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cuneiform
cuneiform [Lat.,=wedge-shaped], system of writing developed before the last centuries of the 4th millennium BC in the lower Tigris and Euphrates valley, probably by the Sumerians. The characters consist of arrangements of wedgelike strokes generally impressed with a stylus on wet clay tablets, which were then dried or baked. The history of the script is strikingly parallel to that of the Egyptian hieroglyphic (see also alphabet and inscription ). The normal Babylonian and Assyrian writing used a large number (300-600) of arbitrary cuneiform symbols for words and syllables; some had been originally pictographic. There was an alphabetic system, too, making it possible to spell a word out, but because of the adaptation from Sumerian, a different language, there were many ambiguities. A single symbol could be used to represent a concept, an object, a simple sound or syllable, or to indicate the category of words requiring additional definition. Cuneiform writing was used outside Mesopotamia also, notably in Elam and by the Hittites (see Anatolian languages ). There are many undeciphered cuneiform inscriptions, apparently representing several different languages. Cuneiform writing declined in use after the Persian conquest of Babylonia (539 BC), and after a brief renaissance (3d-1st cent. BC) ceased to be used in Mesopotamia. A very late use of cuneiform writing was that of the Persians, who established a syllabary for Old Persian. This is the writing of the Achaemenids (mid-6th cent. BC-4th cent. BC), whose greatest monument is that of Darius I at Behistun. Key discoveries of cuneiform inscriptions have been made at Nineveh, Lagash, Uruk, Tell el Amarna, Susa, and Boğazköy. Two great names in the interpretation of cuneiforms are those of Sir Henry C. Rawlinson and G. F. Grotefend .
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"cuneiform." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "cuneiform." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-cuneifor.html "cuneiform." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2008. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-cuneifor.html |
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cuneiform
cuneiform An early kind of writing developed in Mesopotamia and impressed on tablets of clay. It used stereotyped pictures (‘pictographic’), but from representing things and actions, it later represented sounds and concepts. The symbols were wedge-shaped marks.
The earliest texts were aides-memoire for scribes working on accounts and were practical, but later there were religious items and narratives which had existed before they were written down. The tablets from Tell el-Amarna consisting of correspondence between Palestine and Egypt in the 14th-cent. BCE are written in cuneiform script. |
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W. R. F. BROWNING. "cuneiform." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. W. R. F. BROWNING. "cuneiform." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-cuneiform.html W. R. F. BROWNING. "cuneiform." A Dictionary of the Bible. 1997. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O94-cuneiform.html |
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cuneiform
cu·ne·i·form / kyoōˈnēəˌfôrm; ˈkyoōn(ē)ə-/ • adj. denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets. ∎ Anat. denoting three bones of the tarsus (ankle) between the navicular bone and the metatarsals. ∎ chiefly Biol. wedge-shaped. • n. cuneiform writing. |
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"cuneiform." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "cuneiform." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-cuneiform.html "cuneiform." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-cuneiform.html |
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cuneiform
cuneiform System of writing developed in Mesopotamia by c.3000 bc. It consists of wedge-shaped strokes, derived from writing on soft clay with a triangular stylus as a ‘pen’. Cuneiform developed from pictograms. The pictograms came to serve as an ‘alphabet’, eventually consisting of more than 500 characters. Most stood for words, but there were also some that stood for syllables or speech-sounds.
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"cuneiform." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "cuneiform." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-cuneiform.html "cuneiform." World Encyclopedia. 2005. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-cuneiform.html |
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cuneiform
cuneiform denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets. The name comes ultimately (via French or modern Latin) from Latin cuneus ‘wedge’.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "cuneiform." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "cuneiform." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-cuneiform.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "cuneiform." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-cuneiform.html |
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cuneiform
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T. F. HOAD. "cuneiform." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "cuneiform." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-cuneiform.html T. F. HOAD. "cuneiform." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-cuneiform.html |
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cuneiform
cuneiform. The characters of wedge-shaped components in which ancient Accadian, Persian, and other inscriptions were written.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "cuneiform." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "cuneiform." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-cuneiform.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "cuneiform." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-cuneiform.html |
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cuneiform
cuneiform
•conform, corm, dorm, form, forme, haulm, lukewarm, Maugham, misinform, norm, outperform, perform, shawm, storm, swarm, transform, underperform, warm
•landform • platform • cubiform
•fungiform, spongiform
•aliform • bacilliform
•cuneiform, uniform
•variform • vitriform • cruciform
•unciform • retiform • multiform
•oviform • triform • microform
•chloroform • cairngorm • sandstorm
•barnstorm
•brainstorm, rainstorm
•windstorm • snowstorm • firestorm
•thunderstorm
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"cuneiform." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 11 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "cuneiform." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 11, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-cuneiform.html "cuneiform." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved February 11, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-cuneiform.html |
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