Edit Definition
Definition
Cuneiform is a system of writing first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia c. 5000 BCE. The name comes from the Latin word cuneus for `wedge' owing to the wedge-shaped style of writing. In cuneiform, a carefully cut writing implement known as a stylus is pressed into soft clay to produce wedge-like impressions which represent word-signs (pictographs) and, later, word-concepts (closer to a modern day understanding of a `word'). All of the great Mesopotamian civilizations used cuneiform (the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hittites, Assyrians, Hurrians and others) until it was abandoned in favour of the alphabetic script at some point after 100 BCE.
The earliest cuneiform tablets were pictorial as the subjects they addressed were more concrete and visible (a king, a battle, a flood) but developed in complexity as the subject matter addressed became more intangible (the will of the gods, the quest for immortality). By 3000 BCE the representations were more simplified and the strokes of the stylus conveyed word-concepts (honour) rather than word signs (an honourable man). The written language was further refined through the rebus which isolated the phonetic value of a certain sign so as to express grammatical relationships and syntax to determine meaning. One no longer had to struggle with the meaning of a pictograph; one now read a word concept which more clearly conveyed the meaning of the writer. The number of characters used in writing was also reduced from over 1,000 to 600 in order to simplify and clarify the written word.
The great literary works of Mesopotamia such as the Atrahasis, The Descent of Inanna, The Myth of Etana, The Enuma Elish and the famous Epic of Gilgamesh were all written in cuneiform and were completely unknown until the mid 19th century CE when men like Henry Rawlinson (1810-1895 CE) deciphered the language and translated it. Rawlinson's translations of Mesopotamian texts were first presented to the Royal Asiatic Society of London in 1837 Ce and again in 1839 CE. In 1846 CE he worked with the archaeologist Austin Henry Layard in his excavation of Nineveh and was responsible for the earliest translations from the library of Ashurbanipal discovered at that site. Along with other Assyriologists (among them, George Smith, T.G. Pinches and Edwin Norris) Rawlinson spearheaded the development of Mesopotamian language studies and his Cuneiform Inscriptions of Ancient Babylon and Assyria, along with his other works, became the standard reference on the subject following their publication in the 1860's CE and remain respected scholarly works into the modern day.
Donate and help us!
We're a non-profit organisation and we need your help! This website costs money and research material isn't cheap either. We are supported only by our donors. Please consider donating; even small amounts help. Thank you!
Bibliography
Peer Review
Are you qualified to peer review ancient history information? Apply now and help provide quality ancient history information on the web!
Articles
Article
Writing is undeniably one of humanity's most important inventions. The earliest forms of storing information on objects were numerical inscriptions on clay tablets, used for administration, accounting and trade. The first writing system dates back to around 3000 BC, when the Sumerians developed the first type script: hundreds of abbreviated pictograms that... [continue reading]
Article
Literacy was not widespread in Mesopotamia. Scribes, nearly always men, had to undergo training, and having successfully completed a curriculum became entitled to call themselves dubsar, which means 'scribe'. They became members of a privileged élite who, like scribes in ancient Egypt, might look with contempt upon their fellow citizens... [continue reading]
Article
The cuneiform script proper emerges out of pictographic proto-writing in the later 4th millennium BC. Mesopotamia's "proto-literate" period spans the 35th to 32nd centuries BC. The first documents unequivocally written in the Sumerian language date to the 31st century, found at Jemdet Nasr. The Sumerians of the Uruk period used clay tokens... [continue reading]
Article
This paper proposes an analysis of writing as a system for communication, since its origins, in terms of its uses and socio-cultural context. We shall also look to review and comment on the way in which it has evolved in time and space and its primordial domains for expression. Likewise, we shall look at the current state of affairs with respect to graphic communication... [continue reading]
Interesting Pages
You might also find the following pages interesting...
Recommend Book
Cuneiform Books
-
University of California Press (07 November 2005)Price: $55.27 -
DK CHILDREN (25 June 2007)Price: $14.68 -
Paradigma Ltd (01 October 2009)Price: $17.34 -
Oxford University Press, USA (09 July 2010)Price: $30.55 -
W. W. Norton and Company, Inc. (17 March 1966)Price: $18.83
Comments
|
|
|
Please log in or register to post comments. Sadly this is necessary to prevent comment spam. Alternatively, you can use the comments widget below.
Add Event
Timeline
Visual Timeline-
c. 5000 BCE
-
2285 BCE - 2250 BCELife of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, and world's first author known by name.
-
c. 1900 BCE - c. 1600 BCEComposition of The Descent of Inanna.
-
c. 1900 BCE - c. 1600 BCEThe Descent of Inanna written down.
-
c. 1640 BCE - c. 1700 BCEWritten form of the Atrahasis Myth of the Great Flood.
-
c. 1640 BCE - c. 1700 BCEThe Atrahasis written down.
-
c. 647 BCE - c. 627 BCEExtensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashubanipal's Library at Nineveh.
-
c. 100 BCE
Sponsors
Many thanks to the companies who are kindly helping us:
Many thanks to the companies who are kindly helping us:
Follow us on Google Plus
Follow us on Facebook
Join us on LinkedInAncient History Group
Ancient History Encyclopedia Profile
Tweet
Follow us on TwitterWe're a non-profit company, and we need your help. For as little as 2 $/€/£ you can help us provide the best free ancient history information on the web. Thank you!
Donate now!