Which Is the Oldest Known Written Language?

Sumerian cuneiform, developed in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), is the oldest known writing system, with proto-cuneiform symbols appearing around 3400 BC on clay tablets from the city of Uruk. These early records were primarily economic — tracking goods, livestock, and land transactions. Egyptian hieroglyphics emerged around the same period (about 3200 BC), and it remains debated whether writing was invented independently in both places. Chinese oracle bone script dates to about 1200 BC, and Mesoamerican scripts appeared around 900 BC.