Cuneiform writing: Did you mean...?

This is a cuneiform inscription from Lchashen, Armenia, which is located close to Lake Sevan in the Gegharkunik Province. This cuneiform dates from the time of the Urartian King Argishti I (r. 786-764 BCE). Herein, the capture of the city...

Mesopotamian science and technology developed during the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE) and Early Dynastic Period (2900-1750 BCE) of the Sumerian culture of southern Mesopotamia. The foundation of future Mesopotamian advances in scientific/technological...

Bronze figurine with Babylonian cuneiform inscription found in Luristan Province, c. 1000-900 BCE (Iron Age II), National Museum of Iran, Tehran, inv. no. 1408. Photo by Neda Tehrani (Baloot Noghrei) The cultural influence of Mesopotamia...

Clay tablets with cuneiform letters found at Kültepe in central Turkey (ancient Kanesh), 1900 BCE – 1700 BCE. They were all written by merchants who, from around 1900 BCE, had come to Kanesh from the city of Ashur in Assyria and established...

The cuneiform text of this clay tablet orders men to go to Babylon for a court hearing. This letter from Hammurabi is addressed to an official named Sin-iddinam. Old Babylonian Period, reign of Hammurabi, 1792-1750 BCE. From Larsa, Southern...

The interior hollow surface of the earring. Note how the carved cuneiform signs appear on this side and how the goldsmith joined the “lunar-shaped” segments of the earring. One of a pair of gold earrings, 24 carats. Gift from Shulgi to a...

Both earrings are placed in a mirror-image position, with the lower surfaces facing each other. Each earring is composed of nine lunar-shaped segments forming a flattened half- ball. The cuneiform signs run vertically from above downward...

17th-century, woodcut recreation of Li Po writing 100 verses while drinking a quart of wine seated on the veranda with a group of men.

A 17th century CE artist's rendition of David inscribing one of his famous psalms. By Giovanni Francesco Barbieri (Guercino).

My favorite example of how odd Cuneiform became as it was passed from civilization to civilization. Thanks, rampant Sumerianization! Cuneiform languages took Sumerian very seriously, even after it was long dead. That’s how Akkadian and...