Welcome back to Asia in Science! Today we explore the founding channel for modern communication, the ancient cuneiform script, born thousands of years ago in present-day Iraq.
The Clay Script: Sumerian’s Cuneiform
Long before paper and pen, wedge-shaped marks on a clay tablet captured epic tales of heroes, the precise movements of celestial bodies, and the meticulous records of ancient economies- a script that would influence a multitude of cultures for millennia. This was the region of Sumer in 3200 BCE Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq).
Today, unbeknownst to our modern minds engulfed in the crux of technology, Cuneiform has paved the very channel of human communication. It is one of the earliest systems of writing, initially used for keeping economic records, and later evolved into a comprehensive writing system for laws, literature, and scientific knowledge.
Writing systems around the globe, including local cultural languages like Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian owe their fair share of credit to the Sumerians. Indebted to the clay’s durability, the tablets have allowed Mesopotamian records to preserve crucial information about ancient administrative practices, justice systems, and contemporary scientific, health, and historical research.
The utter ability to record is fundamental to the advancement of any civilisation; the eternal survival of Sumerian Cuneiform tablets has provided modern historians and archaeologists with a wealth of information. Cuneiform tablets have served as primary sources for understanding ancient Mesopotamian history, society, and culture.
One of Cuneiform’s finest texts, The Babylonians, for instance, contains some of the earliest known astronomical records and calculations, influencing later Greek and Islamic astronomy. Its early transition from pictographs to abstract symbols marked a significant development in writing, enabling the representation of more complex ideas and sounds. This was paramount in inspiring scientific inquiry and documenting mathematical concepts like the sexagesimal (base-60) number system, which is still used today in measuring time and angles.
The very story of Cuneiform writing mirrors humanity’s journey from simple communication to complex expression. From the Epic of Gilgamesh, a heroic saga that provides insight into early human thought and mythology, to King Hammurabi’s establishment of justice principles, cuneiform has documented the evolution of human civilization in its most fundamental forms.
The timeless legacy of this ancient script is more than just phonetics, it’s sheer evidence of human progress.
Thank you for reading my blog! Please stay curious and alert for new blogs on Asian scientific contributions and inventions.
-Mihika Singhania
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