Cuneiform and hieroglyphics were both writing systems that emerged at the dawn of humanity, but their legacy and impact were vastly different. The two systems not only demonstrate the early concept of writing but show contrasting elements of civilization in globalism vs nationalism, internal vs external, connection vs isolation. The two systems certainly diverged from one another, but to understand this, the origins of the two writing systems must be examined. Around the dawn of civilization, in the last half of the third millennium, abstract symbols (meaning letters, numbers, and other things that represent abstract thought) started to form from proto-writing that had been present for millennia in the Nile valley before the first abstract …show more content…
Like hieroglyphs, the exact time that cuneiform changed from pictograms (rough illustration of physical things) and nonlinguistic symbols to a full-fledged script are unclear. The lead up to the mature system spanned almost 400 years, with some early “proto-cuneiform” being unearthed in the ancient city of Kish. Most of the cuneiform documents, early and later, were merely administrative and financial documents, and said things such as “two sheep for a bundle of sticks” and “one goat for three chickens.” Many of these documents showed the workings of a primitive barter economy. Cuneiform was much more advanced than its contemporaries such as hieroglyphics, or Chinese oracle bone script. By the year 2600 BCE cuneiform was a syllabary, meaning that each symbol represented a syllable. With this system, any word could be read without prior knowledge of logographs (like in hieroglyphs), and words could be written with one or two characters. It was easily more efficient and easier to read, or at least when it was written in the Sumerian language. Cuneiform was adopted by the Akkadians who lived in the city of Akkad up the Tigris from Sumer (or possible the Euphrates, its exact location is unknown.) When the Akkadians started to write in cuneiform they, for the most part, spelled their words in Akkadian, but because Akkadian and Sumerian were such different languages, the Akkadians spelled some of their …show more content…
But it is undeniable that hieroglyphics had more influence on history than cuneiform did, in spite of the fact that cuneiform was more advanced for its time. This is the first way that these systems contrast; sophistication. Cuneiform was a more advanced system than hieroglyphics simply because cuneiform was more abstract and it was far quicker to write Sumerian with it. Hieroglyphics was, for much of its existence, a logographic system, making it in some ways closer to drawing than to abstract writing such as cuneiform. However, in the Neolithic times, sophistication had an inverse relationship with influence, that is to say, that less advanced writing systems had more influence and clout with other cultures. This may have been because it is hard to teach an illiterate culture who may adopt a writing system, a complex, writing scheme, or a system that doesn’t work in their language. Or, it may because the more advanced a writing system is, the fewer people in your culture understand how to use it. This can be seen with cuneiform and hieroglyphics in a very stark way. Not many cultures used cuneiform, and when they did it worked poorly with the language it was being used in, while hieroglyphs informed many other writing systems, such as Hebrew, Greek, and Phoenician; it cannot be understated the
Mesopotamian Civilizations contributed massively to the development for future civilizations. To begin, the Sumerians created the first written language. Cuneiform was the writing system to keep track of business dealings when it comes to trading with the people who lived in lands that were thousands of miles away. Cuneiform also kept records and allowed new ideas to be passed from generation to generation (Doc 1). Cuneiform is developed from pictographs that were sideways and used
That was an act of human creation of the Near Eastern river valleys of Sumer and Egypt. Cuneiform writing in Sumer and the hieroglyphics in Egypt was developed in this time period. Such things as the Code of Hammurabi and the fall of the Assyrian Empire, The Persian wars, assassination of Julius
The river valley civilizations developed writing systems. Each writing system was unique, but they also had similarities between them. The people from Mesopotamia had a writing system called “cuneiform.” The Egyptians had a writing system called “hieroglyphics.” Cuneiform was a writing system based on pictures (3.) Just like cuneiform, hieroglyphics was also based on pictures (11.) Both writing systems presented objects or ideas. Also, they were both carved into stone.
