Cuneiform: Difference between revisions
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'''Wigskrif''' (of spykerskrif) is een van die vroegste bekende skryfwyses. Ontwikkel deur die [[Soemer]]iërs in die laat [[4de millennium VC]], het spykerskryf begin as 'n stelsel van [[pictogramme]]. Mettertyd is die prentvoorstellings vereenvoudig of is in meer abstrakte vorm weergegee. |
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The '''Cuneiform script ''' is one of the earliest known forms of [[writing system|written expression]]. Created by the [[Sumer]]ians in the late [[4th millennium BC]], cuneiform writing began as a system of [[pictography|pictographs]]. Over time, the pictorial repres |
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entations became simplified and more abstract. |
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Cuneiforms were written on [[clay tablet]]s, on which [[symbol]]s were drawn with a blunt [[reed (plant)|reed]] called a [[stylus]]. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform, wedge-writing. |
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Wigskrif is geskryf op [[kleitablet]]te, waarop [simbool|simbol]]e geteken is met 'n stomp [[riet]] wat 'n [[stilus]] genoem word. Die merke van die stilus was wigvormig, wat aanleiding gee tot die name wig- of spykerskrif. |
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The Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]], [[Elamite language|Elamite]], [[Hittite language|Hittite]] and [[Luwian language|Luwian]] languages, and it inspired the [[Old Persian]] and [[Ugaritic alphabet|Ugaritic]] national alphabets. |
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Die Soemeriese skrif is aangepas vir die skryf van [[Akkadiese taal|Akkadies]], [[Elamitiese taal|Elamities]], [[Hettitise taal|Hetities]] en [[Loewiaanse taal|Loewiaans]], wat op hul beurt die [[Ou Persies]]e en [[Oegaritiese alfabet|Oegaritiese]] nasionale alfabette geïnspireer het. |
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==Development== |
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Cuneiform pictograms were drawn on [[clay]] tablets in vertical columns with a [[pen]] made from a sharpened [[reed (plant)|reed]] [[stylus]]. Those two developments made the process quicker and easier: People began to write from left to right in horizontal rows (rotating counter-clockwise all of the pictograms 90° in the process), and a new wedge-tipped stylus was used which was pushed into the clay, producing wedge-shaped ("cuneiform") signs. By adjusting the relative position of the tablet to the stylus, the writer could use a single tool to make a variety of impressions. The word "cuneiform" comes from the Latin word ''cuneus'', meaning "wedge". |
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Wigvormige piktogramme is geteken op [[klei]]tabelette in vertikale kolomme met 'n [[pen]] gemaak van 'n skerpgemaakte [[riet]][[stilus]]. Hierdie twee ontwikkelinge het die die skryfproses versnel en vergemaklik: Mense het begin skryf van links na regs in horisontale rye (wat die piktogramme effektief 90 grade kloksgewys geroteer het), en 'n nuwe wigpuntstilus is gebruik wat in die klei gedruk is om die wigvormige tekens te verkry. Deur die relatiewe posisie van die tablet teenoor die stilus te te skuif kon die skrywer 'n enkele werktuig gebruik om 'n verskeidenheid drukvorms te maak. |
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Cuneiform tablets could be fired in [[kiln]]s to provide a permanent record, or they could be recycled if permanence was not needed. Many of the tablets found by archaeologists were preserved because they were baked when attacking armies burned the building in which they were kept. |
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Wigskriftablette is in [[oond]]e gebak om 'n permanenete rekord te verkry, of hulle kon weer verwerk word as permanensie nie verlang is nie. Vele van die tablette wat deur argeoloë gevind is, is gepreserveer omdat hulle gebak is toe aanvallers die geboue afgebrand het waarin hulle gestoor is. |
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Invented by the [[Sumer]]ians to record the [[Sumerian language]], cuneiform was subsequently adopted by the [[Akkad]]ians, [[Babylon]]ians, [[Elam]]ites, [[Hittites]] and [[Assyria]]ns to write their own languages and was widely used in [[Mesopotamia]] for about 3000 years, though the syllabic nature of the script as it was refined by the Sumerians was unintuitive to the [[Semitic language|Semitic]] speakers. This fact, before Sumerian civilization was rediscovered, prompted many philologists to suspect a precursor civilization to the Babylonian. |
