Why did the Sumerians develop writing?

The Sumerians developed writing to keep track of business transactions, taxes, and trade goods. The earliest known form of writing, cuneiform, emerged in ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq), particularly in the region where the Sumerians lived around 3400-3300 BCE. This writing system began as a series of pictographs, where pictures represented objects or concepts. Over time, these pictographs evolved into a series of wedge-shaped signs impressed into clay tablets with a stylus, which is why we call it "cuneiform" (from the Latin "cuneus," meaning "wedge").

The initial need for writing arose from the complexities of managing an expanding agricultural society. As Sumerians established cities and trade, they required a method to record transactions and keep accounts sorted. This was especially important for the management of grain, livestock, and labor as recording these details was crucial to the functioning of temples and palaces which were at the center of economic and political life. In addition to commercial use, writing was also used for laws, historical records, and literary works as the society advanced.