What Is The Writing System Of Mesopotamia?
MESOPOTAMIA – Is a historical region of Western Asia that is dominated by the Sumerians and Akkadians.
In this article, we are going to learn a bit about their culture and the writing system used by its people.
The Sumerians of Mesopotamia developed a writing system called Cuneiform. They made it at around 3500-3000 BCE.
Their system is considered as one of the most important cultural contributions of Sumerians. The Sumerian City of Uruk advanced this writing system in 3200 BCE.
Based on an article from Ancient.eu, the Cuneiform is derived from the Latin word cuneus for wedge. This is seen as the wedge-shaped style of writing.
With cuneiform, a writing implement known as the stylus is etched into soft clay. This produces the wedge-like compositions that represent word-signs or pictographs.
As time progressed, phonograms or word concepts were developed. These are closer to the modern-day interpretation of a word.
All of the biggest and greatest Mesopotamian civilizations used this writing system up until it was replaced by the alphabetic script after 100 BCE.
These civilizations include:
- Sumerians
- Akkadians
- Babylonians
- Elamites
- Hatti
- Hittites
- Assyrians
- Hurrians
Prior to the discovery of the cuneiform, it was believed that the bible was the oldest most authoritative book in the world.
The earliest form of this writing system was etched on cuneiform tablets. These are known as proto-cuneiform.
The first cuneiforms depicted a more concrete and visible story like a king, a battle, a flood. However, it developed in complexity as subjects became more intangible (The will of the Gods, Immortality).
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