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Wigskrif is uitgevind deur die [[Soemer]]iërs om die [[Soemeriese taal]] aan te teken, maar is daarna aangeneem deur die [[Akad]]iërs, [[Babilon]]iërs, [[Elam]]iete, [[Hetiete]] en [[Assirië]]rs om in hulle eie tale te skryf. Dit is wyd in [[Mesopotamië]] aangewend vir ingeveer 3000 jaar, alhoewel die lettergrepige aard van die skrif soos dit deur die Soemeriërs verfyn is, onintuïtief vir die [[Semitiese taal|Semities]]e sprekers was. Hierdie feit het vele taalkenners laat soek na 'n beskawing wat die Babiloniese voorafgegaan het totdat die Soemeriese beskawing ontdek is. |
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Most later adaptations of Sumerian cuneiform preserved at least some aspects of the Sumerian script. Written [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] included phonetic symbols from the Sumerian [[syllabary]], together with [[logogram]]s that were read as whole words. Many signs in the script were [[polyvalent]], having both a syllabic and logographic meaning. When the cuneiform script was adapted to writing the [[Hittite language]], a layer of Akkadian logographic spellings was added to the script, with the result that we no longer know the pronunciations of many Hittite words conventionally written by logograms. The complexity of the system bears a resemblance to classical [[Japanese language|Japanese]], written in a [[Chinese language|Chinese]] derived script; some of these Sinograms were used as logograms, others as phonetic characters. Contemporary Japanese graphically distinguishes the logograms ([[kanji]]) from syllabary characters ([[kana]]) but otherwise retains a similar system. |
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Meeste latere aanpassings van Soemeriese wigskrif vir ander tale het ten minste sommige aspekte van die Soemeriese skrif bewaar. Geskrewe [[Akadiese taal|Akadies]] het fonetiese simbole ingesluit van die Soemeriese lettergreepversameling, benewens woordgramme wat al volkome woorde gelees is. Vele tekens van die skrif was [[polivalent]], dit wil sê met beide lettergrepige en woordgrepige betekenis. Toe wigskrif vir die [[Hetitiese taal]] aangepas is, is 'n vlak van Akadiese woordgrafiese spellings bygevoeg, met die gevolg dat ons nie meer die uitsprake van vele Hetitiese woorde uit woordgramme kan uitwerk nie. Die kompleksiteit van die stelsel toon 'n ooreenkoms met klassieke [[Japanese taal|Japanees]], geskryf in 'n [[Sjinese taal|Sjinees]]-ontleende skrif; somige van hierdie Sjinogramme is gebruik as woordgramme, ander as fonetiese karakters. Eietydse Japanese onderskei hierdie woordgramme grafies ([[kanji]]) van lettergrepige karakters ([[kana]]) maar behou andersins eenderse stelsels. |
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[[ |
[[Image:Cuneiform tablet - Kirkor Minassian collection - Library of Congress.jpg|right|thumbnail|250px|Cuneiform tablet from the Kirkor Minassian collection in the [[Library of Congress]]]] |
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The complexity of the system prompted the development of a number of simplified versions of the script. [[Old Persian language|Old Persian]] was written in a subset of simplified cuneiform characters, that formed a simple, semi-alphabetic syllabary, using far fewer wedge strokes than Assyrian used, together with a handful of logograms for frequently occurring words like "god" and "king." The [[Ugaritic language]] was written using the [[Ugaritic alphabet]], a standard Semitic style [[alphabet]] (an ''[[abjad]]'') written using the cuneiform method. |
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Die stelsel se kompleksiteit het 'n reeks vereenvoudigde weergawes tot gevolg gehad. [[Ou Persies]] is geskryf in 'n deelversameling van vereenvoudigde wigskrifkarakters wat eenvoudige semi-alfabetiese lettergreepversameling gelewer het met heelwat minder wigstrepe as die Assiriese voorbeeld, tesame met 'n handvol woordgramme vir dikwels herhaalde woorde soos "god" en "koning." Die [[Oegaritiese taal]] is geskryf deur die [[Oegaritiese alfabet]] te gebruik, wat 'n standaard Semitiese styl [[alfabet]] was ('n ''[[abjad]]''), wat in wigskrif uitgevoer is. |
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The use of [[Aramaic]] became widespread under the Assyrian Empire and the [[Aramaean alphabet]] gradually replaced cuneiform. The last known cuneiform inscription, an astronomical text, was written in [[75]] AD. |
