Original version

BBC World Service West and Central Africa Schedule

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

The Forum

Documentaries

Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Discover world history, culture and ideas with today’s leading experts

BBC World Service Australasia

BBC World Service schedule for American satellite radio and the Caribbean

BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean

BBC World Service

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa Schedule

BBC World Service East and Southern Africa

BBC World Service South Asia

BBC World Service News Internet

BBC World Service Online

BBC World Service Europe and the Middle East

BBC World Service East Asia

The Forum: Unlocking the mysteries of cuneiform tablets

Cuneiform

26/11/2020 GMT

Unlocking the mysteries of cuneiform tablets

BBC World Service - The Forum, Unlocking the mysteries of cuneiform tablets

We explore the system of writing that developed 5,000 years ago in Ancient Mesopotamia

We explore the origins of cuneiform writing, which developed some 5,000 years ago in Ancient Mesopotamia.

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system distinguished by wedge-shaped marks made into clay. It developed over 5,000 years ago in Ancient Mesopotamia. At its height it was used to write languages across the ancient Middle East, from Iran to Syria to Anatolia in Turkey. But cuneiform writing fell out of use about 2,000 years ago in favour of alphabetic scripts. When scholars in the 19th century finally managed to redecipher it, they discovered fascinating insights into the culture and rituals of people living in the ancient Middle East, unlocking texts that have changed our understanding of history, including The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Code of Hammurabi and The Amarna Letters of Ancient Egypt. And cuneiform has even seen something of a revival in modern-day Iraqi visual culture.
 
Joining Rajan Datar to discuss cuneiform script are Professor Eleanor Robson of University College London, Dr Mark Weeden of SOAS, University of London and Ahmed Naji, author of 'Under The Palm Trees: Modern Iraqi Art with Mohamed Makiya and Jewad Selim'.

Image: Cuneiform writing of the ancient Sumerian or Assyrian civilisation in Iraq
Image credit: Getty Images

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Forum

Unlocking the mysteries of cuneiform tablets

Genres

Formats

Brand

BBC World Service West and Central Africa

About BBC World Service