Why did civilizations like Mesopotamia eventually develop a system of writing?

What activities required recordkeeping?

Describe the writing system of Sumer.

What was the Babylonian Empire, and what was the purpose of Hammurabi's law?

What conclusions may be reached about trade and writing in the Mesopotamia civilization?

Writing is a medium of communication that represents language through the inscription of signs and symbols. In approximately 8000 BC, the Mesopotamians began using clay tokens to count their agricultural and manufactured goods. The earliest known hieroglyphic inscriptions are the Narmer Palette, dating to c. 3200 BC, and several recent discoveries that may be slightly older, though these glyphs were based on a much older artistic rather than written tradition. The hieroglyphic script was logographic with phonetic adjuncts that included an effective alphabet.