What is Cuneiform? Mesopotamians and Ancient Writing Systems

Speaker: Dr. Lauren Kilroy-Ewbank

What is cuneiform?

This video explores cuneiform writing, one of the world's oldest writing systems, originating in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago. It focuses on various clay tablets, including The Flood Tablet, inscribed with wedge-shaped marks, illustrating the distinctive style of this ancient script. Learn about early writing from ancient civilizations like the Sumerians, who developed it, and the types of ideas they recorded on clay.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Introduction to cuneiform

0:24 Meaning of cuneiform

0:52 Making a cuneiform tablet

1:12 The evolution of cuneiform script

1:40 What was recorded using cuneiform

2:00 The Epic of Gilgamesh and the Flood Tablet and Libraries

2:53 Scribes

3:10 Helping people communicate

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