![[clay tablet]](gifs/tablet.gif)
[Fig. M.C. Carlos Museum]
A comprehensive theory concerning the origin of writing was developed by Denise Schmandt-Besserat, University of Texas.
1.1 Three dimensional clay tokens
Already from the 9th millennium onwards clay tokens
(Lat. calculi)
where used to depict objects and abstract numbers and was widely spread:
from present day Sudan to Iran.
The clay tokens in various forms and shapes were used
as counters. Each type of counter represent e.g. a bull's head, a sheep,
a basket, a bar of gold etc. They were, in many cases at least,
pictographicallly used: that is, they depicted concrete objects. They have meaning
in any language.
Further specification was obtained with diacritical marks, such as
scratches and strokes. It was the first steps towards an abstract notation.
In the second half of the 4th millennium clay bullae developed. (see a later example in this external image, or this external description): envelopes of clay used to contain the tokens. The bullae were used in transactions, as trafel documents, waybill, contract of carriage etc. To certify the content cylinder seals where used (see example in this external image, or this external description) that were roled over the wet clay.
It seems that a further step was to imprint the tokens on the outside of the
clay bulla.
The content could thus easily be identified.
It was the first step in the development of a writing system.
Numbers were given as simple strokes: one stroke for 'one', two strokes
for 'two' etc.
Note that the same is true for our currentthe symbols for the number 1, 2 and 3.
The writing of the number 2 is merely two horizontal strokes,
in cursive writing written with 'pen down' in between. Our symbol for
the number 3
developed from three horizontal strokes on top of each other
in cursive writing.
Larger units are obtained as an impression of the round rear side
of a reed stylus.
Hold vertically the impression would be
A skew impression would give
Still larger units could be a combination
The actual meaning of these number symbols may depend on the
units measured: one, six, ten, sixty, ten times sixty etc.
In the famous stratification layer Ur-IVa (around 3200 BC) in the ancient
city of Ur
also symbols that represent the unit 100 are found.
The symbols were collected in sections. The order of the signs within
a compartment was not important.
A diacritical mark on a three dimensional token was often not
clearly copied on the outside of a clay bulla and had to be inscribed
by hand.
In the two dimensional writing a symbol like
could stand for
'sheep', not a pictogram anymore.
Further diacritical marks, like removing a segment
could indicate 'ewe' (female sheep)
where as removing two segments could be an indication of a
sheep in gestation.
At the end of the 4th millennium an explosion of new signs suddenly appeared, most of which have no counterpart as 3-dimensional token, of which there are only a dozen or so. (This, by the way, is also seen as sever criticism of the development from 3-dimensional tokens sketched above). This development took place simultaneously with the building of the first cities, large palaces and temples etc. In general with an economy that was more centralized and where the emphasis was shifted gradually from concentration of villages to larger units.
The writing system was born, basically as pictograms. The signs were
curvilinear in shape. Symbols that never appear in a 3-dimensional form are:
A hand, that showed like 
A head looked like 
A foot was 
The pubic triangle of a women as 
and stands for 'woman' or 'female' in general.
The word 'day' was symbolized as the sun at the horizon
Since the drawing of curvilinear lines in clay is cumbersome, lines
are imprinted (stamped) with a reed stylus and
curvilinear shapes gradually make place for straight lines, and the
shapes simplified. Specific meaning was obtained with further
diacritical marks, such as
and so cuneiform (In English and French, from Lat. cuneus
'wedge shaped', German 'Keilschrift') was born.
In the Akkadian writing more than a millennium later one can still
recognize (knowing the intermediate steps) the pictographic origin of
the signs. The Akkadian logogram (word sign) for 'woman','female' is the sign
munus
developed from a straight line approximation
and rotation over 90 degree from the pubic triangle
The logogram for 'mountain' 
kur was an
actual drawing of a mountain peak. Mountains, however, are
not present in Mesopotamia, which is in the alluvial
plains around the rivers Eufraat and Tigris. The word 'mountains'
(north of Mesopotamia) therefore also symbolizes
'abroad', 'foreign country'.
The Sumerian word (and later the Akkadian logogram) for
'female slave' is represented by the composite logogram, in Akkadian:
munus.kur a combination of 'woman' and
'foreign/mountain', thus the word for 'female slave' is
'woman from the mountains/from abroad'
(Note that the English word 'slave' has a similar origin:
Slavic people where brought in large numbers as slaves to western Europe
in the 10th century, during an intense period of ''Christianization'')
Pictografic writing would have meaning in any language, but the development is usually ascribed to the Sumerians. The Sumerian language has no proven relation with any other language.
