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How did a reed stylus create the wedge-shaped marks of cuneiform?
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cuneiform
An account of barley distribution, probably from Uruk, Mesopotamia, c. 3100–2900 bce; in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
The wedge-shaped marks of cuneiform were created by pressing the slanted edge of a reed stylus into soft clay tablets.1
While early writing involved drawing pictographs with a pointed implement, the transition to the characteristic wedge shape occurred as the script became more conventionalized and cursive during the 3rd millennium BCE. By substituting a blunt, slanted stylus for a pointed one, scribes were able to impress the clay rather than draw curving lines, which eventually disappeared from the writing system. This technique resulted in the distinct "wedge" appearance—the term cuneiform itself is derived from the Latin word cuneus, meaning "wedge".12