It can be surprising to learn what civilisations accomplished before inventing a writing system for their language. I was amazed when I found out that Japanese didn't have a writing system until the 4th century AD despite 600+ years of agricultural empires and Shintoism. And even then, their writing system was just adapting Chinese characters nobles had to learn so they could deal with mainland Asians. They used the symbols that either meant the same thing as their words or sounded similar.
(I'm probably getting some of that wrong or not clarifying enough, and am eager to learn from those who'd correct me.)
(I'm probably getting some of that wrong or not clarifying enough, and am eager to learn from those who'd correct me.)