Egyptian hieroglyphs
A second writing system appears in Egypt within a century of the first.
- When
- Known to
- ± 100 years
- Era
- Bronze Age, Holocene
Hieroglyphic labels from tomb U-j at Abydos date to around 3200 BCE, essentially contemporary with the earliest cuneiform. Whether Egypt borrowed the idea of writing from Mesopotamia or arrived at it independently is unresolved — the signs and structure are entirely different, which argues for independence, but the timing is suggestive. Egyptian writing is used from the start for royal and religious display as well as accounting, and it stays in use for over three thousand years.