Writing Wasn't Invented for Stories

Writing Wasn't Invented for Stories

Imagine the very first thing anyone ever wrote down. Most people picture a poem, a prayer, or the name of a king.

The real answer is a list of goods and how many of each. Sheep. Grain. Jars of oil. Writing was not invented to say beautiful things. It was invented because a growing city could no longer trust its own memory.

This is the story of how counting sheep turned into the thing that lets a mind reach another mind across five thousand years.