Now that food was being produced by not hunted or gathered, humans had more time to set their minds on other things. Because of this, many new advances had been made. One such advancement was the developement of the Sumerian language system called Cuneiform. This was a major social advancement because it helped Sumerians to communicate better with each other. Cuneiform was, then, used for record keeping which kept records of daily trade.
Did you know that the ancient Mesopotamian created cuneiform? Cuneiform was the first form of writing. It was created over 5000 years ago! Mesopotamians created Cuneiform to make trading deals. You might think in your head, why don’t they just remember it? Well, that is because if they traded a year from now the people could lie and get more of their
The word “cuneiform” means wedge shape, and that is what the Sumerians used on the clay. The tool that they used was a triangle with a line connecting to it. The shapes sometimes were combined together to create a letter of the alphabet (OI). After the wedges were carved into the clay, the Sumerians would lay it out in the sun so the clay can bake (Doc. 1). Cuneiform was a contribution that
The first form of writing was created by Sumerians 5,000 years ago called Cuneiform (Document 1). Sumerians used this writing system to keep track of business dealings because they traded with people who lived in lands that were hundreds and even thousands of miles away (Doc. 2). With a written language, ideas could be shared from generation to generation (Doc. 1). To write in cuneiform somebody would need to acquire a clay tablet, then bake it hard in a kiln (Doc. 1). If cuneiform had not been created, there may have not been written languages in the
And one of their inventions was the handwriting which they called cuneiform. Cuneiform was invented by the sumerian people in 3500 B.C. Sumerians didnt have money, so the only thing they had to trade was what GOD gave them. Body Paragraph #1 Cumiem Form: (Doc. 1) Cuneiform was the first written developed by the Sumerians over 5000 years ago.
In Ancient China, they developed a writing system for preservation. In China, people would use logograms, which are symbols that represent a word or a meaning.In the early days of the ancient Chinese civilization, people would write on oracle bone or tortoise shell.In Ancient India, writing systems were developed for recording data and information. The Indus script used signs and words and it was written from right to left. By 1800 BCE, the Indus valley civilizations started to fall and writing were often used anymore. Ancient Egyptians started to developed a writing system called, hieroglyphics because they needed a way to record important information. They believed that recording data and communicate information about government and religion was essential. Scribes were only ones to write in hieroglyphics and were written from left to right or top to bottom. In Mesopotamia, people started developing a writing system to information. Mesopotamia created a writing system called, cuneiform. Mesopotamian scribes would record important dates and event, and position of the stars. These ancient civilizations started to create their own writing system to record history and communicate information.
Cuneiform not only allowed records to be kept but, it also allowed thoughts and ideas to be written down. Around 1754 bc a new ruler, Hammurabi, conquered Mesopotamia and decided to set permanent laws. He wrote the laws on stone and placed the stone in the middle of the
The creation of cuneiform writing changed the methods of communication in Babylon. Cuneiform writing was an ancient writing system that Babylonian people utilized and learned. Although we have descriptions of what the writing
In Mesopotamia, people had no money so they traded barley, pottery, fish, and other foods and inventions they made. They needed a way to keep up with what they traded, so Sumerians created the first form of writing over 5000 years ago which they called Cuneiform. They used Cuneiform for business dealings such as trading barley, keeping records, and new ideas changed between different generations.
Cuneiform is considered the most significant among the many cultural contributions of the Sumerians. Cuneiform writing is traced back from c. 3500 - 3000 BC. The writing wasn 't first actually words. They used pictographs for writing in their records. Instead of writing letters “s-u-n”, a Sumerian would imprint a pictograph of what they had as a sun on a clay tablet. Also,
The civilizations and its people are all intelligent. During their lifespan, Mesopotamians and ancient Egyptians created their own written language that used symbols. It allowed their historians to record important events. Sadly, their written language was hard to learn due to having tons of symbols.
Is the development of the writing system the most important factor that led to the rise of a civilization? How does our ancestor learned to write when school is not even available? Understand that writing system that I am referring is not the average of using tools such as ink and paper, but more of creative tool that has developed over time. In this essay, I will cover seven points on the importantance of a writing system in the ancient civilization.