The Writings on the Wall

We’ve travelled back in time to 1898, to 1878 and to 1899, but now we’re going to go back even further, in fact so far that we might have to pack some sandwiches! Time Travellers adjust your dials, engage your minds, focus your energies, check your fuel and fasten your seatbelts, we are travelling way way back to 3,500BC!

We're zooming past the invention of the computer in 1840, past the very first Penny Black postage stamp in 1839, past the first hot air balloon demonstration in 1783, past the invention of the flush toilet in 1594 - which not many people were interested in and continued to chuck their waste out of the window! and we continue past the invention of the printing press in 1437 - before then people had to write everything out by hand - and if you were doing the school newsletters that's a lot of writing to do one for each pupil! now hold tight and remember this amazing invention of a printing press - we’re going beyond the known into the world of BC right right back to 3,500BC wow I’m not sure if even The Time Lord himself has been back this far in time!

We’re going to steer our machines to a place called Mesopotamia - you might remember we first heard about Mesopotamia when our time travelling journey began. The Cradle of Civilisation where the first writing was being developed - not much like the writing we use now, no A4 paper to scribble notes on to your mates! looks like you needed a chisel and a lump of clay. Imagine having to do that for your homework... !

Not long after, the Egyptians began writing on papyrus, a plant which you pick the stalks from, leave to rot, line up and bash around a bit until it all melts together and voila a bit of paper to write your hieroglyphics on. The letters we use today have evolved quite a bit from those early symbols with different cultures adding, taking away or changing bits slightly. Can you guess what the Hieroglyphics on the left here say?

Ok, hold tight, we're whizzing right back to 1437, back to that amazing printing press which was the beginning of a journey for this type you are reading now! From this point onwards we had the printed letter and the beginning of typography which is sort of the art or the study of type and typefaces - you might know them as fonts, those different letter shapes and sizes.

So lets celebrate that amazing invention by the Sumarians from way way back in their land of Mesopotamia and create our own Springfield Time Traveller alphabet! Sharpen your pencils Travellers and flex those creative muscles we're going from an A to Z for the pavement to embed!

"This lesson has been awesome, we went back in time for when writing was invented" Kyra Fretton