For centuries, scholars have been puzzled about the origins of the world’s first writing system. Now, a study by Italian researchers reveals that some of these early proto-cuneiform signs may have come directly from prehistoric cylinder sign images.
The study, published in Agerevealed signs engraved on ancient Mesopotamian goods—used to track goods and trade—that appear to have evolved directly into proto-cuneiform signs, a script that originated in Macedonia more than five thousand years ago. This connection not only sheds light on the early invention of writing, but may help explain additional proto-cuneiform signs, more than half of which remain a mystery to scholars.
Experts widely agree that cuneiform, invented by the Sumerians in what is now modern-day southern Iraq in the mid-fourth millennium BCE, is the oldest writing system in the world—and as far as we know, the universe. All the major civilizations of Mesopotamia, including the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Hittites, used it until 100 BCE. Cuneiform evolved from proto-cuneiform, a precursor script composed of simple symbolic pictographs that gradually incorporated elements of the script. The earliest proto-cuneiform evidence comes from the mighty Sumerian city of Uruk and dates to between 3350 and 3000 BCE.
Researchers have long suspected that proto-cuneiform itself evolved from ancient methods of counting. Now, a team of Italian researchers suggests that some proto-cuneiform symbols may be taken directly from the figures found on the cylinders of the fifth and fourth millennia—a type of hollow circular stamp, which, when pressed and rolled with soft clay, leaves a rectangle. -shaped structure.
Among other things, cylinder seals and proto-cuneiform tablets were ancient counting tools. Cylinder seals were also invented in Mesopotamia, and administrators used them to track agricultural and textile trade from the mid-fourth millennium BCE. Experts agree that proto-cuneiform tablets were also used for accounting, although evidence for this is limited to southern Iraq.
“The close relationship between ancient sealing and the invention of writing in southwest Asia has long been recognized, but the relationship between certain symbol images and the shape of symbols has not been studied,” Silvia Ferrara, a philosopher from the University of Bologna who participated in Silvia Ferrara. study, explained in the statement. “Did seal images have a major contribution to the invention of symbols in early writing in the area?”
To answer this question, the team decided to search for individual similarities between cylinder seal motifs and proto-cuneiform symbols, with the aim of identifying links not only in form but also in terms of meaning. They focus on cylinder seal motifs that date back to before the invention of writing and continued to develop with the evolution of proto-cuneiform.
Finally, the researchers identified a number of symbols associated with the transportation of pots and cloth that they suggest were direct precursors to certain proto-cuneiform symbols—highlighting “a direct continuity between pre-literate sign systems and the invention of writing,” for the first time, they wrote in the study.
“The conceptual leap from pre-writing to writing is an important advance in human cognitive technology,” Ferrara concluded in a statement. “The invention of writing marks the transition between prehistory and history, and the findings of this research bridge this divide by showing how some prehistoric images were integrated into one of the first writing systems developed.”
Ultimately, this revelation sheds light on the possible origin of the first written documents—arguably one of the greatest achievements of ancient civilization—which allowed for other important advances, such as long-distance communication, record keeping, and literature.
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