The World’s First Documented Language: Cuneiform
Kelsey Hanrahan
Background
Before Cuneiform symbols were used in writing, it appears that similar markings were first recorded as a method of counting. Counting was done by pressing carved and shaped stones, called tokens, into wet clay tablets to keep as a form of documentation.[1]
Turning Point
Cuneiform is dated back to 3100 B.C.[2] Assyriologists have traced the ancient script back to archaic forms dated in the late fourth millennium B.C.[3] Cuneiform was developed in Mesopotamia by the Sumerians. According to Sumerians, their god of grain and storage, named Nisaba, gave Cuneiform as a gift to her people.[4]
Cuneiform was first written using sticks, called styluses,[5] or pointed reeds[6] to gauge out marks in wet clay tablets.[7] The tablets were then baked for preservation.[8] The marks consisted of shapes, such as circles and triangles,[9] and these shapes are called pictographs, because at first Cuneiform was a writing that used shapes to represent ideas and things.[10] The arrangement of the shapes used in Cuneiform was not originally linear;[11] the earliest examples of this writing were scattered all over the face of the tablet.[12]
Therefore, Cuneiform could only be deciphered at first by trained and knowledgeable scribes. Scribes often were redundant in rewriting Cuneiform in an effort to help the elite groups of scribes who interpreted it. When it established greater importance and influence in Sumerian communities, it was taught in schools for more people in elite groups. Cuneiform’s initial purpose was to keep records of their spiritual obligations, such as a number of sacrifices made in a certain amount of time.[13] The later writings of the Sumerians in Cuneiform were proverbs and advice that influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.[14]
After the writing’s establishment and integration into the Mesopotamian community, Akkadians conquered the Sumerians. At this time Akkadians took over Cuneiform due in part to the idea that they believed it was a gift from their god of writing, Nabu. Furthermore, the Akkadians’ decision to adopt it led them to change it dramatically. The first change the Akkadians made can be dated back to 2300 B.C. At this time, they began to arrange the symbols linearly–horizontally and vertically–instead of haphazardly on the clay tablet. The second change to Cuneiform’s writing system under the Akkadians was that they introduced the idea that the shapes would represent speech syllables as well as ideas. Therefore, the Akkadians changed Cuneiform to include both phonograms and ideograms.[15]
Effect
Cuneiform was the first recorded introduction of linear organization to writing. When the Akkadians introduced an organization to writing by creating and enforcing a linear display of Cuneiform’s symbols, writing was easier to read and re-scribe. Therefore, it allowed Cuneiform to be taught and understood by citizens other than the elite groups; there was no longer a class division present in the ability to decipher and write Cuneiform, and thus no class distinction relating to literacy.[16]
Cuneiform was also the first recorded introduction of phonograms in writing. The Akkadians introduced the idea of using writing’s shape-symbols to represent syllables of speech as well as symbols.[17] However, according to German Assyriologist Carl Bezold, the updated Cuneiform is more confusing to decipher and understand because of the Akkadian-employed change that altered the writing system in an unequal way. [18]
Cuneiform writing is one of the only insights into Mesopotamian culture. The collection of tablets belonging to Assyrian monarch Ashurbanipal contained both the renowned Epic of Gilgamesh and the Epic of Creation, both of which helped historians better understand the culture and past of Mesopotamia.[19]
[1] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 85.
[2] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[3] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 80.
[4] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46-47.
[5] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 85.
[6] Doblhofer, Ernst. Voices in the Stone: The Decipherment of Ancient Scripts and Writings. 1961. 139.
[7] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[8] Doblhofer, Ernst. Voices in the Stone: The Decipherment of Ancient Scripts and Writings. 1961. 140.
[9] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 4.
[10] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[11] Leonard Shlain. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[12] Amar-Suen. Cuneiform Tablet no. 13. 2039 BC.
[13] Leonard Shlain. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46-47.
[14] Brian M. Fagan. Return to Babylon. 2007. 13.
[15] Leonard Shlain. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 47.
[16] Horowitz, Maryanne Cline. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Language, Linguistics, and Literacy. 2005. 1235.
[17] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[18] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 86.
[19] Fagan, Brian M.. Return to Babylon. 2007. 14.
Bibliography
Amar-Suen. Cuneiform Tablet no. 13. 2039 BC. Library of Congress, African and Middle
Eastern Division: Cuneiform Tablet Collection. Washington D.C. Retrieved from
http://memory.loc.gov/.
Doblhofer, Ernst . Voices in the Stone: The Decipherment of Ancient Scripts and Writings.
Viking Press. New York, New York. 1961. 1-327.
Fagan, Brian M.. Return to Babylon. University Press of Colorado. Boulder, Colorado. 2007. 1-
386.
Horowitz, Maryanne Cline. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Language, Linguistics, and
Literacy. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Detroit, Michigan. 2005. 1231-1238
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. University of Texas Press. Austin,
Texas. 1992. 1-193.
Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. Penguin. Group. New York, New York.
1998. 1-464.
