Short answers, pulled from the story.
Writing first emerged as a system of record-keeping in the Zagros region of Iran around 8000 BC. The earliest examples of this proto-writing appeared in the Sumerian city of Uruk at the end of the 4th millennium BCE.
The earliest known hieroglyphs appeared on clay labels for the Predynastic ruler Scorpion I, dated to the 32nd century BCE. These inscriptions later appeared on the Narmer Palette, which depicted the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt.
The Indus script found on artifacts from the Indus Valley Civilization on the Indian subcontinent remains undeciphered to this day. The Proto-Elamite script used around 3100 BCE in modern-day Iran also remains highly problematic in discussions of literacy.
The alphabet originated in the turquoise mines of the Sinai Peninsula where Canaanite miners created the Proto-Sinaitic script. The use of the alphabet became widespread between the 12th and 9th centuries BCE.
Plato and Socrates argued that written words would create forgetfulness in the learners' souls because they would not use their memories to retain knowledge. They claimed written words were inferior to the living interactive discourse of oral communication because they could not answer questions or clarify themselves.
The tools of writing have evolved from clay tablets and quill pens to digital word processors and social media platforms in the 21st century. Modern advancements include natural language processing software capable of producing certain forms of formulaic writing without direct human involvement.