Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Settlement Age

Cuneiform writing — Sumerians of Uruk

~3200 BC · Transmission: Global
LinguisticsSystemMesopotamian

The Sumerians develop cuneiform writing on clay tablets. First mechanism for transmitting abstract information outside human memory. Precedes the Phoenician alphabet by ~2000 years. Without writing, cumulative science does not exist.

InstitutionTemple of Uruk
Historical regionMesopotamia (present-day Iraq)
Primary sourceUruk tablets, c.3200 BC — British Museum / Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin
Secondary sourceSchmandt-Besserat, D. — Before Writing (1992, UT Press)
Original languageSumerian (pictographic → cuneiform)
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▶ Intro El sistema de escritura sumerio explicado Derivando · 6:45
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Work Q401Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy writing