Cuneiform

CUNEIFORM

Clay tablets containing numerical tallies and records began to occur in Sumeria around 3300 BCE, about the same time that large urban complexes began to appear. Pictographic texts from the great city of Uruk date to around 3100 BCE, and some from Ur, to around 2900 BCE. The pictograph for head, for example, is simply a head.

This pictograph can be combined with the symbol for food, which is a bowl or cup, to create the verb eat.

Over time, the pictographs begin to represent the syllable that characterizes the Sumerian word being represented. This shift is the critical step toward a true writing system. Another change occurred. Originally pictographs were arranged vertically, from right to left. Sometime in the latter third millennium the writing came to be arranged horizontally from left to right. At the same time, all the symbols were rotated counterclockwise ninety degrees. (These changes probably reflect conveniences in writing for right-handed scribes.) By the end of the third millennium, the verb eat is being written as

While its pictographic origins are visible, it is now partially phonetic in nature. This type of writing is called cuneiform ("wedge-like" in Latin) after the distinctive triangular cross section of the stylus. The basic shape is created by pressing the stylus into the clay, creating a triangular indentation, then drawing one point of the stylus to create a straight line. Over time, the complexity and abstractness of cuneiform writing increased, usually obliterating any obvious correlation to the original pictographs.

When Akkadian culture replaced the Sumerian, a critical development occurred. Akkadian was a Semitic language, unrelated to Sumerian. However, the syllabic sounds that the Sumerian cuneiform represented were used to approximate the sounds of Akkadian words. The continuity of writing in Mesopotamia was assured. Over the three thousand years that cuneiform writing was used, some fifteen different languages were recorded. Most were Semitic languages of Mesopotamian cultures, but not all. An Indo-European language, Hittite, adapted cuneiform (and joint cuneiform/hieroglyphic inscriptions led to the decipherment of Hittite hieroglyphics). Around 500 BCE in the mighty Persian empire of Darius, a new script using cuneiform writing was invented for the recording of Old Persian. The last known cuneiform inscription dates to 75 CE. (Ironically, the Old Persian cuneiform script, the most recent of cuneiform, was the first to be deciphered. Partly syllabic and partly alphabetic, it led to the decipherment of older cuneiform inscriptions.)

Photocredit: J. M. Stitt, 2000

Assyrian cuneiform. These "nails" were embedded in the clay walls of a house. Originally containing prayers, in Assyrian times they document ownership.

Photocredit: Oriental Institute, U. of Chicago

Sumerian cylinder seals. The seals have cuneiform inscriptions on the left and right sides. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

Photocredit: Oriental Institute, U. of Chicago

Creating a cuneiform tablet. The stylus was often a reed, but could be made from bone or wood.

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CUNEIFORM
Clay tablets containing numerical tallies and records began to occur in Sumeria around 3300 BCE, about the same time that large urban complexes began to appear. Pictographic texts from the great city of Uruk date to around 3100 BCE, and some from Ur, to around 2900 BCE. The pictograph for head, for example, is simply a head. This pictograph can be combined with the symbol for food, which is a bowl or cup, to create the verb eat. Over time, the pictographs begin to represent the syllable that characterizes the Sumerian word being represented. This shift is the critical step toward a true writing system. Another change occurred. Originally pictographs were arranged vertically, from right to left. Sometime in the latter third millennium the writing came to be arranged horizontally from left to right. At the same time, all the symbols were rotated counterclockwise ninety degrees. (These changes probably reflect conveniences in writing for right-handed scribes.) By the end of the third millennium, the verb eat is being written as . While its pictographic origins are visible, it is now partially phonetic in nature. This type of writing is called cuneiform ("wedge-like" in Latin) after the distinctive triangular cross section of the stylus. The basic shape is created by pressing the stylus into the clay, creating a triangular indentation, then drawing one point of the stylus to create a straight line. Over time, the complexity and abstractness of cuneiform writing increased, usually obliterating any obvious correlation to the original pictographs. When Akkadian culture replaced the Sumerian, a critical development occurred. Akkadian was a Semitic language, unrelated to Sumerian. However, the syllabic sounds that the Sumerian cuneiform represented were used to approximate the sounds of Akkadian words. The continuity of writing in Mesopotamia was assured. Over the three thousand years that cuneiform writing was used, some fifteen different languages were recorded. Most were Semitic languages of Mesopotamian cultures, but not all. An Indo-European language, Hittite, adapted cuneiform (and joint cuneiform/hieroglyphic inscriptions led to the decipherment of Hittite hieroglyphics). Around 500 BCE in the mighty Persian empire of Darius, a new script using cuneiform writing was invented for the recording of Old Persian. The last known cuneiform inscription dates to 75 CE. (Ironically, the Old Persian cuneiform script, the most recent of cuneiform, was the first to be deciphered. Partly syllabic and partly alphabetic, it led to the decipherment of older cuneiform inscriptions.)


	Photocredit: J. M. Stitt, 2000 Assyrian cuneiform. These "nails" were embedded in the clay walls of a house. Originally containing prayers, in Assyrian times they document ownership.	Photocredit: Oriental Institute, U. of Chicago Sumerian cylinder seals. The seals have cuneiform inscriptions on the left and right sides. (Click on photo to enlarge.)	Photocredit: Oriental Institute, U. of Chicago Creating a cuneiform tablet. The stylus was often a reed, but could be made from bone or wood.

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