110 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
110 lines
5.1 KiB
Markdown
<!-- factbase:f36cdb -->
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# Cuneiform
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## Overview
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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. @t[~3400 BCE..=75 CE]
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## Key Facts
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- Origin: Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, ~3400 BCE @t[~3400 BCE]
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- Medium: Clay tablets impressed with a wedge-shaped reed stylus
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- Name: From Latin *cuneus* ("wedge")
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- Languages written: Sumerian, Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hittite, Hurrian, Luwian, Urartian, Old Persian [^1][^3]
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- Influenced: Ugaritic and Old Persian alphabets derived from the cuneiform tradition [^3]
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- Deciphered by: Georg Friedrich Grotefend (1802), Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hincks, and others (~1835–1857) via the Behistun Inscription @t[~1802 CE..~1857 CE] [^1]
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## Development
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- Proto-cuneiform: pictographic/logographic system for accounting (~3400–3000 BCE), attested by ~5,000 tablets from Uruk @t[~3400 BCE..~3000 BCE] [^3]
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- Evolved into syllabic writing by ~2600 BCE @t[~2600 BCE]
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- Akkadian texts attested from the 24th century BCE onward; Akkadian became the dominant cuneiform language @t[~2400 BCE..] [^3]
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- ~600–1,000 signs in use at various periods
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- Last known cuneiform tablet: 75 CE (astronomical text from Babylon) @t[=75 CE] [^2]
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## Significance
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- Enabled record-keeping, literature, law, science, and diplomacy @t[~3400 BCE..=75 CE]
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- Preserved the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, Code of Hammurabi, and thousands of administrative records
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- ~500,000 cuneiform tablets have been excavated; many remain untranslated [^3]
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---
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[^1]: Walker, C.B.F. *Cuneiform* (British Museum, 1987)
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[^2]: Robson, E. *Mathematics in Ancient Iraq* (Princeton, 2008)
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[^3]: Mark, J.J. "Cuneiform." *World History Encyclopedia*, 2011. https://www.worldhistory.org/cuneiform/
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---
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## Review Queue
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<!-- factbase:review -->
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 9: "Medium: Clay tablets impressed with a wedge-shaped reed stylus" - when was this true?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 10: "Name: From Latin *cuneus* ("wedge")" - when was this true?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 11: "Languages written: Sumerian, Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hittite, Hurrian, Lu..." - when was this true?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 12: "Influenced: Ugaritic and Old Persian alphabets derived from the cuneiform tra..." - when was this true?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 19: "~600–1,000 signs in use at various periods" - when was this true?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 24: "Preserved the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, Code of Hammurabi, and thousands of admini..." - when was this true?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 25: "~500,000 cuneiform tablets have been excavated; many remain untranslated [^3]" - when was this true?
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 5: Malformed temporal tag @t[~-3400..=75 CE] — see docs for valid syntax
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 13: Malformed temporal tag @t[~1802 CE..~1857 CE] — see docs for valid syntax
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 16: Malformed temporal tag @t[~-3400..~-3000] — see docs for valid syntax
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 20: Malformed temporal tag @t[=75 CE] — see docs for valid syntax
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>
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- [ ] `@q[temporal]` Line 23: Malformed temporal tag @t[~-3400..=75 CE] — see docs for valid syntax
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 8: "Origin: Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, ~3400 BCE @t[~3400 BCE]" - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 9: "Medium: Clay tablets impressed with a wedge-shaped reed stylus" - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 10: "Name: From Latin *cuneus* ("wedge")" - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 17: "Evolved into syllabic writing by ~2600 BCE @t[~2600 BCE]" - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 19: "~600–1,000 signs in use at various periods" - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 23: "Enabled record-keeping, literature, law, science, and diplomacy @t[~3400 BCE...." - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[missing]` Line 24: "Preserved the *Epic of Gilgamesh*, Code of Hammurabi, and thousands of admini..." - what is the source?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[stale]` Line 11: "Languages written: Sumerian, Akkadian, Eblaite, Elamite, Hittite, Hurrian, Lu..." - Walker source from 1987 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[stale]` Line 12: "Influenced: Ugaritic and Old Persian alphabets derived from the cuneiform tra..." - Mark source from 2011 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[stale]` Line 13: "Deciphered by: Georg Friedrich Grotefend (1802), Henry Rawlinson, Edward Hinc..." - Walker source from 1987 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[stale]` Line 16: "Proto-cuneiform: pictographic/logographic system for accounting (~3400–3000..." - Mark source from 2011 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[stale]` Line 20: "Last known cuneiform tablet: 75 CE (astronomical text from Babylon) @t[=75 CE..." - Robson source from 2008 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
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>
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- [ ] `@q[stale]` Line 25: "~500,000 cuneiform tablets have been excavated; many remain untranslated [^3]" - Mark source from 2011 may be outdated, is this still accurate?
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>
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