Was the invention of writing generally preceded by antecedents? I believe that cuneiform was, but I am uncertain as to other forms of writing. Could the lack of antecedents be related to how literal the pictographic elements of hieroglyphics became? While the original pictures which were incorporated into signs in other languages became so stylized as to be unrecognizable, Egyptian hieroglyphics retained their representative forms, even if many became phonetic devices rather than literal representations of the thing pictured.