Kelsey Hanrahan
Background
Before Cuneiform symbols were used in writing, it appears that similar markings were first recorded as a method of counting. Counting was done by pressing carved and shaped stones, called tokens, into wet clay tablets to keep as a form of documentation.[1]
Turning Point
Cuneiform is dated back to 3100 B.C.[2] Assyriologists have traced the ancient script back to archaic forms dated in the late fourth millennium B.C.[3] Cuneiform was developed in Mesopotamia by the Sumerians. According to Sumerians, their god of grain and storage, named Nisaba, gave Cuneiform as a gift to her people.[4]
Cuneiform was first written using sticks, called styluses,[5] or pointed reeds[6] to gauge out marks in wet clay tablets.[7] The tablets were then baked for preservation.[8] The marks consisted of shapes, such as circles and triangles,[9] and these shapes are called pictographs, because at first Cuneiform was a writing that used shapes to represent ideas and things.[10] The arrangement of the shapes used in Cuneiform was not originally linear;[11] the earliest examples of this writing were scattered all over the face of the tablet.[12]
Therefore, Cuneiform could only be deciphered at first by trained and knowledgeable scribes. Scribes often were redundant in rewriting Cuneiform in an effort to help the elite groups of scribes who interpreted it. When it established greater importance and influence in Sumerian communities, it was taught in schools for more people in elite groups. Cuneiform’s initial purpose was to keep records of their spiritual obligations, such as a number of sacrifices made in a certain amount of time.[13] The later writings of the Sumerians in Cuneiform were proverbs and advice that influenced Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.[14]
After the writing’s establishment and integration into the Mesopotamian community, Akkadians conquered the Sumerians. At this time Akkadians took over Cuneiform due in part to the idea that they believed it was a gift from their god of writing, Nabu. Furthermore, the Akkadians’ decision to adopt it led them to change it dramatically. The first change the Akkadians made can be dated back to 2300 B.C. At this time, they began to arrange the symbols linearly–horizontally and vertically–instead of haphazardly on the clay tablet. The second change to Cuneiform’s writing system under the Akkadians was that they introduced the idea that the shapes would represent speech syllables as well as ideas. Therefore, the Akkadians changed Cuneiform to include both phonograms and ideograms.[15]
Effect
Cuneiform was the first recorded introduction of linear organization to writing. When the Akkadians introduced an organization to writing by creating and enforcing a linear display of Cuneiform’s symbols, writing was easier to read and re-scribe. Therefore, it allowed Cuneiform to be taught and understood by citizens other than the elite groups; there was no longer a class division present in the ability to decipher and write Cuneiform, and thus no class distinction relating to literacy.[16]
Cuneiform was also the first recorded introduction of phonograms in writing. The Akkadians introduced the idea of using writing’s shape-symbols to represent syllables of speech as well as symbols.[17] However, according to German Assyriologist Carl Bezold, the updated Cuneiform is more confusing to decipher and understand because of the Akkadian-employed change that altered the writing system in an unequal way. [18]
Cuneiform writing is one of the only insights into Mesopotamian culture. The collection of tablets belonging to Assyrian monarch Ashurbanipal contained both the renowned Epic of Gilgamesh and the Epic of Creation, both of which helped historians better understand the culture and past of Mesopotamia.[19]
[1] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 85.
[2] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[3] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 80.
[4] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46-47.
[5] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 85.
[6] Doblhofer, Ernst. Voices in the Stone: The Decipherment of Ancient Scripts and Writings. 1961. 139.
[7] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[8] Doblhofer, Ernst. Voices in the Stone: The Decipherment of Ancient Scripts and Writings. 1961. 140.
[9] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 4.
[10] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[11] Leonard Shlain. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[12] Amar-Suen. Cuneiform Tablet no. 13. 2039 BC.
[13] Leonard Shlain. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46-47.
[14] Brian M. Fagan. Return to Babylon. 2007. 13.
[15] Leonard Shlain. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 47.
[16] Horowitz, Maryanne Cline. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Language, Linguistics, and Literacy. 2005. 1235.
[17] Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. 1998. 46.
[18] Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. 1992. 86.
[19] Fagan, Brian M.. Return to Babylon. 2007. 14.
Bibliography
Amar-Suen. Cuneiform Tablet no. 13. 2039 BC. Library of Congress, African and Middle
Eastern Division: Cuneiform Tablet Collection. Washington D.C. Retrieved from
http://memory.loc.gov/.
Doblhofer, Ernst . Voices in the Stone: The Decipherment of Ancient Scripts and Writings.
Viking Press. New York, New York. 1961. 1-327.
Fagan, Brian M.. Return to Babylon. University Press of Colorado. Boulder, Colorado. 2007. 1-
386.
Horowitz, Maryanne Cline. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Language, Linguistics, and
Literacy. Charles Scribner’s Sons. Detroit, Michigan. 2005. 1231-1238
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. How Writing Came About. University of Texas Press. Austin,
Texas. 1992. 1-193.
Shlain, Leonard. The Alphabet Versus the Goddess. Penguin. Group. New York, New York.
1998. 1-464.