kilskrift

Kilskrift, known in English as cuneiform, is one of the earliest writing systems. It was developed by the Sumerians in southern Mesopotamia around 3400–3000 BCE to record economic transactions and other data. The script began as pictographic signs pressed into damp clay and gradually evolved into wedge-shaped signs formed by a stylus, giving the script its characteristic appearance.

Used for multiple languages of the ancient Near East—initially Sumerian, later Akkadian (Babylonian and Assyrian), and later Hurrian, Hittite, and others—the writing system spread beyond Sumeria and throughout Mesopotamia and parts of Anatolia. It offered a mixed system of logograms and phonetic signs, enabling both logographic words and syllables to be written. Clay tablets were the primary medium; tablets were dried or fired to preserve records. The routine use included administration and accounting, but over time literature, religious texts, legal codes (such as the Code of Hammurabi), and scholarly works were produced. Scribal training, in schools called edubba, produced generations of scribes who could read and compose in cuneiform.

From the 2nd millennium BCE, cuneiform was adapted for several languages and was used across a broad region. The script gradually declined with the rise of alphabetic scripts, though Old Persian cuneiform and some later uses persisted into the early centuries CE in various regions.

Decipherment began in the 19th century, culminating in work by Henry Rawlinson who used the Behistun Inscription. This breakthrough unlocked understanding of Sumerian and Akkadian, enabling modern scholars to interpret a vast corpus of Mesopotamian history, literature, and daily life.