Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Leipzig
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1.600 BCE
Chinese writing is demonstrably used for the first time.1500 v. Chr.
invention of sheepskin, goatskin parchment in Mesopotamia (Iraq)1424 v. Chr.
The Chinese used carved woodblock stamps for personal signatures.- Gipsabguss-Sammlung des Antikenmuseums der Universität Leipzig
circa 1200 BCE.
The Phoenician consonant-based alphabet emerges. - Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Leipzig
c. 800 BCE
The oldest recorded Chinese stone inscriptions are produced. - Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg / Wikimedia Commons
- Foto Marburg, Aufnahme-Nr. 1.000.007
c. 650 B.C.
The library of King Assurbanipal is compiled in Nineveh. - Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Leipzig
6th century BCE
In China an early form of the book emerges with the first bamboo books. - Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Leipzig
5th century BCE
The Greek historian Herodot references the use of wax tablets as a written medium. - Oak Knoll Press / Wikimedia Commons
circa 280 B.C.
Tradition holds that Egyptian pharaoh Ptolemy II established the first library in Alexandria.