For more than a century, the world has seemed to be moving to a single universal script - the Latin alphabet. But that means more than changing words. It means changing identity.

The ability to put words on a page makes civilisation possible. Throughout history, the changing way people write has been a factor in the rise – and fall - of empires.

The hunt for the origin of writing reveals the link between ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs and the letters we use every day.