Cuneiform and Pictograms Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Cuneiform and Pictograms - Research Paper Example Indeed, it is certain that Cuneiform and pictograms are the gateway of the normal symbols that are palpable in our everyday life as it all started thousands of years ago. As a one of the greatest contributors to Cuneiform development, the Sumerians developed this early form of civilization writing using pictures. Later the Babylonians and Assyrians adopted the use of Cuneiform as a system of writing. As an ancient form, of writing Cuneiform entailed the use of wooden reeds on pieces of clay that were used to impress shapes on the moist clay tablets evidently in Mesopotamia. This mode of writing used wedged shaped stylus as a means of making impressions on the tablets that were made up of stones, metal, clay, or wax. However, the clay tablets were mainly used, as they were cheap and easily available. On the contrary, the clay tablets tended to be more fragile because of the tablets being sun-baked. There are different forms of wedges as they ranged in their various shapes from upright wedges, horizontal wedges, and the most common diagonal wedges through the frequently interchanging of slopping wedge. The Cuneiform impressions that were left by the pictogram, which was being imposed on the tablet left the stylus on the tablet as wedged shape thus, the up rise of the name wedge-writing that was significantly another name of Cuneiform writing. It is notable that after the pieces of clay tablets dried up the preservation of the information was achievable through maintain ace of remarkable accuracy and durability levels. It is because of this reason that hundreds of cuneiform tablets are evidently widely spread all over the world (Radner, and Robson 60). However, in instances where the information was not needed in terms of their permanency the tablets were recycled as they were remolded again. Archeologists established that a majority of the tablets found from the debris and archives were baked especially as they found them in the building where the armies burnt it down. Majority of the museums and private collections still hold the tablets up to date as a form of history. Individuals who utilized this form of writing were Egyptians who have had thousands of clay tablets safely stored discovered in Egypt. The use of the tablets in Cuneiform writing began as a system of writing symbols as a way of expressing the ideas commonly rather than the use of in sounds that they felt a need of noting them down for remembrance. Majorly the information that was featured in these tablets were those of business activities that needed recording in order to act as evidence against a transaction that transpired between two parties (Radner, and Robson 61). In addition, other tablets included information traceable back to the field of medicine as there is evidence of tablets with medical texts imposed on them besides other subjects. Cuneiform form of writing developed later into alphabetic syllabus through the Babylonians and Assyrians who were primarily dominan t in the in Egypt during the middle of the third millennium. As a result, the form of Cuneiform writing shifted from being mainly featured in the field of business and medicine as it spread into other areas of writing. This change is more significant as there is evidence of cuneiform scripts use in the representation of texts that are from various fields of several languages. These languages include those of the ancient ones that are more