What is Writing tool?
'''Writing tools''' are the things we use to write with. Most [[writing]] today is done with a [[computer]] system, usually with [[word processing]] [[software]]. But for about 5,000 years, much simpler tools were used. The tools were different in different parts of the world. The raw materials had to be near where people lived.<ref>Cristin, Anne-Mari (ed) 2002. ''A history of writing from hieroglyph to multimedia''. Flammarion, Paris. {{ISBN|2-0801-0887-5}}.</ref> == The Middle East == The two oldest [[writing system]]s come from this area, which also had the earliest [[agriculture]] and the first [[cities]]. It is not known for sure which came first, or whether they influenced each other. === Sumer === [[File:Letter Luenna Louvre AO4238.jpg|thumb|right|230px|Letter on a [[clay]] tablet sent by the high-priest Lu’enna to the king of Lagash It tells the king of his son's death in combat. The script is [[cuneiform]], the date ~2400 BC]] The [[Sumer]]ian system used [[clay]] as the basic material to write on. They developed a type of writing called [[cuneiform]].<ref>'Cuneus' being [[Latin]] for 'wedge', hence cuneiform = wedge-shaped.</ref> [[Triangle|Triangular]] marks were pressed into soft clay tablets by a metal or wooden tool. After the clay had dried in the sun the tablets were [[bake]]d. Then they were carried somewhere else for others to read. We know that its first uses were for [[trade]], [[accounting]] and [[administration]]. === Ancient Egypt === [[File:Edwin Smith Papyrus v2.jpg|thumb|right|230px|The Edwin Smith papyrus, written in hieratic script around 1600 BC]] This is the most famous of the old forms of writing. It was invented at roughly the same time as cuneiform, yet was quite different in style, and used different materials. The writing tools used varied according to the material which was written on. [[Ancient Egypt#Writing|Egyptians]] ended up with three writing systems for the same language. The tools were: :1. [[Hieroglyph]]ic: the famous pictorial language on stone monuments. The hie