Writing
Writing differs from speech because 'the readers need not be present at the time'. We can read writing from long ago, and from different parts of the world. It works across time and space. It stores and communicates knowledge. Writing is one of the greatest inventions of the human species. It was invented after people had settled in towns, and after agriculture had started. Writing dates from about 3,300BC, which is over 5000 years ago, in the Middle East.