He Event that marked the end of prehistory And the beginning of history was the creation of the writing system, which is identified in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Prehistory (from the Greek pre, before, e storis, history) refers to the period of history that goes from the creation of the Earth to the invention of writing.
In this sense, the term encompasses the lower Paleolithic and Neolithic periods, also known as the Stone age .
By extension, the term is also used to refer to the time in which the dinosaurs lived.
Also, the religious stories narrated in the Genesis (first chapter of the bible) are part of the prehistory.
At this time there was no precise method of writing; Instead, images were used to express ideas. It should be noted that these images were not organized in the form of an alphabet, but ideographically.
It was towards the end of prehistory that the first writing systems began to appear proper and it was the invention of these systems that ended the prehistoric era and marked the beginning of history.
The process of the end of prehistory
Typical definition of"history"
Most historians agree on a definition of history
Prehistory ends and history begins when humanity begins to leave written records of its activities.
This means that if a culture is able to convey its history in writing, it is making history.
Thus, according to this definition, there is no established world limit between history and prehistory, since writing appeared at different times in different civilizations.
For example, in Egypt and Mesopotamia, prehistory ended approximately in 4200 BC, while in other cultures, writing came in 3150 BC, which means that there is a difference of almost a thousand years between the beginning Of history in one area and another.
Writing
- Writing in Mesopotamia
Writing appeared in Mesopotamia Some 5000 years ago. It is believed that the invention of writing in this culture was due to the need to control and record information on matters of interest to the king and politics , Such as taxes, commercial transactions, contracts, wills, among others.
Shortly after the appearance of writing, appeared the first sacred books, scientific treatises and some literary works.
In this sense, the invention of writing was so relevant that many historians believe that this marked the end of prehistory and the beginning of history as such.
The writing of Mesopotamia was called cuneiform, which means"wedge-shaped", since symbols similar to wedges were used.
- Egyptian writing
Some historians point out that, simultaneously with the writing of Mesopotamia, alphabetic writing arose in Egypt .
At first, the Egyptians developed a writing system that employed images as equivalents for complex ideas.
Subsequently, the images were organized in a system with 2000 pictographic signs; These symbols were reduced to 700 and, finally, an alphabet was developed (that can be seen in the Rosetta Stone).
References
- What marks the end of prehistory? Retrieved on May 30, 2017, from quora.com.
- Prehistory. Retrieved on May 30, 2017, from newworldencyclopedia.org.
- First civilizations. Retrieved on May 30, 2017, from historiasiglo20.org.
- Tyldesley, Joyce. Ancient Egypt and the Modern World. Retrieved on May 2, 2017, from washoeschols.net.
- The Legacy of Egypt. Retrieved on May 2, 2017, from teachersites.schoolworld.com.
- The Legacy of the Ancient World, 3000 BC - 1600 BC. Retrieved on May 2, 2017, from mshworldhistory10.wikispaces.com.
- Mesopotamia. Retrieved on May 2, 2017, from 6hmesopotamia.weebly.com.