Some of the earliest tablets can be seen on the Web, see Catalogue.
3. Cuneiform, the physical appearance of the signs
Cuneiform (from Latin meaning 'wedge-shaped') is composed of a series
of short straight wedge-shaped strokes made with a stylus into a tablet
of soft clay. The strokes are thickest at the top, like
, on harder material it more looks like
.
At first, symbols were written from top to
bottom; later, they were turned onto their sides and
written from left to right.
In later periods harder materials were also used.
Five basic orientations are applied: horizontal, two diagonals, a hook and a
vertical stroke:
The up-diagonal stroke has limited use.
These five components occur in two different sizes.
A small hook often not being distinguishable from a short diagonal.
The two diagonal strokes are not used as an individual sign,
but the other types are.
Reverse orientations (e.g. with the head of the wedge at the
bottom) are hardly attested.
The inverse vertical 
is rare on old
tablets (sometimes the vertical in the sign for 'hand', which normally is
. Already from the Old Babylonian period onwards
this orientation is not seen anymore.
A stroke from right to left 
does not occur at all,
a characteristic on the basis of which
one may recognize simple falsifications.
The signs underwent a significant evolution in the course of time
(e.g. Old Babylonian in the 18th century BC, versus New Babylonian almost a
millennium later), slightly
different in the various dialects. Present day sign lists
are sorted to New Assyrian shapes. The field of study is called
Assyriology and originated in the previous century with the discovery of the
Assyrian Library in Nineve. New Assyrian shapes are more quadratic.
They void diagonal and hook shaped components as compared with
the contemporary Babylonian scripts.
E.g. the sign ni is in Assyrian form 
and
in Babylonian form 
.
Students usually start learning cuneiform signs in
New Assyrian orthography. For the grammar Old Babylonian is studied
as a starting point. For educational purposes I have included an Old Babylonian
text (the Codex Hammurabi) in New Assyrian transliteration, combining
Old Babylonian grammar with easier-to-learn signs.
the sign
precedes
etc.
The phonetic values are listed in the sign lists. Some of the signs have identical values throughout the Mesopotamian history and all of the dialects. Others are limited to the first half of the second milllenium, designated as "old" in the sign list, and mainly in use in the Old Babylonian Period. Sign values in use after this period are designated as "new" in the lists. An indication of geographical differences in the use of the signs are in these lists restricted to Assyrian (Ass.) and Babylonian (Bab.).
ni
ní
nì
ni4
ni5
Since the use of accents is cumbersome in the html-language of this document (and because accents are difficult to read at some servers) I will often use ni2 for ní etc. and ni3 for nì
ni, né,
lí,
lé, ì, zal ì-lí
= ili, the genitive of ilu 'god', or ilï (long i, not
indicated in the writing) genitive plural '(of the) gods'
used as a logogram for ilum 'god' is
transliterated as DINGIR or dingir where dingir is
the Sumerian word for 'god'.
Grammatical forms of a word (e.g. the case for a nomen or the conjugation for a verb) are not expressed in a logogram. A logogram could stand for a nomen or adjective, but the same logogram could also be used as a verb, e.g. in the present tense or the past conjugation.
Akkadian example: É + phonetic complement
= É,
has logographic value bïtum 'house'
(derived from Sumerian é meaning 'house')
É-tim
= bïtim
Akkadian example: AN + phonetic complement
The sign AN as logogram could mean the god Anum
and Šamû 'sky', 'heaven'.
But with phonetic complement ú
AN-ú
AN is also used as a determinative to signal
that the following word is a deity (or a demon).
In that function the sign is in transcriptions abbreviated as
d for Sumerian dingir 'god' (or an abbreviation of
Latin deus 'god'), written in raised position:
d UTU, the sun god Shamash, Sumerian utu
(where utu here is used as an Akkadian logogram)
AN, and is not preceded by a determinative.
lú.shab.tur
shumallû 'pupil'
dingir.dingir = ilü (ü is long u) 'the gods'
dingir.dingir.gal = ilü rabütu 'the great gods', or:
dingir.gal.gal = ilü rabütu 'the great gods'
MEŠ
dingir.mesh = ilü 'the gods'
lú.shab.tur
shumallû 'pupil'
