Cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Near East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-shaped impressions (Latin: ) which form its signs. Cuneiform originally developed to write the Sumerian language of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Along with Egyptian hieroglyphs, it is one of the earliest writing systems.

Over the course of its history, cuneiform was adapted to write a number of languages linguistically unrelated to Sumerian. Akkadian texts are attested from the 24th century BC onward and make up the bulk of the cuneiform record. Akkadian cuneiform was itself adapted to write the Hittite language sometime around the 17th century BC. The other languages with significant cuneiform corpora are Eblaite, Elamite, Hurrian, Luwian, and Urartian.

The latest known date for a cuneiform tablet is 75 AD. The modern study of cuneiform writing begins with its decipherment in the mid-19th century, and belongs to the field of Assyriology. An estimated half a million tablets are held in museums across the world, but comparatively few of these are published. The largest collections belong to the British Museum ( 130,000 tablets), the Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin, the Louvre, the Istanbul Archaeology Museums, the National Museum of Iraq, the Yale Babylonian Collection ( 40,000 tablets), and Penn Museum.
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logo
Concept
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syllabic
Concept
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script
Concept
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Ancient Near East
TIME
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Bronze Age
TIME
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Common Era
TIME
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Latin
Concept
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signs
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Sumerian language
Concept
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Mesopotamia
LOC
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Iraq
LOC
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Egyptian hieroglyphs
Concept
None
earliest writing systems
UNK
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linguistically unrelated
Concept
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Akkadian
Concept
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24th century BC
Concept
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Hittite language
Concept
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17th century BC
Concept
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corpora
Concept
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Eblaite
Concept
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Elamite
Concept
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Hurrian
Concept
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Luwian
Concept
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Urartian
Concept
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75 AD
TIME
None
its decipherment
UNK
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19th century
Concept
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Assyriology
Concept
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published
Concept
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British Museum
LOC
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Vorderasiatisches Museum Berlin
LOC
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Louvre
LOC
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Istanbul Archaeology Museums
LOC
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National Museum of Iraq
LOC
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Yale Babylonian Collection
ORG
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Penn Museum
LOC
Q401
Cuneiform
Concept
Q401
Cuneiform
Concept
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24
NUMBER
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17
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130,000
NUMBER
instance of
instance of
language of work or name
writing system