The writing system first started in the form of pictures, technically known as pictograms. In Egypt, the first pictogram dates back to around 6000 BCE. These pictograms represented drawings or symbols that indicated meaningful words. With the passage of time, ancient Egyptians started adding more and more symbols/pictures to represent words and even sounds. Later, they also added symbols which represented abstract ideas, and wrote names with the help of them. The ancient Egyptians also used these illustrations and ideograms to write about culture, war, and politics.
Today, we know the script of the ancient Egyptians by the name hieroglyphics. Several remnants of Egyptian hieroglyphs have been found during archaeological excavations, and fortunately we have been able to decipher the script, owing to which a lot of interesting and important aspects of ancient Egyptian life, culture, and politics have come to light.
Read more at Buzzle: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ancient-egyptian-inventions.html