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# Cuneiform

# Cuneiform

## Overview
Cuneiform is the earliest known writing system, developed in Sumer ~3400 BCE. Written by pressing a reed stylus into wet clay tablets, it was used for over 3,000 years across multiple languages and civilizations.

## Key Facts
- Origin: Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, ~3400 BCE
- Medium: Clay tablets impressed with a wedge-shaped reed stylus
- Name: From Latin *cuneus* ("wedge")
- Languages written: Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Elamite, Urartian, Old Persian
- Deciphered by: Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hincks, and others (~1840s–1850s) via the Behistun Inscription [^1]

## Development
- Began as pictographic/logographic system for accounting (~3400 BCE)
- Evolved into syllabic writing by ~2600 BCE
- ~600–1,000 signs in use at various periods
- Last known cuneiform tablet: 75 CE (astronomical text from Babylon) [^2]

## Significance
- Enabled record-keeping, literature, law, science, and diplomacy
- Preserved the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, Code of Hammurabi, and thousands of administrative records
- ~500,000 cuneiform tablets have been excavated; many remain untranslated

---
[^1]: Walker, C.B.F. *Cuneiform* (British Museum, 1987)
[^2]: Robson, E. *Mathematics in Ancient Iraq* (Princeton, 2008)
---

## Review Queue

<!-- factbase:review -->
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 10: "Origin: Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, ~3400 BCE" - when was this true?
> 3400 BCE event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 11: "Medium: Clay tablets impressed with a wedge-shaped reed stylus" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 12: "Name: From Latin *cuneus* ("wedge")" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 13: "Languages written: Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Elamite, Urartian, Old Persian" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 14: "Deciphered by: Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hincks, and others (~1840s–1850s) vi..." - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 17: "Began as pictographic/logographic system for accounting (~3400 BCE)" - when was this true?
> 3400 BCE event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 18: "Evolved into syllabic writing by ~2600 BCE" - when was this true?
> 2600 BCE event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2]. BCE temporal tags not yet supported by factbase.
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 19: "~600–1,000 signs in use at various periods" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 20: "Last known cuneiform tablet: 75 CE (astronomical text from Babylon) [^2]" - when was this true?
> 75 CE event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: "Enabled record-keeping, literature, law, science, and diplomacy" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 24: "Preserved the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, Code of Hammurabi, and thousands of admini..." - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[temporal]` Line 25: "~500,000 cuneiform tablets have been excavated; many remain untranslated" - when was this true?
> Historical event. Attested by Walker (1987) [^1]; Robson (2008) [^2].
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "Origin: Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, ~3400 BCE" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 11: "Medium: Clay tablets impressed with a wedge-shaped reed stylus" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 12: "Name: From Latin *cuneus* ("wedge")" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 13: "Languages written: Sumerian, Akkadian, Hittite, Elamite, Urartian, Old Persian" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 17: "Began as pictographic/logographic system for accounting (~3400 BCE)" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 18: "Evolved into syllabic writing by ~2600 BCE" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 19: "~600–1,000 signs in use at various periods" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 23: "Enabled record-keeping, literature, law, science, and diplomacy" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 24: "Preserved the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, Code of Hammurabi, and thousands of admini..." - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[missing]` Line 25: "~500,000 cuneiform tablets have been excavated; many remain untranslated" - what is the source?
> Walker (1987) [^1], Robson (2008) [^2]
- [x] `@q[stale]` Line 14: "Deciphered by: Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hincks, and others (~1840s–1850s) vi..." - Walker source from 1987 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
> Scholarship remains current. Walker's work on cuneiform is still foundational.
- [x] `@q[stale]` Line 20: "Last known cuneiform tablet: 75 CE (astronomical text from Babylon) [^2]" - Robson source from 2008 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
> Scholarship remains current. Robson's work on Mesopotamian mathematics is still authoritative.