While ancient Egypt is famous for hieroglyphs, by the mid-1st dynasty (around 3100 BCE) Egyptian scribes developed a cursive writing system for the sake of time and accuracy.

Hieroglyphs themselves originated as logograms; symbols depicting concepts rather than sounds.

The printing press was not invented until after the ancient Egyptian language was no longer spoken.

The ancient Egyptians wrote in hieroglyphs until the imposition of Arabic as the official language in the 7th century started the decline of the original language.

Egyptian hieroglyphs were fairly standardized across all of Egypt as they were used by rulers to manage the empire.

The Olmecs were the first civilization in the Americas to invent a writing system, live in densely populated cities, and produce sculptures.

The Aztecs had a writing system, sculpture, and lived in urban centers, but centuries after the Olmecs.

The Mayans had a writing system, created sculptures, and lived in urban centers, but after the Olmecs; in fact, early Mayan civilization was probably heavily influenced by the Olmecs.

The Incans never had a writing system.

The Spanish only entered the Americas in the Middle Ages, long after the Olmecs and Mayans.

Of the mentioned works, the Epic of Gilgamesh is considered the oldest surviving one. It was produced in Mesopotamia, most likely under Ur's dynasty. All other works were written much, much later.

The nature of the geopolitical relationship between Southwest Asia and Egypt in prehistory is difficult to determine, but there was undoubtedly much trade and a flow of ideas.

While the indigenous creation of similar technology in two distinct areas and by two distinct peoples without any contact is possible, such as literacy in both Egypt and Mesoamerica, two geographically close areas with little to no natural buffers between them mean that the isolated, yet simultaneous, evolution of similar technology is doubtful, to say the least; the fact that the archaeological record shows this technology originating in south west Asia and being adopted in Egypt.

At this time, there was no large empire that spanned both geographic areas.

Some Egyptians were settlers from south west Asia, but there was undoubtedly a large, indigenous component of the Egyptian population.

If Egypt had been conquered by Mesopotamians, there would be much evidence of such conquest.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the earliest surviving piece of literature. It is a poem, from ancient Sumeria, which tells the Sumerian story of creation.

"Ziggurats" were stone temple pyramids built by the Sumerians. The Sumerians are one of the earliest known civilizations, they emerged in ancient Mesopotamia more than five thousand years ago.

Writing is believed to have emerged first in ancient Sumer. Writing was invented approximately five thousand years ago, circa 3,300 BCE The earliest writing is called cuneiform. It used pictures and images to represent certain items or quantities. Writing was also invented, around the same time period, in ancient Egypt. But most historians believe this writing was based on the script invented in Sumer.

Nebuchadnezzar is one of the most famous rulers of the Babylonian Empire. He reigned from 605 - 562 BCE He extended the territory of the Babylonian Empire significantly and conquered and enslaved the Hebrews. He was a ruthless conqueror, but generally allowed conquered civilizations to be assimilated into his empire (the Hebrews being notable exceptions). He also ordered the construction of the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon. However, one thing he is not responsible for, is providing Babylon with a unifying legal system. This honor belongs to Hammurabi with his famous Hammurabi’s Code.

The Phoenicians were a seafaring and trading people who emerged in the Near East circa 1,200 BCE The Phoenicians traded all over the Mediterranean and established colonies as far afield as Spain and Italy. They are also known for the innovative alphabet, which they used to manage their vast commercial ventures. This alphabet would spread around the Mediterranean and laid the foundations for the development of later European languages.

The Vedas, ancient Hindu holy texts, were originally written in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is one of the oldest surviving languages in the world and was first developed over three thousand years ago.