It made the growth of states larger than the old city states possible. It made a continuous historical consciousness possible. The command of the priest or king and his seal could go far beyond his sight and voice and could survive his death.
H.G. Wells
Cuneiform- The First Script Beginning in Sumeria during the 4th millennium B.C.E., the cuneiform script was not necessarily as simple as the alphabet is now. With over 2000 characters and pictograms, the cuneiform language showed a primitive medium of communication by which humans could exchange thoughts and ideas. Over time, the pictograms began to morph into shapes that resembled letters similar to those of more modern alphabets, and the script shortened down to around 300 characters instead. Back then, because of the lack of paper, wet clay tablets were used and writing instruments similar to pens and styluses were used to engrave the symbols into the moist material.
Mightier Than the Sword
From the first stone tablets to the pencils and pens we use every day, the concept of writing has impacted society ever since its inception. No longer did people rely on the spoken means of communicating their beliefs. Instead, people could write down their ideas, beliefs, and thoughts into a uniform script. The early workings of societies morphed into religious texts, epics, myths, legends, and stories that contained morals by which people lived and answers to questions that people sought to learn. Beginning with the cuneiform pictogram alphabet in Sumer around 3300 B.C.E., each new written language had its own features and symbols. Laws could be written down and transmitted all over the empire, and orders could be given by leaders over vast spaces to their subjects. Though the mighty weapons of the armies of Mesopotamia proved devastating, arguably the most impacting innovation of the time was the ability to write.