6 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

Medieval gold ‘lynx’ earrings from Ani Ruins

29 December 2022

29 December 2022

A pair of lynx-shaped gold earrings have been unearthed near the ruins of Ani, the once great metropolis known as...

The Error That Caused II.Ramses to Lose the Battle of Kadesh

5 February 2021

5 February 2021

The Battle of Kadesh between the Hittites and Egyptians in Anatolia, the two superpowers of the Bronze Age period, has...

A 2,000-year-old Roman sewage system has been discovered in western Turkey

19 September 2021

19 September 2021

The archaeological excavations carried out in the ancient city of Tripolis in the western province of Denizli’s Buldan district have...

Sculpted Ancient Warrior Wearing A Serpent Helmet Found At Chichén Itzá

14 November 2023

14 November 2023

In the Casa Colorada archaeological complex within the premises of Chichén Itzá in Mexico, a sculpture of an anthropomorphic face...

Could the Kerkenes Settlement be Gordion the Second?

1 August 2022

1 August 2022

Although the settlement on the Kerkenes mountain, located within the borders of Sorgun district of Yozgat, has been known and...

Remains of a 12-year-old boy wearing a bronze warrior belt found in Pontecagnano

6 July 2021

6 July 2021

The remains of a 12-year-old boy wearing a bronze warrior belt were found at Pontecagnano, an outpost of the pre-Roman...

Evidence of the Birth of Archaic Monotheism in Anatolia found at Oluz Höyük, “Havangah prayer at Oluz Höyük”

27 March 2022

27 March 2022

Oluz Höyük, located 25 kilometres west of Amasya, is an ancient city which has rich findings of religious structuring. During...

Maltaş Temple Revealed

10 August 2021

10 August 2021

Phrygian Valley, 10 meters high monument with Phrygian scriptures inscriptions on it discovered. The unearthed Maltaş monument is actually the...

New evidence for early regional exchanges in Eurasia: Ice skates made of animal bones over 3,000 years old

9 March 2023

9 March 2023

Chinese archaeologists have discovered ancient ice skates made of animal bones at the Gaotai Ruins in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous...

Folded Gold Diadem discovered in Ancient Burial Urn in Southern India

12 August 2022

12 August 2022

A gold diadem, bronze, iron objects, and pottery were reportedly found in a burial urn at the archaeological site of...

Huge funerary building and Fayoum portraits discovered in Egypt Fayoum

4 December 2022

4 December 2022

The Egyptian archaeological mission working in the Gerza archaeological site in Fayoum revealed a huge funerary building from the Ptolemaic...

2700-year-old Ancient Blacksmith Workshop Unearthed in Oxfordshire

6 February 2024

6 February 2024

Archaeologists have uncovered a “master blacksmith’s” Iron Age workshop in South Oxfordshire, a local government center in the ceremonial county...

Archaeologists deciphered the Sabaean inscription on a clay jar finds link between King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba

3 April 2023

3 April 2023

Archaeologists deciphered a partially preserved inscription that was found on the neck of a large jar dated back to the...

‘Bakery Prison’ found in Ancient Rome’s Pompeii

12 December 2023

12 December 2023

Archaeologists working on the ongoing excavations in Region IX, Insula 10, near the slopes of the ancient city of Pompeii,...

Archaeologists unearths Unique Tomb of 6th Century BC Egyptian Commander at the archaeological area of ​​Abu Sir

24 July 2022

24 July 2022

The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced on July 15 that a team of Czech archaeologists, while excavating near the Giza...

Comments
Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *