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Cuneiform Writing And Its Affect On Sumerian Life

453 Words2 Pages

Written Script Certainly, one of the most important developments of mankind has been writing.

But what factors spurred the development of written scripts? According to Pollard, Rosenberg

and Tignor, Mesopotamia was the birth place of the first writing system. Many

Sumerians were farmers and had become quite good at agriculture. With the communities

growing they had to produce and store more food. The Farmers started to mark clay

tokens with symbols to help identify what was in storage. This kind of markings are called

pictograms.

As the population kept growing. It was beginning to become too difficult for the

officials to remember what was being stored, Temple officials began to use this process as

well. With a little time, they realized if …show more content…

Scribes invented a wedge shaped writing

Archaeologists named "cuneiform," from the Latin "cuneus," meaning wedge.

Scribes became a very important position ranking very high on the social ladder, just under the

king. After the development of writing literacy became an important part of Sumerian culture but

mostly reserved for the rich or Royal blood. This separation helped shape Mesopotamia’s social

structure. The development on Cuneiform writing helped Sumerian improve on trading goods

and services, control property and to record thoughts and ideas. Most of what we understand

about the Sumerian culture today is by deciphering cuneiform writing. Scribes were able to

create narratives about their cultural history and their economic structure. They could record the

kings list, a document that recounted the kings by city and dynasties. They were also able to

create a biblical narrative. Which for the Sumerians explained about their gods (Uruk) demise by

the great flood. Future people could read about the great flood and be reminded (controlled) to

remember and appease the gods. These narrative really helped shape

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