Written In Stone: Inscriptions from National Museum of Saudi

            
             Inscriptions from the National Museum of Saudi Arabia.
            
             This exhibit was interesting to me because the thought of having little or no written.
             communication intrigues me. To think that our current written communication system.
             began as "Rock Art" or just an aesthetic activity is exciting. I think of the patience.
             historians have had when they began finding the stones and rock faces on hillsides. The.
             struggle and labor of love for history that drove them to decipher the ancient writings .
             and pictures is and amazing accomplishment. The years of study that has gone into .
             reading and learning the beginning cultures has given us all a better understanding of .
             cultures. I think of how these symbols and pictures simplified the lives of our ancestors. .
             From record keeping in daily activities or trading among each other and recording .
             historical events. Those pictures, symbols and letters gave us the foundation for our .
             written communication and self expression that we enjoy today.
             Their findings have given great insight to Pre-Islamic and all origins. The oldest .
             scripts are known as Cuneiform in Mesopotamia and Hieroglyphics in Egypt. The .
             writings are thought to have originated around 3500 B.C. Various branches of Aramaic .
             script interconnect with each other. Such as Nabataean and Neo-Semitic which later .
             developed Arabic writing. Arabic writing was taught in from special schools that taught .
             calligraphy. Arabic calligraphy allows for a great range of artistic creativity. It is very .
             unique in the world because of its complexity and beauty.