History of Creative writing

Greetings from lovely England. Although it's still February, is it necessary to be this cold? It would be nice if it snowed, but no it rains and if it doesn't rain, it's windy and if it's not windy the coldness bites at your hands and cheeks. Ugh, so annoying!

Anyway, we are not here to talk about the weather, as annoying as it may be. In today’s research, I took the time to read through thousands of words and quite a few websites which cover the history of storytelling and creative writing. As you can imagine, it was quite different from today’s easy-to-get books and films.

---

When Did It All Began?

The writing as we know it did not begin until 3200BC according to archaeologists, however, before that, it was based on cave paintings(parietal art) and storytelling. Palaeolithic cave drawings in their own beauty, are a peculiar subject, as it is believed to have begun around 40,000 years ago in Eurasia, which brings us to 38,000 BCE. Now imagine that. The air must have been as clear as a hospital sterile environment.

The earliest records of storytelling, date back to ancient Egypt, at around approximately 2580BC, when the sons of Cheops(pharaoh Khufu) entertained their father.  Who knows how he threatened them to force them to do such a thing?

Parietal Art

As I mentioned before, the first cave paintings were created in Eurasia, which is a combined land mass of Europe and Asia. It consists of ninety countries and has a population of roughly 5,000,000,000 people.

Eurasia has been a host of many ancient civilisations, including those based in Mesopotamia(The Sumerians and Akkadians, including Assyrians and Babylonians, dominated Mesopotamia from 3,100 BC to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC). The others were based in Indus Valley (South Asia) and China.

Now that we covered the basic background, let’s concentrate on the question why did the prehistoric civilisations felt like drawing random pictures on the cave walls and ceilings. Surely there was a reason behind their hard work. Sadly, although that may be true, today’s archaeologists still don’t have the answers we are looking for. They came up with many interesting hypotheses surrounding the mystery of prehistoric times, however, even now, tens of thousands of years later, we are still as unsure as ever.

Today’s archaeologists claim many things, such as; it was part of their religious ritual or that they just felt like it or even that it was an ‘ancient encyclopedia’, meaning it was their way of keeping track of many species which may have disappeared over time.

Those are all interesting theories and probably in a way correct, but I am a bit reluctant to believe they were drawn because they felt like it. As it’s well known, the drawings were found in caves which archaeologists suggested, did not have signs of ongoing habituation. On that note, one of the most interesting and most believable theories behind cave paintings is the belief, they might have used them as a way of communicating with others.

It is very mysterious also, how all the cave paintings seem to be similar all around the world as if they are telling an unknown story, maybe it was a part of a ritual, who knows. All in all, we’ll probably never find out the real reason behind them, which is a shame if you ask me. I never liked unfinished stories.

Storytelling

The second interesting history of creative writing is storytelling. It is not written as such, yet without it, people would not know, they should grab a paper and start writing. It is not known where it all began, most probably in one of the caves I mentioned before, yet the earliest record of storytelling began in ancient Egypt, told by the sons of Khufu, their stories, however, stay unknown.

All in all, it is a given, generations, upon generations, would tell each other stories and the listeners would pass them on. Humanity did not start to use their brain only when they were taught the means of writing. They would teach through words and motions. It is also believed that the prehistoric and ancient civilisations formed clans and the talks of heroic events, were their form of showing power.

Even nowadays, the best way of teaching is elaborating on a subject. I, for example, loved listening to my dad, when he used to tell stories about his granddad’s experiences in the first and the second world war. Without it, I would not know how it really was because history books don’t explain it as well as real people might.

Even teachers tell stories to make the students understand a given subject more accurately.

First Written Stories and Books

The earliest recorded story is the epic of Gilgamesh, which is an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, dating back to 1,300 – 1,100BC. It begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk from the third dynasty Ur (2,100BC). This was written on 12 clay tablets(or stone I’m unsure) and two main versions were partially reconstructed. Those being the Standard Akkadian version (He who saw the deep) and the Old Babylonian version (Surpassing all other kings).

That said, it also contains many counterparts in the Hebrew Bible, which is the next subject I feel is worth mentioning. It is well known, Christianity is one of the oldest and largest modern religions in Europe (officially adopted by the Roman Empire in AD 380).

The first means of the old testament are believed to be dated as far as the 5th century BC and the book of Jonah, one of the prophets in the bible is believed to have been composed in the Hellenistic period (began 323BC after Alexander the Great’s death), as early as 332BC. Now that is something to think about.

The second interesting book is the Quran which, according to the Islamic tradition, originates from 610 AD when it was revealed to Muhammad during one night in Ramadan. That may sound interesting, however, beliefs are not what this post is about. This post is about history and history I will give you.

According to Wikipedia, some scholars have not been willing to attribute Quran to Uthman(Mohammad), when the oldest existing full copy dates back to the 9th century, therefore 1 or more centuries after the Islamic tradition claimed to have found the manuscripts.

Now, I never claim something false, however admitting the possibility of being wrong is honourable in my eyes. Therefore, I apologise in advance if I am wrong and allow me to admit I am not an expert in religion. I wish I was because even today, religion plays a big part in many communities and played an even bigger part in our history. However, today and for this post, it will be enough to open a door to new knowledge.

I must admit, It opened my eyes, whilst I was doing my necessary research,  especially the alleged origins of the Bible when traditionally, I come from a Catholic family. My mum goes to church, although not regularly, but she still believes in Catholic traditions and although my dad was a self-proclaimed atheist he had amazing knowledge based on many well-known religions.

History of Plays

I was always fascinated by Shakespeare’s era. It has a massive influence on today’s theatre and even books in general, however, the real question is how did the historical influence of theatre, lead to William Shakespeare and today’s plays?

It is believed that since classical Athens in the 6th century BC, the bright traditions of theatre have noticeably grown in cultures across the world. I believe it probably arose from some kind of rituals like it is believed by others, however, it was negatively attested by Aristotle (ancient Greek Philosopher and scientist). In one of his poetics, he described theatre as a sacred mystery.