Cuneiform: The Earliest Form of Writing from Ancient Mesopotamia

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Do you know of any myths that have been transmitted across cultures and time? Let us know!

[@NegdoshaManido]

The first idea, transmitted from antiquity and appearing in other cultures, that comes to mind for me, is the sky beings or spirit beings impregnating human females to produce supermen. I am a Potawatomi Native American, and we have this story in our traditions, as do the Greeks, and the Hebrews, as recorded in Genesis 6.

[@stevenbrown9275]

Excellent, concise and informative video. Thank you.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thankyou once again for watching!

[@technicholls]

Truly very interesting. Thank you for your content...

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching :)

[@ZacharyLim-f5w]

This is truly inspiring!

[@tawan20082008]

loved the video, learned a lot, and thumbs up. However I have a question about the "bible being previously thought as the oldest book". How can anyone have ever have thought this considering all the countless ancient Greek writers like Socrates and Plato and ancient Greek playwrites like Menander?

[@marykarensolomon7103]

Because the Bible is very old; The “J” books were thought to have been written by individuals within King David’s or Solomon’s courts, around 1000 BCE. The Priestly and “E” authors were thought to live even earlier.

[@serpentines6356]

Yes, notice the two creation stories in the first two chapters of Genesis. Slightly different versions. First one - Genesis 1, is thought to have been written by the Priestly class. Genesis 2 - the Yahwist version.

[@BlackLotusVisualArchive]

Also back then, most of Assyriology and Mesopotamian studies was meant to try to uncover the history behind the bible. By accident they discovered Sumerian

[@gatleystone2480]

theyre talking about the old testament not the new testament. the old testament is older than those ancient greek texts

[@vlatkosurlan545]

Because the Bible reports on the events from the creation onwards and is therefore, by logical necessity, the book containing the oldest information available, since the only witness of the creation is the Creator himself. Unless you accept the modern stance of placing yourself as the authority over deciding what is true and what is not, in which case you must invariably reach the conclusion that the Bible is false since the Bible has a different ultimate authority.

[@briannguyen6994]

interesting video indeed! i will be browsing your playlists later xD

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching, hope you enjoy our other videos!

[@Tekmirion]

Very nice and informative as usual!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@aviramvijh]

Thanks for this. Cuneiform was also used by the Persians during the achamenian period...and some survives in Bombay even today, brought by the Parsis in the 7th century.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@LulaS]

Gosh, I’m learning so much from your excellent work, huge thanks!!!!!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks so much, we love hearing that! 🙂

[@ozyfran72]

Love to look at those tablet, amazing type of writing. Is there a Champollion of the cuneiform world? Do we know the proportion of the population able to write/ read the language? Do we know how it sounds? And most importantly, is the choice of T-Shirt specific of the video theme 👌? Great video

[@SiqueScarface]

Yes, there is. His name is Georg Friedrich Grotefend. He managed to decipher the first cuneiform script, the Ancient Persian cuneiform. And he used a method similar to that of Champollion. He looked for sequences which could be the name of kings, the same way Champollion discovered that the cartouches in Egypt hieroglyphs encompass royal names. But while Egyptian hieroglyphs were used for a single language (o.k. a language changing over the long time of more than 2000 years hieroglyphs were used), cuneiform was used to write many different languages of very different language families, like Sumerian, of which we know no relative to Akkadian, Assyrian and Babylonian, which are Semitic languages and thus related to Hebrew and Arabian, to Hurritian and Urartian, while closely related, have no known other relatives to Hittite and Ancient Persian, which both are Indo-Germanic languages and thus related to English. Differently than Champollion, who in one go opened up all Ancient Egyptian writing, because it is one continious language development, Georg Friedrich Grotefend only deciphered Ancient Persian. And it took much effort and the work of many other scholars to read all the other cuneiform written languages. Cuneiform is a whole class of writing systems, not a single script. And despite superficial similarities, there are all kinds of scripts within Cuneiform, from symbolic systems like Old Sumerian to alphabets like Ugaritic or a syllabary like Hittite Cuneiform.

[@PritamSunwar]

Bible is not the oldest book

[@SindyJB]

Great video, thank you so much

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

You are welcome! Thanks for watching!

[@artefresko2643]

F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. As a LOVER of Words and Language I found this fascinating. As a Modern Calligraphy and Graffiti artist I found it IMPRESSIVE and INSPIRING. Thank You.

