There's still time! Find the perfect Father's Day gift with store pickup | Shop NowThere's still time! Find the perfect Father's Day gift with store pickup | Shop Now

How Writing Came About

eBook
$11.99
3|
Membership Card Icon
Collect stamps to save with Rewards. 10 stamps = $5. Learn More
Select a store to view item availability.

Available on compatible , the free NOOK App, and in My Digital Library

NOOK App

Download NOOK app

NOOK Devices

NOOK eReaders

  • NOOK GlowLight 4 Plus
  • NOOK GlowLight 4e
  • NOOK GlowLight 4
  • NOOK GlowLight Plus 7.8"
  • NOOK GlowLight 3
  • NOOK GlowLight Plus 6"

NOOK Tablets

  • NOOK 9" Lenovo Tablet
  • NOOK 10" HD Lenovo Tablet
  • NOOK Tablet 7" & 10.1"
  • NOOK by Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 [Tab A and Tab 4]
  • NOOK by Samsung [Tab 4 10.1, S2 & E]

Free NOOK Reading Apps

  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android

BN.com website

Go to your Digital Library in My Account

Limit 1 per customer
An "utterly lucid, thoughtfully illustrated, and thoroughly convincing" book on the origins of the world's oldest known system of writing (American Journal of Archaeology).


One of American Scientist's Top 100 Books on Science, 2001


In 1992, the University of Texas Press published Before Writing, Volume I: From Counting to Cuneiform and Before Writing, Volume II: A Catalog of Near Eastern Tokens. In these two volumes, Denise Schmandt-Besserat set forth her groundbreaking theory that the c...