Writing SystemOver five thousand years ago, people living in

Mesopotamia developed a form of writing to record

and communicate different types of

information.

The earliest writing was based on pictograms.

Pictograms were used to communicate basic

information about crops and taxes.

Over time, the need for writing changed and the signs developed into a

script we call cuneiform.

Over thousands of years, Mesopotamian scribes recorded daily

events, trade, astronomy, and

literature on clay tablets. Cuneiform was

used by people throughout the ancient

Near East to write several different

languages.

Around 3100 B.C. people began to

record amounts of different crops. Barley was one of the most important crops in

southern Mesopotamia and when it was first

drawn it looked like this.

Farmers brought their barley to the temple

stores. A record was kept of how much barley was received. When some of the barley was given to temple workers this was

also recorded on a tablet.

The barley sign usually had a number next to it

to show how much barley was being given in to the temple or taken away.

The barley sign changed shape when

the scribes used a writing tool with a squared-off end

instead of a point.

The end of this tool was used to press wedge shapes like

these into clay tablets.

It is at this point that the signs became

what we call cuneiform.

The barley sign had to be written using

several wedges.

Sumerian Akkadian English

Udu Seni Sheep

Udu Si-e-ni She-ep

You can write any language using cuneiform. For example, let's use the word for sheep:

ScribesScribes were very important people. They were trained to write

cuneiform and record many of the languages spoken in

Mesopotamia.

Without scribes, letters would not have been written or read, royal monuments would not have been carved with cuneiform, and stories

would have been told and then forgotten.

Scribes wrote on different shaped objects depending on the type of

information they wanted to record.

Cylinder SealsCylinder seals were small carved cylinders made of stone or metal.

Scenes of gods, animals and men were carved into the seal so when it was rolled on the clay, it would leave an impression. This would act like a

signature.

Some cylinder seals also had cuneiform signs carved on them

which recorded the name and title of the seal owner. Seals were rolled

over clay tablets which were nearly dry.

This ancient cylinder seal has been rolled out onto modern modelling clay to show the

impression.

Seals and Signatures

Other types of seals were also used. Stamp seals were small pieces of carved stone or metal which were stamped into the damp

clay of a tablet.

Not everyone needed a seal, or could afford to have their own. These people would use their

fingernail to 'sign' a tablet. This is an example of a tablet which has been

'signed' with a person's fingernail mark.

A reed stylus was the main writing tool used by Mesopotamian scribes.

Scribes created the wedge shapes which

made cuneiform signs by pressing the stylus

into a clay or wax surface.

Curriculum Tablet

This is known today as a 'curriculum

tablet'. It was used in Mesopotamian

schools to teach pupils about the different types of texts written by

scribes.

This part of the tablet is a spelling exercise.

A cuneiform sign, which can be read as 'nish', is repeated down

the left hand side. Other signs are written beside it to make different words. For example, half way down

this section the signs read:

nish-gil nish-gi-il

nish-shi-ish nish-shish

Scribes practised writing the same words in many ways which helped

them learn different cuneiform signs.

This part of the tablet says: Sargon, mighty king, king of Agade, am I.

My mother was a high priestess, my father I knew not;My father's brothers live in the mountains;

My city is Azupiranu, situated on the banks of the EuphratesMy mother, the high priestess, conceived me, in secret she bore

me;She placed me in a basket of rushes, she sealed the lid with

bitumen;She cast me into the river which did not rise over me;

The river bore me up and carried me to Aqqi, the water-drawer.Aqqi, the water-drawer, lifted me out as he dipped his bucket;

Aqqi, the water-drawer, adopted me, brought me up;Aqqi, the water-drawer, set me up as his gardener.

As a gardener, Ishtar, loved me;For 55 years I ruled as king.

Contract and EnvelopeSome clay tablets were wrapped in an extra layer of clay which

acted like an envelope. A version of the

information on the tablet was sometimes

written on the envelope.

Part of this envelope has broken off,

showing the top of the tablet inside.

Why were some tablets sealed in envelopes?Envelopes were for security. If important

information was written on a tablet, for example the amount of silver being sent

with a merchant, it was covered in an clay envelope.

If somebody questioned the amount of silver, the envelope could be broken and

the tablet read.

It would not have been possible to change the numbers on the tablet inside the

envelope.

This envelope was sealed with a cylinder

seal.

Writing BoardsScribes sometimes used

cuneiform on writing boards. These boards were made of wood or

ivory with a writing surface covered with

wax. The wax could be melted and reused.

This is an ivory writing board from about 715 B.C. It was found in a

well at Nimrud.

This tablet is a multiplication table for

the number 13.

It was very important for scribes to know and

understand the number systems so they could work out

mathematical problems and record numbers properly.