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Well, I don't think the article goes far enough. It does note that there is a question of 'what is a book'.
- In modern day, are e-books still books?
- Are only printed books books (with movable type)
- What about hand-created books from the 'monks'
- Hand-written papyrus scrolls?
So, if you accept that books are more than just printed with movable type, then I want to stretch it to the extreme. In this case, the oldest printed 'word' would be the cave paintings. The oldest recorded is 30,000+ years ago.
There might be some who question whether cave paintings are art or writing. But they usually tell a story. To me it would like saying that English was writing, but French wasn't. The means of communication at the time was pictographic, and it represents a book.
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