cuneiform

Introduction
Origin and character of cuneiform
Spread and development of cuneiform
Decipherment of cuneiform
- Old Persian and Elamite
- Akkadian and Sumerian
- Hittite and other languages
Influence of cuneiform
The development of cuneiform

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Stone tablet with rows of Hieroglyphic Luwian script carved in relief, showing intricate symbols and characters, from Turkey.

Persian cuneiform from the Xerxes inscription at Persepolis

Sumerian cuneiform inscription from the temple dedicated to Enlil at Nippur, Iraq

The number 258,458 expressed in the sexagesimal (base 60) system of the Babylonians and in cuneiform.

Examples illustrating the evolution of cuneiform writing.

At a Glance

cuneiform writing summary

Quizzes

Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.

Ancient Libraries and Archives Quiz

Related Questions

How could the cuneiform sign for land or mountain have both Sumerian and Akkadian readings?
How did Akkadian bilingual texts help scholars interpret Hittite cuneiform?
How did Akkadian cuneiform become a language of international diplomacy in the ancient Middle East?
How did Aramaic replace Babylonian as a major written and spoken language in Mesopotamia?
How did Georg Friedrich Grotefend use royal names and titles to begin deciphering Old Persian cuneiform?
How did Sumerian cuneiform combine word signs with syllable signs?
How did Sumerian pictographs change into wedge-shaped cuneiform signs?
How did a picture of a hand come to represent the Sumerian syllable shu?
How did a reed stylus create the wedge-shaped marks of cuneiform?
How did scholars determine that the Ugaritic script was alphabetic?
How did the Akkadians adapt Sumerian cuneiform to write the Akkadian language?
How did the discovery of Hattusa’s royal archives change the study of cuneiform languages?
How did the rebus principle help Sumerian scribes write names and abstract ideas?
How did the writing direction of cuneiform change during the 3rd millennium BCE?
How were Hittite clay tablets sometimes recycled after they were no longer needed?
How were numbers written on Babylonian cuneiform tablets?
What kinds of texts were kept in Ashurbanipal’s library at Nineveh?
When did cuneiform writing disappear from general use?
When did the earliest cuneiform writing appear in Mesopotamia?
Which kinds of information did the earliest cuneiform tablets record?
Which records preserve examples of Old Assyrian cuneiform?
Which ruler’s inscriptions provide examples of Old Akkadian cuneiform?
Which types of documents were found in the Hittite archives at Hattusa?
Why are the Cappadocian tablets important for studying Old Assyrian cuneiform?
Why did Akkadian cuneiform have many more phonetic values than early Sumerian writing?
Why did Hittite scribes study Sumerian and Akkadian as well as Hittite?
Why did Sumerian remain in use for religious and scholarly writing after it was no longer spoken?
Why did cuneiform signs become less like pictures over time?
Why did recognizing Akkadian as a Semitic language advance the study of cuneiform?
Why was Akkadian cuneiform difficult for scholars to decipher?
Why was Sumerian first mistaken for a special way of writing Akkadian?
Why were Carsten Niebuhr’s copies of the Persepolis inscriptions important?
Why were diplomatic letters in the 2nd millennium BCE often written in Akkadian cuneiform?
What is Hangul?
What do the shapes in Hangul represent?
Where does the word alphabet come from?
When was the Latin-Turkish alphabet introduced?
Is the Greek alphabet the same as the Cyrillic alphabet?
Why was the Greek alphabet a significant development?
When did Chinese writing begin to develop?
How does the Chinese writing system differ from alphabets?
When did the Maya writing system originate?
What linguists contributed to the understanding of Maya hieroglyphic writing?

Geography & Travel Languages

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External Websites

BBC - The Forum - Unlocking the mysteries of cuneiform tablets
LiveScience - How Writing Changed the World
University of Hamburg - The decipherment of cuneiform writing: A complex matter!
ABC listen - Lingua Franca - Cuneiform in Melbourne
World History Encyclopedia - Cuneiform

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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.

cuneiform - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

cuneiform

writing system

Written by

Jaan Puhvel

Emeritus Professor of Classics and Indo-European Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.

Jaan Puhvel

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

History

cuneiform, system of writing used in the ancient Middle East. The name, a coinage from Latin and Middle French roots meaning “wedge-shaped,” has been the modern designation from the early 18th century onward. Cuneiform was the most widespread and historically significant writing system in the ancient Middle East. Its active history comprised the last three millennia bce, its long development and geographic expansion involved numerous successive cultures and languages, and its overall significance as an...

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