Writing, Megaliths, and the Silence of the Past
by Robert Arvay This commentary raises questions about the origins of writing, and relates them to the mysteries surrounding ancient megalithic and Egyptian civilizations. It makes forays into speculative but important theories disparaged by many (but not all) accredited scholars. According to conventional historians, writing was invented about six thousand years ago by an ancient civilization known as the Sumerian. It seems to have been developed abruptly, perhaps within a single generation. It is as if, one day there was no written language; the next day, there was. Thereafter, the ability to write, and to read, spread far and wide, enabling civilizations around the world to flourish. There are a few problems with that theory. Two distinct kinds of writing existed about five to six thousand years ago. One of them is the phonogram, which is the kind I am using to write this. The other is the pictogram, or picture-writing, used by the Chine...