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Die gebruik van [[Aramees]] het tydens die Assiriese ryk wydverspreid geword en die [[Aramese alfabet]] het wigskrif mettertyd vervang. Die laaste bekende inskripsie in wigskrif, 'n sterrekundige teks, kom uit die jaar [[75nC]]. |
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==Decipherment== |
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Knowledge of cuneiform was lost until [[1835]] when [[Henry Rawlinson]], a British army officer, found some of the [[Behistun Inscription|Behistun inscription]]s on a cliff at Behistun in [[Iran|Persia]]. Carved in the reign of [[Darius I of Persia|King Darius of Persia]] ([[522 BC]]–[[486 BC]]), they consisted of identical texts in the three official languages of the empire: Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite. The Behistun inscription was to the decipherment of cuneiform what the [[Rosetta Stone]] was to the decipherment of [[Egyptian hieroglyph]]s. |
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Rawlinson |
Rawlinson correctly deduced that the Old Persian was a syllabic script and he successfully deciphered it. Working independently of him, the Irish Assyriologist [[Edward Hincks]] also contributed to the decipherment. After translating the Persian, Rawlinson and Hincks began to [[decipher]] the others. They were greatly helped by [[Paul Émile Botta]]'s discovery of the city of [[Niniveh]] in 1842. Among the treasures uncovered by Botta were the remains of the great library of [[Assurbanipal]], a royal archive containing tens of thousands of baked clay tablets covered with cuneiform inscriptions. |
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By [[1851]], Hincks and Rawlinson could read 200 Babylonian signs. They were soon joined by two other decipherers: a young German-born scholar called [[Julius Oppert]], and the versatile British Orientalist [[William Henry Fox Talbot]]. In 1857 the four men met in London and took part in a famous experiment to test the accuracy of their decipherments. |
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[[Edwin Norris]], the |
[[Edwin Norris]], the secretary of the [[Royal Asiatic Society]], gave each of them a copy of a recently discovered inscription from the reign of the Assyrian emperor [[Tiglath-Pileser I]]. A jury of experts was empanelled to examine the resulting translations and assess their accuracy. |
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In all essential points the translations produced by the four scholars were found to be in close agreement with one another. There were of course some slight discrepancies. The inexperienced Talbot had made a number of mistakes, and Oppert's translation contained a few doubtful passages due to his unfamiliarity with the English language. But Hincks' and Rawlinson's versions were virtually identical. The jury declared itself satisfied, and the decipherment of Akkadian cuneiform was adjudged a ''fait accompli''. |
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In alle essensiële punte was die vertalings wat deur die vier taalstudente gelewer is in noue ooreenstemming met mekaar. Daar was natuurlik klein verskille. Die onervare Talbot het 'n sekere getal foute begaan en Oppert se vertaling het 'n paar twyfelagtige Engelse verse bevat weens sy onvertroudheid met Engels. Hincks en Rawlinson se weergawes was egter ongeveer identies. Die jurie het verklaar dat hulle die vertalings aanvaar en ontsyfering van die Akadiese wigskrif is beskou as ''fait accompli''. |
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==Transliteration== |
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{{main_article|[[Transliterating cuneiform languages]]}} |
{{main_article|[[Transliterating cuneiform languages]]}} |
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Cuneiform has a specific format for [[transliteration]]. Because of the script's polyvalence, transliteration is not only lossless, but may actually contain more information than the original document. For example, the sign DINGIR in a Hittite text may represent either the Hittite syllable ''an'' or may be part of an Akkadian phrase, representing the syllable ''il'', or it may be a Sumerogram, representing the original Sumerian meaning, 'the creator'. (The Sumerian deity [[Enki]], meaning Lord of the Earth, was believed to have fashioned the earliest human prototype). |
