Cuneiform

Cuneiform is one of the earliest writing systems ever created. It was invented over 5,000 years ago in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is now Iraq. People pressed a pointed stick called a stylus into soft clay to make wedge-shaped marks. Cuneiform was used for thousands of years before it was forgotten.

How It Worked

Writers used a reed stylus to press marks into wet clay tablets. The marks were shaped like tiny wedges, which is why it is called cuneiform, meaning wedge-shaped. At first, the symbols were simple pictures. Over time, they became more abstract. There were hundreds of symbols to learn.

What They Wrote About

People used cuneiform for many things. They kept records of grain and livestock. They wrote laws, letters, and stories. The famous Epic of Gilgamesh was written in cuneiform. Scribes, the people who could write, were very respected in ancient society.

Fun Facts

• Thousands of cuneiform tablets have been found and are kept in museums around the world.
• It took years of training to become a scribe who could read and write cuneiform.
• Cuneiform was used by many different civilizations for about 3,000 years.

Did You Know?

Cuneiform was finally decoded in the 1800s when scholars found inscriptions carved in three different languages, one of which was already known.