Early World Civilizations: Supplemental Guide 2A | Writing in Mesopotamia 45Presenting the Read-Aloud 15 minutes
Writing in Mesopotamia
Show image 2A-1: Warad pointing to cuneiform
The day after Iddin and his father, Warad, had their conversation
about King Hammurabi, Iddin and his older brother, Amur (AH-
moor), were out kicking a leather ball.^1 When the boys went inside
to cool off, they found their father, Warad, sitting at a wide table in
the sunny, central courtyard around which the house was built. On
the table lay several tablets, smooth rectangles made of clay.^2
Show image 2A-2: Cuneiform
Wedge-shaped symbols were pressed into the clay. This sort of
writing is called cuneiform (kyoo-NEE-i-form).^3
“What are you reading, father?” Amur asked. Show image 2A-3: Warad pointing to cuneiform
Warad looked up and smiled. “This fi rst tablet shows how much
cloth we have sold this month in our store. The other shows how
much we sold during the same time last year. I am comparing
the numbers, deciding how much cloth I will need to buy from
the weaver for the store next week. These sorts of records help
me remember how much we sold last year. Otherwise, I would
probably forget.”^4 Show image 2A-4: Iddin pointing to cuneiform
Iddin sat down on a wooden bench next to the table. “Father,”
he asked, “who fi gured out how to write in the fi rst place? Who
decided what each symbol meant?”
Before Warad could answer, Amur said, “The king did it. Isn’t
that right, Father? King Hammurabi can do anything.”3 Symbols are shapes used to stand
for something else. The letters
of our alphabet are symbols that
stand for sounds. [Explain to
students that this is an image of a
clay tablet from Mesopotamia and
that the symbols they see stood for
words or numbers.]
4 Records are pieces of information
written down to help you
remember something. For
example, you could keep a record,
or list, of your friends’ birthdays so
you wouldn’t forget. Warad, Iddin’s
father, kept a record of how much
cloth he sold from year to year so
he wouldn’t forget.
1 [Point to the ball in the picture.]
2 During the time that Iddin lived,
people wrote on clay tablets
because paper did not yet exist.