Some of the earliest surviving forms of writing date back to about 2,600 BCE. These texts were Sumerian and were chiseled into stone in cuneiform, one of the oldest written languages. Writing and reading slowly developed over the course of hundreds of years in Sumeria and Egypt. These writings primarily consisted of societal laws, wisdom scripts, and cultural myths.
One of the biggest differences in cuneiform was the introduction of abstract shapes (i.e. letters) instead of the hieroglyphic symbols used in Egypt. This was a step forward because it significantly lessened the number of symbols needed. Instead of needing a separate symbol for each word, readers only needed a symbol for each phonetic sound. This was the first alphabet.
By 1,200 BCE, evidence of reading begins showing up in places like China, India, Babylon and Greece. These give us some of the oldest examples of preserved manuscripts (rather than stone tablet writing). Among these texts are the Indian Vedas literature and parts of the Hebrew Bible.
In all of these cases, only small portions of the population were likely literate. But if there is evidence of ancient writing, then that must mean that someone could read it.
It’s also important to remember that the bound book is a relatively new innovation in reading history. Most reading through history was done on scrolls, which were more expensive to reproduce and more difficult to carry around. This inaccessibility was one of the leading causes of illiteracy. Inventions like the printing press make reading more open to the masses.
For much of history, reading was done aloud. This began to change around the 1700s when more people used to read silently. Before this, one of the few examples of silent reading comes from St. Augustine’s Confessions, dated in the 400s.
To learn more about the history of reading check out two books: