One of the greatest inventions of Mesopotamian Civilization was the art of writing. The earliest writing system dates back before 7000 BC and was in the form of pictographs. Later the Sumerians developed a system of signs in which each sign seems to have represented a single word. Wedge signs dominated this early writing system. The word for wedge is CUNEUS-which is where we get the word CUNEIFORM

Writing was done on soft clay tablets with a reed stylus. The earliest tablets were economic records and vocabulary lists for training scribes. Later, writing was used for legal transactions, receipts, historical records such as lists of kings, sacred tests, and works of literature.

Letters were sent by wrapping a tablet in a clay envelope, sealing it with a cylinder seal, and having it delivered by a messenger. One advantage of using clay as a writing medium was that it could be easily wiped clean and recycled. If the Mesopotamians wanted to create a permanent record, they baked the tablet.

Seals were most often made of stone but also sometimes bone, ivory, glass, metal, wood, or even sun-dried clay. A recessed inscription was carved onto the cylinder, which produced a raised impression when rolled on a clay tablet or envelope.

5000 year old cylinder seal

The cylinder seal was your signature. IT was a person's stamp, or mark. If it became invalid, the seal had to be destroyed.

Mastering the art of cuneiform writing was not an easy task. There were 1000 characters so the majority of the population of Mesopotamia (including royalty) was illiterate. Writing was a profession. To become a SCRIBE, one had to attend school as a child. In the course of their training, scribes copied texts from traditional writings of Mesopotamia. They preserved myths, laments, songs, and proverbs.

So you see that even 3000 years ago people were producing different kinds of writings. Many of these we've seen in TRIBAL ART.

The most famous writing of Mesopotamia was THE GILGAMESH EPIC.

An Epic is a long, narrative poem usually retelling the deeds of a great hero. The Epic of Gilgamesh is about a historical figure who was King of Uruk around 2600 BC. Gilgamesh made Uruk the city of greatness that is was. He was considered to be two-thirds God and one-third human.

There are many episodes in the Gilgamesh epic. First, he has to fight with Enkidu before they become fast friends. In another episode, Gilgamesh goes off to the cedar forest to fight the monster Humababa.

He is the first epic hero. He separates himself from the security of home and hearth, he is somehow initiated by the battles he fights, and he returns home a changed but more heroic person.

This is the pattern that repeats itself throughtout the epic tradition in literature.