Humanity is often preoccupied with the concept of legacy and memory, fearful of being forgotten as time passes them by. This is why we tell stories of old folk heroes, recount myths as truths, preserve the past in words. When writing began to function beyond its economic origins, it surpassed the oral traditions of memory as it offered something oral stories could never: permanence.
Oral story telling is susceptible to change, as it is essentially an on-going game of ‘Telephone’. Information passed from person to person is apt to be tweaked or misinterpreted as it goes along, thusly changing the story. Many stories we know today that were originally only told orally, such as Homer’s The Odyssey, are assumed to be told consistently over time. But this does not ensure their permanence in the same way writing does. With writing, there is a guaranteed survival of the original words. This is barring, of course, if what it is written on is destroyed or decays. Then, not so much. But assuming the physical form is preserved, such as the stone writings of the ancient Egyptians, then the culture has been remembered as it was recorded. Written texts of ancient cultures are thusly significant in historical research because it has accomplished the survival of someone’s words and recordings.
Writing changed the way history remembers, giving a more permanent solution to legacy. In order to be immortal, one must write.