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Wigskrif het 'n spesifieke formaat vir [[transliterasie]]. Weens die skrif se polivalensie (lettergrepige en woordgrepige betekenis) kan transliterasie inligting byvoeg wat nie in die oorspronklike staan nie. Byvoorbeeld kan die teken DINGIR in ‘n Hetiet teks óf die Hetiet lettergreep ''an'' aandui óf mag deel wees van ‘n Akadiese frase wat die lettergreep ''il'' aandui, óf dit mag ‘n Soemerogram wees wat die oorspronklike Soemeriese betekenis 'die skepper' aandui. (Die Soemeriese godheid [[Enki]] wat ‘heer van die aarde’ beteken het volgens die Soemeriese mitologie die eerste mens gemaak). |
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==Unicode== |
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==Eksterne skakels== |
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The Cuneiform script has been accepted for inclusion in a future version of [[Unicode]]: |
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:12000–12373 (883 characters) "Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform" |
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<!-- beelde mag gebruik word as publieke domein hulpbronne--> |
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:12400–12473 (103 characters) "Cuneiform Numbers" |
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The status of the Unicode Cuneiform range can be seen in the [[Unicode pipeline]]. |
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==See also== |
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*[[Sumerian language]] |
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*[[Akkadian language]] |
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*[[Hittite language]] |
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*[[Ugaritic language]] |
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**[[Ugaritic alphabet]] |
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*[[Old Persian language]] |
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**[[Behistun Inscription]] |
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*[[Ama-gi]] |
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==External links== |
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<!-- images may be used as public domain resource--> |
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[[Category:Bronze Age writing systems]] |
[[Category:Bronze Age writing systems]] |
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Revision as of 16:44, 1 March 2006
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The Cuneiform script is one of the earliest known forms of written expression. Created by the Sumerians in the late 4th millennium BC, cuneiform writing began as a system of pictographs. Over time, the pictorial repres entations became simplified and more abstract.
Cuneiforms were written on clay tablets, on which symbols were drawn with a blunt reed called a stylus. The impressions left by the stylus were wedge shaped, thus giving rise to the name cuneiform, wedge-writing.
The Sumerian script was adapted for the writing of the Akkadian, Elamite, Hittite and Luwian languages, and it inspired the Old Persian and Ugaritic national alphabets.
Development
Cuneiform pictograms were drawn on clay tablets in vertical columns with a pen made from a sharpened reed stylus. Those two developments made the process quicker and easier: People began to write from left to right in horizontal rows (rotating counter-clockwise all of the pictograms 90° in the process), and a new wedge-tipped stylus was used which was pushed into the clay, producing wedge-shaped ("cuneiform") signs. By adjusting the relative position of the tablet to the stylus, the writer could use a single tool to make a variety of impressions. The word "cuneiform" comes from the Latin word cuneus, meaning "wedge".
Cuneiform tablets could be fired in kilns to provide a permanent record, or they could be recycled if permanence was not needed. Many of the tablets found by archaeologists were preserved because they were baked when attacking armies burned the building in which they were kept.
Invented by the Sumerians to record the Sumerian language, cuneiform was subsequently adopted by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hittites and Assyrians to write their own languages and was widely used in Mesopotamia for about 3000 years, though the syllabic nature of the script as it was refined by the Sumerians was unintuitive to the Semitic speakers. This fact, before Sumerian civilization was rediscovered, prompted many philologists to suspect a precursor civilization to the Babylonian.
