The Invention of Writing in Ancient Sumer

课文

1. Around 3400 BCE, people in southern Mesopotamia began pressing wedge-shaped marks into soft clay.

   约公元前3400年，南美索不达米亚人开始在软泥板上压刻楔形符号。

2. These early symbols recorded grain deliveries, temple offerings, and trade agreements.

   这些早期符号用于记录谷物交付、神庙供奉和贸易协议。

3. Scribes trained for years to master hundreds of signs that represented both sounds and meanings.

   书吏需经多年训练，才能掌握数百个既表音又表意的符号。

4. Unlike pictures, cuneiform could express abstract ideas like 'justice' or 'eternity'.

   与图画不同，楔形文字能表达‘正义’‘永恒’等抽象概念。

5. Writing allowed laws, stories, and religious texts to survive across generations.

   文字使法律、故事和宗教典籍得以跨越世代传承。

6. Temples and palaces employed scribes to manage growing economic complexity.

   神庙与宫殿雇用书吏，以应对日益复杂的经济管理需求。

7. Over time, the script spread to Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians with local adaptations.

   此后，这种文字陆续被阿卡德人、巴比伦人和亚述人采用，并因地制宜加以改造。

8. This innovation marked humanity’s first step from memory-based to record-based civilization.

   这一创新标志着人类文明首次从依赖记忆转向依托记录。