cuneiform - pannous/hieros GitHub Wiki
https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/
https://build-oracc.museum.upenn.edu/projectlist.html
https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de (broken links)
7500 to 3500 BC over 8,000 clay tokens from across the Near East were symbols of multiple shapes used to count, store, and communicate economic data in preliterate oral cultures. Denise Schmandt-Besserat of University of Texas at Austin crucial insight is that the token system was already performing monetary functions — accounting, debt tracking, and wealth storage — millennia before writing existed.
Specific shapes mapped to specific commodities: cones, spheres, and flat discs were measures of cereals (smallest, larger, and largest), while a tetrahedron △ designated a unit of work, perhaps one man-day. ⊞ small cattle ... oil
3500–3200 BC The bulla as sealed bond
Proto-Cuneiform Tablets: Administrative ledger entries (c. 3350–3000 BC) around 5,000 clay tablets for accounting
three-dimensional tokens to two-dimensional impressed or inscribed signs (credit money D. Graeber and M. Hudson)
recording debts, obligations, wages, and transfers.
Sumerian Linear Cuneiform and Egyptian hieroglyphics started off at approximate at the same time and with approximately the same style. Only much later were the Sumerian signs written as cuneiform and turned 90 degrees.
Tags from Abydos, and contemporary tags from Uruk dating to the late fourth millennium BCE.
≈ 2800 BC The sign inventory was reduced from some 1,500 signs to some 600 signs, and writing became increasingly phonological. Determinant signs were re-introduced to avoid ambiguity. Use of the linear style as late as circa 2000 BC
The original scheme of syllables might be replaced or enhanced with a rich repertoire of sounds, similar to Caucasian languages ց cʿ. Over several millenia there must have been enormous creolic pressure to simplify the system phonetically. On the other hand, conflicting languages and merging consonant clusters might result in exotic sounds.
rotated 90° counterclockwise, in effect putting them on their side slightly before the Akkadian period, at the time of the Uruk ruler Lugalzagesi ≈ 2270 BC
when Sumerian stopped being a spoken language
Elamite cuneiform ≈ 2200 BC
Hittite cuneiform ≈ 1800 BC - 13th BC
Hurrian 2300–1000 BC
Urartian 9th–6th BC
There is deep logic embedded in cuneiform signs everywhere.
It's almost like chinese mixing semantic and phonetic radicals :
𒁁 related to limbs =>
𒁺 GUB ≈ 𒆏 KAB, GAB2, GUB3 𒁁 + 𒀸𒁹 + 𒂠 ≈ 𒋗 left hand vs 𓂾 leg
https://cdli.ox.ac.uk/wiki/sign_lists
| -a | -e | -i | -u | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| a | a [𒀀]], á [[𒀉]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/e-[𒂊), [𒂍]] , í=IÁ [𒐊]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/u-[[𒌋), ú 𒌑, ù 𒅇 | |||
| b- | ba [𒁀]], bá=PA [[𒉺]], bà=EŠ [[𒂠]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/be=BAD-[𒁁), bé=BI [𒁉]], bè=NI [[𒉌]] , bí=NE [𒉈]], bì=PI [[𒉿]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/bu-[[𒁍), bú=KASKAL 𒆜, bù=PÙ 𒅤 | |||
| d- | da [𒁕]], dá=TA [[𒋫]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/de=DI-[𒁲), dé missing in Unicode, dè=NE [𒉈]] , dí=TÍ [𒄭]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/du-[[𒁺), dú=TU 𒌅, dù=GAG 𒆕, du4=TUM 𒌈 | |||
| g- | ga [𒂵]], gá [[𒂷]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ge=GI-[𒄀), gé=KID [𒆤]], gè=DIŠ [[𒁹]] , gí=KID [𒆤]], gì=DIŠ [[𒁹]], gi4 [[𒄄]], gi5=KI [[𒆠]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/gu-[[𒄖), gú 𒄘, gù=KA 𒅗, gu4 𒄞, gu5=KU 𒆪, gu6=NAG 𒅘, gu7 𒅥 | |||
| ḫ- | ḫa [𒄩]], ḫá=ḪI.A [}}, ḫà=𒌋 [𒌋]], ḫa4=ḪI [[𒄭]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ḫe=ḪI-[𒄭), ḫé=GAN [𒃶]] , ḫí=GAN [𒃶]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ḫu-[[𒄷) | |||
| k- | ka [𒅗]], ká [[𒆍]], kà=GA [[𒂵]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ke=[𒆠), ké=GI [𒄀]] , kí=GI [𒄀]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ku-[[𒆪), kú=GU7 𒅥, kù 𒆬, ku4 𒆭 | |||
| l- | la [𒆷]], lá=LAL [[𒇲]], là=NU [[𒉡]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/le=LI-[𒇷), lé=NI [𒉌]] , lí=NI [𒉌]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/lu-[[𒇻), lú 𒇽 | |||
| m- | ma [𒈠]], má [[𒈣]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/me-[𒈨), mé=MI [𒈪]], mè [[𒀞]][[𒅠]] , mí=[𒊩]], mì=ME [[𒈨]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/mu-[[𒈬), mú=SAR 𒊬 | |||
| n- | na [𒈾]], ná [[𒈿]], nà=AG [[𒀝]]](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ne-[𒉈), né=NI [𒉌]] , ní=IM [𒉎]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/nu-[[𒉡), nú=NÁ 𒈿 | |||
| p- | pa [𒉺]], pá=BA [[𒐀]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/pe=PI-[𒉿), pé=BI [𒁉]] , pí=BI [𒁉]], pì=BAD [[𒁁]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/pu=BU-[[𒁍), pú=TÚL 𒇥, pù 𒅤 | |||
| r- | ra [𒊏]], rá=DU [[𒁺]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/re=RI-[𒊑), ré=URU [𒌷]] , rí=URU [𒌷]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ru-[[𒊒), rú=GAG 𒆕, rù=AŠ 𒀸 | |||
| s- | sa [𒊓]], sá=DI [[𒁲]], sà=ZA [[𒍝]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/se=SI-[𒋛), sé=ZI [𒍣]] , sí=ZI [𒍣]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/su-[[𒋢), sú=ZU 𒍪, sù=SUD 𒋤, su4 𒋜 | |||
| š- | ša [𒊭]], šá=NÍG [[𒐼]], šà [[𒊮]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/še-[𒊺), šé, šè [𒂠]] , ší=SI [𒋛]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/šu-[[𒋗), šú [𒋙]], šù=ŠÈ [[𒂠]], šu4=[𒌋 𒌋 | |||
| t- | ta [𒋫]], tá=DA [[𒁕]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/te-[𒋼), té=TÍ [𒊹]] , tí [𒊹]], tì=DIM [[𒁴]], ti4=DI [[𒁲]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/tu-[[𒌅), tú=UD 𒌓, tù=DU 𒁺 | |||
| z- | za [𒍝]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ze=ZI-[𒍣), zé=ZÌ [𒍢]] , zí [𒍢]], zì [[𒍥]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/zu-[[𒍪), zú=KA 𒅗 | |||
| g̃- | g̃á=GÁ [𒂷]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/g̃e26=GÁ-[[𒂷) | g̃i6=MI [𒈪]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/g̃u10=MU-[[𒈬) | ||
| ř- | řá=DU [𒁺]] ](/pannous/hieros/wiki/ře6=DU-[[𒁺) |