Most later adaptations of Sumerian cuneiform preserved at least some aspects of the Sumerian script. Written Akkadian included phonetic symbols from the Sumerian syllabary, together with logograms that were read as whole words. Many signs in the script were polyvalent, having both a syllabic and logographic meaning. When the cuneiform script was adapted to writing the Hittite language, a layer of Akkadian logographic spellings was added to the script, with the result that we no longer know the pronunciations of many Hittite words conventionally written by logograms. The complexity of the system bears a resemblance to classical Japanese, written in a Chinese derived script; some of these Sinograms were used as logograms, others as phonetic characters. Contemporary Japanese graphically distinguishes the logograms (kanji) from syllabary characters (kana) but otherwise retains a similar system.
The complexity of the system prompted the development of a number of simplified versions of the script. Old Persian was written in a subset of simplified cuneiform characters, that formed a simple, semi-alphabetic syllabary, using far fewer wedge strokes than Assyrian used, together with a handful of logograms for frequently occurring words like "god" and "king." The Ugaritic language was written using the Ugaritic alphabet, a standard Semitic style alphabet (an abjad) written using the cuneiform method.
The use of Aramaic became widespread under the Assyrian Empire and the Aramaean alphabet gradually replaced cuneiform. The last known cuneiform inscription, an astronomical text, was written in 75 AD.
Decipherment
Knowledge of cuneiform was lost until 1835 when Henry Rawlinson, a British army officer, found some of the Behistun inscriptions on a cliff at Behistun in Persia. Carved in the reign of King Darius of Persia (522 BC–486 BC), they consisted of identical texts in the three official languages of the empire: Old Persian, Babylonian, and Elamite. The Behistun inscription was to the decipherment of cuneiform what the Rosetta Stone was to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Rawlinson correctly deduced that the Old Persian was a syllabic script and he successfully deciphered it. Working independently of him, the Irish Assyriologist Edward Hincks also contributed to the decipherment. After translating the Persian, Rawlinson and Hincks began to decipher the others. They were greatly helped by Paul Émile Botta's discovery of the city of Niniveh in 1842. Among the treasures uncovered by Botta were the remains of the great library of Assurbanipal, a royal archive containing tens of thousands of baked clay tablets covered with cuneiform inscriptions.
By 1851, Hincks and Rawlinson could read 200 Babylonian signs. They were soon joined by two other decipherers: a young German-born scholar called Julius Oppert, and the versatile British Orientalist William Henry Fox Talbot. In 1857 the four men met in London and took part in a famous experiment to test the accuracy of their decipherments.
Edwin Norris, the secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society, gave each of them a copy of a recently discovered inscription from the reign of the Assyrian emperor Tiglath-Pileser I. A jury of experts was empanelled to examine the resulting translations and assess their accuracy.
In all essential points the translations produced by the four scholars were found to be in close agreement with one another. There were of course some slight discrepancies. The inexperienced Talbot had made a number of mistakes, and Oppert's translation contained a few doubtful passages due to his unfamiliarity with the English language. But Hincks' and Rawlinson's versions were virtually identical. The jury declared itself satisfied, and the decipherment of Akkadian cuneiform was adjudged a fait accompli.
Transliteration
Cuneiform has a specific format for transliteration. Because of the script's polyvalence, transliteration is not only lossless, but may actually contain more information than the original document. For example, the sign DINGIR in a Hittite text may represent either the Hittite syllable an or may be part of an Akkadian phrase, representing the syllable il, or it may be a Sumerogram, representing the original Sumerian meaning, 'the creator'. (The Sumerian deity Enki, meaning Lord of the Earth, was believed to have fashioned the earliest human prototype).
Unicode
The Cuneiform script has been accepted for inclusion in a future version of Unicode:
- 12000–12373 (883 characters) "Sumero-Akkadian Cuneiform"
- 12400–12473 (103 characters) "Cuneiform Numbers"
The status of the Unicode Cuneiform range can be seen in the Unicode pipeline.
See also
External links
- Budge, E.A. Cuneiform Texts from Babylonian Tablets, &c. in the British Museum London, Harrison and Sons, 1896.
- Cuneiform Digital Library Initiative. A Joint Project of the University of California at Los Angeles and the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.
- Cuneiform writing system