How many years old is the oldest known writing?
History hard Data from 2024
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The answer
5,200 years
Roughly 5.2K.
Sumerian cuneiform dates back about 5,200 years. The earliest tablets are not poetry or law but accounting — records of grain and beer rations. Writing was invented to track inventory, and literature came later.
Where this number comes from
| Source | British Museum |
|---|---|
| Figure refers to | 2024 |
| Last checked | |
| Unit | years |
Numbers move. If this one has drifted from its source, let us know.
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