyrians, had a specific way they would communicate with one another, which is not too different from modern forms.
  
  

Cuneiform Writing

• Writing really began in an area near the Nile and Tigris rivers, specifically in a place referred to as the Fertile Crescent. The Sumerian civilization was responsible for producing the first cuneiform writings around 3100 BC. Cuneiform was made into a style of writing by using a wedge as an impression to write on clay tablets. While this style began in pictograph form and drawing pictures, after the third millennium it became much more conventional through writing left to right. The Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians all had part in the formation of cuneiform.
  
  

Egyptian Hieroglyphics

• The Egyptians were influenced through the Sumerians pictograph writings and ended up developing their own form of writing in small pictures such as hieroglyphics around 3000 BC. There were about 700 signs or pictures to be drawn in the language, which were mostly written from right to left. Around 1100 BC, the Egyptian language turned into a cursive style with the name hieratic. In 700 BC the language changed again to demotic script, which was the language often used for sacred texts at that time. Then, in 200 BC, demotic changed to Coptic language which used the Greek alphabet.
  
  

Indus Seals

• One civilization's writing, which still remains a mystery in 2011, are the seals from the Indus Valley around 2500 BC. Its existence is known from thousands of seals found in the valley, carved into steatite, or what could also be soapstone. It is common in these seals that the center features an animal depiction with symbols in a short line above it.
  
  

Chinese Characters

• The last writing of early civilizations can be found in the Chinese characters which originated around 1600 BC. Unlike the other writing systems, this system has adapted over time to be accurate with current day Chinese language. These same originating characters were also the beginnings of the Japanese language.