Cuneiform was the writing system ancient Mesopotamians used by pressing wedge-shaped marks into clay.
The name comes from the Latin words cuneus, meaning “wedge,” and forma, meaning “shape.” Scribes made the marks with a cut reed stylus, usually on damp clay tablets. After drying or firing, the tablets could survive for thousands of years.
Cuneiform developed in southern Mesopotamia during the late fourth millennium BCE, first for administrative record-keeping. Early tablets recorded quantities of grain, livestock, labor, and goods. Over time, the system became capable of representing languages and complex literature, including Sumerian and Akkadian.
Cuneiform was not an alphabet. Its signs could represent words, syllables, or grammatical information depending on context. The script continued to be used for more than 3,000 years, even as languages and political powers changed across the region.