Archaeologist, Israel Finkelstein, of Tel Aviv University sees the development of literacy as one of the primary needs of true statehood. It seems to arise when a polity expands to the point of needing record-keeping. In other words, if the king can't get on a horse and see his whole kingdom in a day then he needs some way to keep track of what is his.
I suspect that means it developed where needed and as needed in whatever format was appropriate for that area. If people were writing on the back of tree bark 6,000 years ago we are not likely to ever find evidence of it.
This is as opposed to the idea of coins which were developed in the Greek city-states around the Aegean c 700 BC and which were such a rousing great idea that everyone jumped on the bandwagon.
I suspect that means it developed where needed and as needed in whatever format was appropriate for that area. If people were writing on the back of tree bark 6,000 years ago we are not likely to ever find evidence of it.
This is as opposed to the idea of coins which were developed in the Greek city-states around the Aegean c 700 BC and which were such a rousing great idea that everyone jumped on the bandwagon.