[@serpentines6356]

I am somewhat of an artist, haven't done much for awhile, and had a brother who was a scholar in ancient Mesopotamian history. He knew how to read, decifer, and write this stuff. Also knew Arabic, Hebrew, Urdu, Ugarit, etc. Total braniac. I love words, and language too. It would be cool to incorporate some of this writing in graffiti I would think. Would be cool to learn some of the symbols, and write something that actually made use of it. Blessings. 🙏 🌿 🌎

[@ncayoung]

Thanks so much for this crisply informative vid.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

You're very welcome, Nancy. 🙂

[@LulaS]

Awesome video!!!!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks!

[@juliantreidiii]

One of the earliest known forms of written expression is cuneiform. Complete writing systems were preceded by proto-writing, systems of ideographic form like Chinese or early mnemonic symbols. Egyptian hieroglyphs were the writing system used in Ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with a total of some 1,000 distinct characters. Harappan script is a corpus of symbols produced by the Indus Valley Civilization, that may be a preciser to Sanskrit: The Rig Veda is thought to be written around 1500 BC, making it 3500 years old. The cuneiform texts you refer to in this video are 5000 years old. So, the definition of writing system seems a bit arbitrary. I am certain that China would object.

[@witoldnowak9327]

Excellent introduction to cuneiform, Kelly. Thanks.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@miguelenxian]

I just found this channel, its a great channel to imporv e english and learning universal story as well!!! great job

[@kushagrayadav5339]

Hi ma'am 👋 I am from India 😊

[@davidv4812]

Genesis isn't based on Enuma Elish (likely dating to 1100 BC) because it was written around 1400 BC.

[@tarekmohamed3263]

Excellent, are there still languages in the world descended from the languages of Ancient Mesopotamia?

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching! Sadly, no, all the ancient Mesopotamian languages died out long ago.

[@jagade23]

Nice video

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks very much, thanks for watching!

[@tnpradeepraju1]

How old is the Bible? The Rig Veda is thought to be written around 1500 BC, making it 3500 years old. The cuneiform texts you refer to in this video are 5000 years old. So where does the Bible sit between these two?

[@pacefactor]

MEGGs history of graphic design and general art history textbooks do cover this, and more. As well as the general growth and change of written scripts outside of Mesopotamia. This video skips over a lot and severely oversimplifies to only simply state "the bible is not the oldest book in the world" which is been standard for a while now and feels contrived.

[@juliantreidiii]

The Bible is between 3,400 and 1,900 years old. Scientists have finally been able to read the oldest biblical text ever found. The 2,000-year-old scroll has been in the hands of archaeologists for decades. Most Biblical scholars believe the Book of Genesis was the first book to be written down. This would have happened around 1450 BC to 1400 BC.

[@serpentines6356]

@@juliantreidiii Thanks Julian. 🙏 🌿

[@serpentines6356]

@@pacefactor Well, the video was meant to be a simple intro. to cuneiform.

[@carstenlarsen3238]

That was a good and very interesting video, things written 5000 years ago that’s wild to think about, what would THEY write about us in 5000 years ?? Thank you

[@theministeroftherealtruth]

ok, looking for the full cuneiform texts translated correctly in the nearest English equivalent!

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Hi! If you do a Google search, you should be able to find some resources. 🙂

[@theministeroftherealtruth]

@@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia Cheers! Found all about it from a Syrian guy online,but it's all in Syrian or Assyrian so stumbled upon a means to translate all of that into English and vice versa!

[@Jon-cb9dt]

Ever found old recpts add found a market Zaire’s books sometimes it’s just accounting.

[@vishnuarja5189]

The grate flood narration was in Indian mythology Mesopotamia history and in Bible also.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Yes, it's a myth that is common to many ancient civilizations, which is fascinating. Thanks for watching!

[@CZPC]

Awesome video.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thank you, we're glad you enjoyed it. 🙂

[@Horemakhet_]

If cuneiform is the oldest written language in the world then how come it doesn't use words or an alphabet? How does someone distinguish verbal words from wedged shapes?

[@adamc1966]

Can you read music? How do you put sounds on a sheet of paper??

[@ashlynlarsen]

Cuneiform looks easier to learn then Arabic😅

[@alexandergalitevstudentfvh8696]

you must be joking.

[@barrymoore4470]

Cuneiform is a system of writing, a means of encoding language, and not a language in itself. It was first developed to graphically represent the Sumerian language, but later was adapted to graphically express Akkadian, Hurrian, and Hittite, among yet other languages--the video touches on this.

[@Horemakhet_]

@Barry Moore Where can you find the archeological evidence of an ancient encoded sumerian language? What were the previous languages that existed prior to this form of written language?

