The Divine Tranformation of Speech

Among many ancient societies and cultures, writing has held an extremely special and important role, which is creatively displayed by Liverani in part one of chapter four, Politics and Culture of the Early State. In ancient history, writing prized and revered for many religious reasons. For example, ancient Egypt’s first true and proper system of writing had been dedicated to their god, Thoth. In some Egyptian myths, Thoth is also depicted as the founder of speech, who had the unique ability to transform speech into material objects. Interestingly enough, this relates closely to the ancient Egyptian belief that if one chooses to pursue immortality, his or her name must be inscribed somewhere forever. In Mesopotamia, however, the Sumerians the god, Enlil, is believed to be the founder of writing and one of the most powerful gods. Later during Assyrian, and Babylonian periods, the god of wisdom, Nabu, was credited as the creator of writing and scribes. Similar to Thoth, Mesopotamian scribal gods also exploit the power of creation via divine speech. Liverani portrays the delicacy of ancient calligraphy and how it developed, all whilst depicting the importance of Susa and how many scholars make false assumptions when contemplating the real origins of writing.

Liverani stoutly states that there are major conceptual problems in accepting certain observations made by some scholars. It is often apparent throughout the chapter that he is pointing to the concept of evolution. However it is normal for values, necessities, and lifestyles to change over time. He explores the way customs and values have changed in the city of Uruk since the urban revolution, a time period that most scholars relate the creation of writing to. But writing has been used for far different needs in early urban society compared to in the Neolithic period. When reflecting upon our modern world, we tend to think of the booming industries, such as Apple Inc., a multi-billion dollar, multinational corporation, which recently revealed the creation of the Iphone 4. In a world of increasing advancement and progression, it is mind-boggling to even attempt guessing where our world would be without the ancient scribes of Susa. Who would have thought writing could have been so meticulous and time-consuming?

Liverani paints an in-detailed picture for a reason: to make it easy for us to understand the complexity of the long writing process that occurred in Susa. Liverani stresses that this already complicated system became even more complex as time passed when the relations between families intensified. College professors today promote the skill of writing in the most efficient, succinct manner by giving in-class essays worth 30 percent of the class grade. Just like today, knowing how to write is essential to communicating and one of the most important necessities in the working-world. Without the discovery at Susa, who knows where we would be today.