cuneiform

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Sumerian cuneiform tablet

Hieroglyphic Luwian text

Persian cuneiform from the Xerxes inscription at Persepolis

Sumerian inscription from a temple at Nippur

The number 258,458 expressed in the sexagesimal (base 60) system of the Babylonians and in cuneiform.

Examples illustrating the evolution of cuneiform writing.

For Students

cuneiform writing summary

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African Americans demonstrating for voting rights in front of the White House as police and others watch, March 12, 1965. One sign reads, "We demand the right to vote everywhere." Voting Rights Act, civil rights.

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Town of Sisimiut located on the coast of the Davis Strait on Kangerluarsunnguaq Bay, Greenland

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7 of History's Most Notorious Serial Killers

David Cameron. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom talk during the G8 Summit at the Lough Erne Resort in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013

What’s the Difference Between a President and a Prime Minister?

Baseball laying in the grass. Homepage blog 2010, arts and entertainment, history and society, sports and games athletics

10 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time

Space race (1957-1969) infographic between United States (U.S.) and Russia. America, Soviet Union, U.S.S.R., space exploration

Timeline of the Space Race, 1957–69

The Battle of New Orleans, by E. Percy Moran, c. 1910. Andrew Jackson, War of 1812.

26 Decade-Defining Events in U.S. History

cuneiform: Related Content

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Photos

Sumerian cuneiform tablet

Hieroglyphic Luwian text

Persian cuneiform from the Xerxes inscription at Persepolis

Sumerian inscription from a temple at Nippur

The number 258,458 expressed in the sexagesimal (base 60) system of the Babylonians and in cuneiform.

Examples illustrating the evolution of cuneiform writing.

See All Images →

Topics

Ugaritic alphabet Sumerian writing Akkadian writing Old Babylonian cuneiform Old Assyrian cuneiform Old Akkadian cuneiform Neo-Assyrian cuneiform cuneiform numeral writing system hieroglyphic writing cryptology punctuation phonetic transcription shorthand Braille Linear A and Linear B ogham writing Quoc-ngu Moon type

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Anatolian languages: Languages using cuneiform writing and hieroglyphs

Key People

Rawlinson, detail of an engraving by Samuel Cousins after a painting by Henry Wyndham Phillips, 1850

Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson

British orientalist

André Parrot

French archaeologist

Grotefend, detail of a lithograph by C. Kiesel, c. 1830, after a portrait by J.F. Winkelmann

Georg Friedrich Grotefend

German scholar

Hrozný

Bedřich Hrozný

Czech archaeologist and linguist

Quiz

November 3, 2015. According to the Israel Antiquities Authority, after years of excavations the remains of, the Acra, used by the Greeks more than 2,000 years ago to control the Temple Mount. Jerusalem. Archeology.

Archaeology: Digging and Scraping Quiz

Books. Lord Alfred Tennyson. Lord Byron. Poetry. Reading. Literacy. Library. Antique. A stack of four antique leather bound books.

Ancient Libraries and Archives Quiz