Bonekickers

History behind ‘The Cradle of Civilisation’: Cuneiform and tablets

Cuneiform is one of the world’s oldest writing systems, and developed in Mesopotamia c. 3,400 BC at roughly the same time that hieroglyphics developed in Egypt.

It is called Cuneiform, because it employs wedge-shaped letters, formed by impressing a reed stylus onto soft clay. Many tablets survive because they were either fired to keep a permanent record, or were accidentally burnt during fires or military attack. Entire libraries of Cuneiform tablets have been discovered giving a detailed historical understanding of the region.

Cuneiform employs both phonetic and pictographic symbols, which over time became increasingly abstract. It was used for several ancient languages, and this enabled its early decipherment in 1835, by Henry Rawlinson, based on the Behistun inscription. As a script, it survived in use until the first century AD.