The origins of the world's earliest writings refer to the symbols found on "seals" used in Mesopotamian trade.

The world’s oldest known writing system was influenced by symbols used for trade – carvings found on cylinders used in the exchange of agricultural products and textiles, a new study suggests.

This discovery reinforces an idea proposed in previous research: that cuneiform writing – which was developed early Mesopotamia around 3100 BC and is considered the first system of writing – originating in part from accounting methods for tracking the production, storage and transportation of these objects.

According to the researchers, several symbols carved on stone “cylinder seals” were transformed into signs used in “proto-cuneiform,” an early version of the cuneiform script used in southern Mesopotamia, today’s southern of Iraq. The researchers reported their findings in a study published Tuesday, November 5, in the journal Antiquity.

Such cylinder seals were used for millennia throughout Mesopotamia, where they were rolled onto clay tablets to impress their designs – often to verify a transaction or, later, a letter.

Some of the seals examined in the new study date to around 4,400 BC, more than 1,000 years before the development of writing. “We focused on seal imagery that arose before the invention of writing, while continuing to develop into the proto-literate period,” co-authors of the study. Catherine Kelley And Mattia Cartolanodeclared the two researchers from the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna, in a press release.

The team’s work identified seal motifs linked to the transport of jars and fabrics between different Mesopotamian cities, likely involving temple institutions. Scholars suggest that these motifs became proto-cuneiform signs in early writings on the agricultural and textile trade.

The discovery, which still arouses skeptics, shows the continuity between the “pre-literate” seals and the first writings, according to the authors.

“This proves that the known designs on cylinder seals are directly linked to the development of writing in southern Iraq and shows how meaning was transferred from pre-literate designs to writing,” they said. written in the press release.

Tablets on which symbols are engraved

An example of proto-cuneiform on a clay tablet seen from different angles. (Image credit: Courtesy of CDLI.)

Oldest writing

Cuneiform writing used a stylus to make wedge-shaped impressions in raw clay. These impressions created signs representing sounds to record spoken language. The clay could be dried or fired, thus preserving the signs.

Cuneiform writing was developed by Sumerian civilization who lived in the early cities of southern Mesopotamia between 5,500 and 2,300 BC, when it was succeeded by the Akkadian Empire, based in the city of Akkad.

The Akkadians adopted the Sumerian writing system but applied it to their own language – and Akkadian written in cuneiform became the common written language of Mesopotamia for over 2,000 years, throughout the following period . Babylonian And Assyrian periods.

The new study highlights several patterns observed on pre-lettered cylinder seals. The authors suggest that these motifs were developed into signs in the proto-cuneiform script observed on 5,000-year-old clay tablets from the city of Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. These include symbols depicting a building, poles made from reeds, and fringed fabrics in a container.

The authors hope their work will help researchers decode more proto-cuneiform symbols and provide insight into the meaning of certain seal designs.

“The conceptual leap of symbolism from pre-writing to writing constitutes a significant development in human cognitive technologies,” study co-author Silvia Ferraraprofessor at the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna, said in the release. “The invention of writing marks the transition from prehistory to history, and the results of this study bridge this gap by illustrating how certain late prehistoric images were incorporated into one of the first invented writing systems. “

A diagram showing different symbolic writing systems

Various proto-cuneiform signs and their possible precursors from cylinder seals. (Image credit: Silvia Ferrara et al.)

Unclear origins

Anthropologist Gordon Whittakeran expert on the origins of cuneiform at the University of Göttingen in Germany who was not involved in the study called it “interesting and thought-provoking.” But he cautions that it may be premature to suggest that the designs on the cylinder seals were “stimuli for the invention of writing.”

“In the rare cases where the same object appears to be represented in both a seal and a proto-cuneiform sign, there is no obvious causal relationship that would link one to the other,” he said. he told Live Science in an email.

“Furthermore, several shapes – such as a narrow oblong with no internal details – are simply too general or vague to be useful to the authors’ argument,” he said.

University of Pennsylvania archaeologist Holly Pittmanwho was not involved in the research, told Live Science in an email that the new study confirmed her suggestion about 30 years ago that the images on the seals had a fundamental influence on the Proto-cuneiform writing.

Pittman said the idea was dismissed at the time, but she was happy to see the authors of the new study came to the same conclusion.

Apre-salomemanzo

Apre-salomemanzo

The origins of the world’s earliest writings refer to the symbols found on “seals” used in Mesopotamian trade.

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