A German archaeologist said Tuesday that he has found what could be the earliest known human writing - records of linen and oil deliveries made about 5,300 years ago during the reign of a king named Scorpion in southern Egypt. While the exact date of the development of Sumerian writing remains in doubt, the Egyptian discoveries are carbon dated with certainty to between 3300 B.C. and 3200 B.C., said Gunter Dreyer, head of the German Archaeological Institute.
Linguists now have a larger history to regard.
Found in the tomb of a king called Scorpion, the tablets include records of oil and linen deliveries. Tuesday's announcement of the find, carbon dated to be about 5300 years old, challenges the theory that Mesopotamians were the first to write, about 5000 years ago.