So, in order to keep the theme of the beginning going, today let's explore the beginning of what is now our system of writing. What if I told you that the first system of writing used to tell the story of history looked like scratches in the dirt? Perhaps, even resembled chicken scratch. Just to think, the whole time that I was in elementary school learning to write "legibly", humans long before me used wedge shaped marks that they made on clay tablets to communicate. This early form of writing is known as Cuneiform. The name itself comes from the Latin word cuneus for 'wedge' owing to the wedge-shaped style of writing. In cuneiform, a carefully cut writing instrument known as a stylus is pressed into soft clay to produce wedge-like impressions that represent word-signs.
An example of Cuneiform on a clay tablet
Cuneiform was developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia. Pictograms were used to communicate basic information about crops and taxes. However, the need for writing changed over time and the signs developed into a script we call cuneiform. For thousands of years, Mesopotamian scribes recorded daily events, trade, astronomy, and literature on clay tablets.
I was so intrigued by this ancient form of writing that I tried it myself in my humanities class. Below is a picture of my initials written in Cuneiform.
D M J
You can try yours here. And remember, it's not chicken scratch!
