21 November 2024 The Future is the Product of the Past

Ancient Mesopotamian Cylinder Seals Offer Clues to the Origin of Writing

Researchers from the University of Bologna have discovered an association between proto-cuneiform and even older stone images engraved on ancient cylinder seals in Uruk, in about 3000 BC. The study found that the origins of writing in Mesopotamia lie in images imprinted on ancient stone cylinder seals.

The world’s earliest writing system is believed to have emerged in the region, now modern-day Iraq, about 3200 BC. Known as cuneiform, the script represented both a sound and a meaning. It was preceded by a simpler system called proto-cuneiform, which was in use from 3350 to 3000 BC.

These cylindrical seals were small stone objects with intricate carvings, rolled over clay tablets to leave an impression. Beginning in the middle of the fourth millennium BC, cylinder seals were employed in Uruk, as a component of an accounting system to monitor the manufacturing, storage, and transportation of a variety of consumer goods, especially textile and agricultural items.

Research published in the journal Antiquity shows links between the proto-cuneiform signs that first appeared in Uruk, one of Mesopotamia’s oldest and most significant cities, around 3000 BCE, and the images engraved on these seals, some of which date back approximately 6,000 years.

Cylindrical seals were small stone objects with intricate carvings, rolled over clay tablets to leave an impression. Photograph of a tablet with signs in proto-cuneiform. Photo Credit: CDLI – Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative
Cylindrical seals were small stone objects with intricate carvings, rolled over clay tablets to leave an impression. Photograph of a tablet with signs in proto-cuneiform. Photo Credit: CDLI – Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative

‘The conceptual leap that allowed the transition from symbolism to actual writing is a fundamental development for human technologies,’ explains Silvia Ferrara, professor in the Department of Classical Philology and Italian Studies at the University of Bologna and lead researcher, who coordinated the research group. ‘The results of this study are a bridging point in the transition from prehistory to history: they show how some images from the still prehistoric era were incorporated into one of the first writing systems devised by man’.

 Silvia Ferrara said images on the seals were used in close association with the first writing. But there is a lot they did not know about the relationship between the two.

“When they began researching this, the researchers expected to find some shared shapes. But they discovered direct parallels between late prehistoric seals and proto-cuneiform signs,” Prof Ferrara said.

Ferrara and her team have discovered a number of recurrent themes on these seals, such as patterns associated with the transportation of textiles and ceramics. The fact that early proto-cuneiform signs share these same themes suggests that the seals’ symbols may have directly influenced or served as inspiration for the proto-cuneiform system.

Proto-cuneiform signs and their precursors on cylindrical seals. Image Credit: K. Kelley et al.
Proto-cuneiform signs and their precursors on cylindrical seals. Image Credit: K. Kelley et al.

The researchers observed that earlier prehistoric seal motifs do not resemble proto-cuneiform icons as much as later prehistoric ones, and gained valuable insights into the time frame of the evolution of symbol traditions that influenced the invention of writing.

Additionally supporting the notion that seal motifs developed from particular administrative functions to a structured writing system is the research team’s methodical comparison of seal motifs with proto-cuneiform signs. A lineage of symbolic representation that developed alongside Mesopotamia’s early urban and economic growth can be seen by following the evolution of these images into proto-cuneiform signs, as co-researchers Kathryn Kelley and Mattia Cartolano point out.

The study was published in Antiquity.

University of Bologna

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.165

Cover Image Credit: Franck Raux / GrandPalaisRmn – Musée du Louvre

Related Articles

First example of Roman crucifixion in UK discovered in Cambridgeshire village

8 December 2021

8 December 2021

In Cambridgeshire village, the earliest evidence of a Roman crucifixion has been discovered. Archaeologists investigating a previously unknown Roman roadside...

25 Qing Dynasty tombs found in China’s Hunan

25 May 2022

25 May 2022

25 graves dating from the Qing Dynasty (A.D. 1644–1912) have been uncovered in the Houbeishan tomb complex in southern China,...

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era

12 October 2022

12 October 2022

Syria uncovered a large intact mosaic that dates back to the Roman era, in the central town of Rastan, describing...

Rare Arabic inscription discovered during Malta housing project works

3 May 2023

3 May 2023

A rare Arabic inscription, possibly dating back to medieval times, was discovered at the site of a social housing project...

Ushabti figurines on display at Izmir Archeology Museum

18 September 2021

18 September 2021

The 2,700-year-old “Ushabti” statuettes, discovered in archaeological digs in western Turkey and used in Egyptian burial ceremonies, are being shown...

Oldest known arrowheads uncovered in the Americas

24 December 2022

24 December 2022

Archaeologists from Oregon State University have discovered projectile points in Idaho that are thousands of years older than any that...

Analysis of 13,000-Year-Old Bones Reveals Violent Raids in Prehistoric ‘Jebel Sahaba’

28 May 2021

28 May 2021

Since its discovery in the 1960s, the 13-millennium-old Jebel Sahaba cemetery (Nile Valley, Sudan) has been regarded as one of...

46 Eagles in vivid color revealed on Ancient Egyptian temple ceiling

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

A joint German/Egyptian archaeological mission at the Temple of Esna on the west bank of the Nile, 35 miles south...

Interesting discovery at Crowland digs, a human poo from the Saxon period or coprolite found

16 August 2021

16 August 2021

Excavations in Abbey Church Field in Crowland, near Peterborough, have also yielded such amazing finds results for archaeologists. The archaeological...

4000-year-old sword found in Finland

12 October 2021

12 October 2021

A Bronze Age sword dating back as far as 1700 B.C.was discovered broken in items in Finland this previous summer...

18,000 years ago, late Pleistocene humans may have hatched and raised the “World’s Most Dangerous Bird.”

2 October 2021

2 October 2021

Researchers say the eggshell is an understudied archaeological material that has the potential to clarify past interactions between humans and...

490-Million-Year-Old Trilobites Could Solve Ancient Geography Puzzle

22 November 2023

22 November 2023

The humble trilobites may be extinct, but even as fossils, they can teach us much about our planet’s history. Indeed,...

A 3800-year-old cylinder seal was discovered at Turkey’s Tepebag Mound excavations

8 July 2022

8 July 2022

In the 2022 excavations of Tepebag Mound, located around Taşköprü, the center of Adana province in Turkey’s Mediterranean Region, a...

Archaeologists uncover ancient mosaic of the living room of brutal Publius Vedius Pollio

13 December 2022

13 December 2022

In the Pausilypon Archaeological Park, archaeologists from the University of Naples’ “L’Orientale” uncovered an ancient mosaic. The park is located...

A Roman sarcophagus containing two skeletons was found in Bath, England

29 June 2021

29 June 2021

Stone walls, a Roman sarcophagus, and a cremation burial have been unearthed in a renovation project at the Bathwick Roman...