Ostentatious and Ordinary: EAC Object Stories
Jared Howell
From Rubble to Writing
Metadata
Creator
Once Known Sumerian Scribe
Date
c.2800 BCE
Culture
Mesopotamia, Sumerian
Medium
Inscribed Clay
Measurements
2″ x1 7/8″x 1/2″
Credit Line
Educational Purchase Fund
Description
A small rectangular cuneiform tablet. Crafted by scribes with soft, wet clay and a stylus, cuneiform tablets were created to record transactional information in favor of relying on memory alone. Cuneiform represents the world’s first example of written language and is widely accepted by historians to be one of the most influential inventions in human history.
Fun Fact
Cuneiform gets its name from the Latin cuneus, meaning “wedge,” describing the shape of many of the characters.
