word
Cuneiform
KYOO-nee-ih-form
/ˈkjuːniːɪˌfɔːrm/Listen
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Syllable breakdown
cuneiform
Dictionary meaning
World's earliest writing system, developed in Mesopotamia around 3400 BCE — wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay tablets; from Latin 'cuneus' (wedge); Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian were written in cuneiform; decoded by Henry Rawlinson in the 19th century from the Behistun Inscription; over 500,000 clay tablets survive
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