Money predates writing.
Yes, it is a surprising fact that many still don’t know. The earliest evidence suggests that people used to etch symbols into clay tablets in Mesopotamia. But the deciphering of these symbols indicates that those people have already developed systems for trade, value, and exchange.
The earliest records of writing tell us that cowery shells, livestock, and grains were used as units. And these units were used long before any recorded history of written language.
You may be wondering why I am telling you this, and why it matters. It tells us the fundamental truth about human civilisation, which is that humans got involved in economics before they started storytelling.
Humans tracked value before they started to record thoughts.
It is our basic need to measure, trade, and exchange. This need drove us to invent writing. Among all the earliest written records of text, almost all were not poems or myths. But these earliest records were accounting records, which included a list of grains, livestock, debts, and trades.
The earliest known civilisation, the Sumerians, did not write epics first. Instead, they have written ledgers. Money helped us to structure societies.
It shaped relationships.
Money is created as a tool to govern people.
If you still think that writing is the foundation of civilisation, then remember that before we told stories, we counted things.