{"id":7,"date":"2019-08-26T14:41:13","date_gmt":"2019-08-26T14:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/cuneiform\/?page_id=7"},"modified":"2026-07-30T18:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T18:47:17","slug":"how-it-works","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/cuneiform\/how-it-works\/","title":{"rendered":"How It Works"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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This style of writing used a wedge-shaped stylus to make impressions on primarily clay, but also on stone, metal, and wax. Sumerians were likely the inventors of cuneiform writing, but it was also used for writing in the Akkadian language, of which Babylonian and Assyrian are dialects.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The earliest tablets in cuneiform script are about 5000 years old, originating from ancient southern Mesopotamia. The vast majority of wedges were made of reed, inspiring the Sumerian word for stylus, meaning, literally, \u201ctablet-reed.\u201d Reed provided optimal characteristics for a writing tool as it was readily available, made of solid stalk, and is covered in glossy, waterproof skin that prevented it from sticking to the clay.To call cuneiform a language is a little misleading. It is a system of 600 to 1,000 characters representative of certain words, or parts of words, in order to translate meaning. All characters in cuneiform are made from 5 different ways to mark with the stylus.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The word cuneiform<\/strong><\/span> comes from the Latin cuneus, meaning \u201cwedge<\/span>.<\/strong>\u201d<\/span><\/h1>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Scribes in Mesopotamia<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Scribes in Mesopotamia by Theo van den Hout of The Oriental Institute<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Reading the Past Brochure<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Click here to view the Transcript of “Reading the Past”<\/a><\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Click to enlarge<\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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For information concerning this exhibit contact:\u00a0speccoll@truman.edu<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This style of writing used a wedge-shaped stylus to make impressions on primarily clay, but also on stone, metal, and wax. Sumerians were likely the inventors of cuneiform writing, but it was also used for writing in the Akkadian language, of which Babylonian and Assyrian are dialects. The earliest tablets in cuneiform script are about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-7","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nHow It Works - Truman State University Cuneiforms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exhibits.truman.edu\/cuneiform\/how-it-works\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How It Works - Truman State University Cuneiforms\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This style of writing used a wedge-shaped stylus to make impressions on primarily clay, but also on stone, metal, and wax. 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