Cuneiform: Ancient Scripts

Irving Finkel and Jonathan Taylor Cuneiform script on clay tablets is, as far as we know, the oldest form of writing in the world. The resilience of clay has permitted these records to survive for thousands of years, providing a fascinating glimpse into the political, economic, and religious institutions of the ancient Near Eastern societies that used this writing system. A concise and accessible introduction to the topic, this book traces the history of cuneiform from its beginnings in the fourth millennium BCE to its eventual demise in the face of the ever expanding use of alphabetic Aramaic in the first millennium BCE. The authors explain how this pre-alphabetic system worked and how it was possible to use it to record so many different languages. Drawing on examples from the British Museum, which has the largest and most venerable cuneiform collection in the world, this lively volume includes elementary school exercises, revealing private letters, and beautiful calligraphic literature for royal libraries. Irving Finkel is curator of ancient Mesopotamian script, languages, and cultures in the Middle East Department of the British Museum, where Jonathan Taylor is curator of the cuneiform collections. Additional titles in the Ancient Scripts series. 112 pages  5 3/4 x 8 1/4 inches 30 color illustrations ISBN 978-1-60606-447-4 paperback Getty Publications Imprint: J. Paul Getty Museum Series: Ancient Scripts 2015