How did Babylonian cuneiform numerals get their wedge-shaped appearance?

Babylonian cuneiform numerals acquired their characteristic wedge-shaped appearance due to the physical properties of the writing medium and the tools used by scribes. In ancient Mesopotamia, clay was an abundant material, and scribes recorded information by impressing symbols into damp clay tablets before drying them in the sun or a kiln.1

The term "cuneiform" is derived from the Latin words cuneus ("wedge") and forma ("shape"). This appearance resulted from the use of a stylus, a writing implement that scribes pressed into the soft clay using its slanted edge. As the writing system evolved throughout the 3rd millennium BCE, it became increasingly conventionalized, and the earlier linear, curvilinear drawings were replaced by these distinct wedge-shaped marks. This method allowed for the creation of durable documents that were nearly as permanent as stone.123