The Mesopotamian type of writing is known as cuneiform writing. It was created during the Neolithic revolution (4,000-1,8000 BC), it was in which the economy would have been managed by the leaders of the religious temples.
This way of writing was born given the growing need to keep economic transactions registered for their correct accounting and distribution.
Origin of the cuneiform script used in Mesopotamia
The origin of the cuneiform writing dates from the creation of the first known city in the history of the world as Uruk, in the region of Sumeria. This city had a defined political and social system, led by a priestly king.
The Sumerians were the first to write non-abstract concepts on tablets. However, the cuneiform script was later copied into other languages.
One of the first writing samples presents a list of 120 officers who were part of the political structure of the city. It is believed that the development of this city is due to the birth of cuneiform writing.
The cuneiform writing was made on tablets. These were made of clay, since it was an economic and abundant resource in the region. After their manufacture, the tablets were moistened to draw the pictograms with reeds or sharp sticks in the shape of wedges.
Initially, the symbols were drawn in the direction from top to bottom and from right to left. The layout was eventually directed from left to right to avoid clay stains on the tablet.
The tablets were then baked in sunlight, which is why the tablets were generally brittle.
Evolution of cuneiform writing
The word cuneiform comes from the Latin "wedge", given thanks to the shape of the pipe that pressed the clay to draw a symbol.
The first tablets, called proto-cuneiforms, were made up of pictograms. These pictograms were concrete concepts using symbols that represented a simple idea.
These early tablets only transmitted objects, such as a bull or a tiger, and are not considered a writing system.
Little by little the pictograms evolved to describe intangible information. This refinement of language is known as the Rebus principle, where symbols were transformed into phonograms, or characters that expressed ideas through vowels and syllables. Now, cuneiform writing was functionally phonetic and semantic.
Cuneiform writing evolved into a mixture of phonetic and semantic characters
This means that the cuneiform writing not only represented simple objects, but also conveyed the meaning given by the scribe.
The reader could understand precise reasons and emotions through writing, such as a running tiger or a saddened human being. This advance in cuneiform writing simplified 600 characters into 400.
Cuneiform writing played a vital role in the history of Mesopotamia. Scribes of the time were able to write names, words and write stories and even the laws of the king.
Thanks to cuneiform writing, the first literary and legal system representations were also born, known as The Poem of Gilgamesh and the Hammurabi Code, respectively.
Cuneiform writing constitutes the principle of writing that gave rise to the economic and communicational development of the world.
References
- Spar, Ira. (2004). The Origins of Writing. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Chuchiak, John. 2006. Cuneiform Writing. Michigan Technological University.
- Mark, Joshua J. 2011. Cuneiform. Ancient History Encyclopedia.
- Kriwaczek, P. (2012). Babylon: Mesopotamia and the birth of civilization. New York: Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press.
- National Environment for the Humanities. 2017. The Cuneiform Writing System in Ancient Mesopotamia: Emergence and Evolution.