cuneiform tablet, unknown maker from Sumeria

Artwork Overview

cuneiform tablet
Akkadian Empire (circa 2334–2154 BCE)
cuneiform tablet , Akkadian Empire (circa 2334–2154 BCE)
Where object was made: Sumer (present-day Iraq)
Material/technique: pottery
Dimensions:
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 3.8 x 5.7 x 2 cm
Object Height/Width/Depth (Height x Width x Depth): 1 1/2 x 2 1/4 x 0 13/16 in
Credit line: William Bridges Thayer Memorial
Accession number: 1928.3877
On display: Stewart Gallery

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Images

Label texts

Intersections

This early form of “text messaging” goes back 4,000 years. Cuneiform is the earliest known system of writing, recorded as combinations of wedge-shaped marks on wet clay tablets using a sharpened reed of stiff grass. Even emojis have an ancient counterpart in the form of logograms and pictographs, which developed alongside systems of writing. Cuneiform tablets first captured records related to land and agriculture, but evolved to document maps, literature, religious teachings, and more.

Intersections

This early form of “text messaging” goes back 4,000 years. Cuneiform is the earliest known system of writing, recorded as combinations of wedge-shaped marks on wet clay tablets using a sharpened reed of stiff grass. Even emojis have an ancient counterpart in the form of logograms and pictographs, which developed alongside systems of writing. Cuneiform tablets first captured records related to land and agriculture, but evolved to document maps, literature, religious teachings, and more.

Exhibitions

Kris Ercums, curator
2012–2015
Joey Orr, curator
2019–2020
Joey Orr, curator
2019–2020
Cassandra Mesick Braun, curator
2022–2027
Cassandra Mesick Braun, curator
2022–2027

Resources

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