[@edringweeko3419]

Thank you for ur service

[@davidv4812]

There is so much misinformation in this video I don't even know where to start. 1a. Enuma Elish starts with the elemental representatives of chaos, Apsu and Tiamat. They are the father and mother of the gods respectively. It isn't creation so much as shaping the chaotic matter that already exists. 1b. In Genesis, God stands over creation. And He creates it all. I do not read 1:2 as the chaos that He shapes. I read it as that is how He created it. 2a. In Enuma Elish, Apsu wants to kill his children, the gods, because they are noisy. Tiamat tries to protect them. Their son, Ea, chief of the gods, uses magic to send Apsu to sleep and then kills him. Ea and his consort have a child named Marduk who is stronger than themselves. Marduk's playing with wind storms awakens the gods still sleeping within Tiamat. Tiamat seeks revenge and creates 11 monsters to help her. Marduk offers to be the gods' champion if he is allowed to be their leader afterwards. They agree, he fights Tiamat, kills her, and shapes her body parts into the earth and sky. He then creates the stars and regulates the sun, moon, and weather. Note that he does not create the sun or moon. He merely regulates them. The gods who sided with Tiamat are first forced to be slaves of Marduk's coalition. Then Marduk creates humans to do the work the gods don't want to do. Babylon is established as the home of the chief gods and Marduk is named king of all gods. This includes Enlil, who was king of the gods in the area's earlier civilizations. 2b. Genesis connects on some of the high points, but is very different. God makes the sun, moon, and stars. He does not regulate them. God creates man as the high point of creation, not as a race of slaves. God does not fight other gods because there are none. There are no monsters to fight. In fact, God creates the tannim, sea monsters or whales simply as part of his creation. God is not named or elevated to kingship. In Genesis, He is supreme from the beginning. If there is any relationship between the two it's that Genesys was written as an argument against Enuma Elish.

[@47issues]

Where is the link to the love song?

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Hi! You can find our video on The World's Oldest Long Song here kzbin.info/www/bejne/n2nCnaasgaaVbJI

[@tawan20082008]

can we please get more videos?

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Hi! We are publishing new videos every Tuesday and Friday!

[@XFz2nLDWo73x95]

4:20 The banner is supposed to read "Enuma Elish" not "Emuna Elish."

[@ABCboy5]

It's almost like...like...The Bible was based on Sumerian writings!

[@ambassador130]

Or… it’s like … like… the Sumerian account of the flood drew upon a pre existing flood narrative that would have been known by the generations that came after the event had passed. Then at the rebellion at Babel, various versions of the event were developed as groups migrated away and language was confused.

[@sumerarizwan6491]

Such an informative video, helped me souch withy hw

[@jerryfaizal]

I just want to know, what language that ancient egytian talking everyday, painting language!! And if have cavilization, imposible they dont have any writing script

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Their language was ancient Egyptian, which is similar to Arabic, Hebrew and Akkadian, but is no longer used anymore. Their script was hieroglyphs.

[@jhundhadsdabuan1354]

ausome video

[@juliantreidiii]

Yu from China became Lu to the Celts and Norse.

[@melvinjones3895]

I want that shirt is that Ashurnasirpal

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Hey Melvin, this shirt is of the Assyrian Lamassu which you can find on our store worldhistory.store/#!/

[@felixjieprang]

👍🏾

[@skychildrenofthelightspeed4648]

Imagine if people kept using that writing style for eternity

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

It would be interesting, right? Thanks for watching! 🙂

[@barrymoore4470]

Dried and baked clay has proven much more durable than most other material supports for writing (papyrus, parchment, and paper, among other examples), so continuing to use this medium as a primary material for writing (not necessarily cuneiform) would actually be quite sensible.

[@stevenrobertson4470]

The great flood was not a myth!

[@TheConservative2]

Interesting how secularists immediately tag biblical stories of true history as “myths” just to silent debate on the subject while continuing with their supposed knowledge of the past purely based on their own biased interpretations of factual discoveries.

[@alexandergalitevstudentfvh8696]

yes it was. ever since it was thought up. it always has and will be a myth.

[@Jon-cb9dt]

In context to the time thought taught perhaps the people of that time only constructed their interactions and understanding of others as weigh or cast, in other words everyone and thing wants my energy without pay me for my life.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

Thanks for watching and sharing your thoughts!

[@MichaelThompson-jq3zf]

Of course author Zacharia Sitchin wrote a number of books based on his interpretation of some of the ancient - decoded cuneiform tablets found scattered in the Sumer region of modern day Iraq. It would seem a race labelled Annanakai from another world colonised planet Earth many thousands of years ago. This race of highly evolved peoples taught their created peoples to write & read cuneiform script. According to these tablets which told of the creation of mankind in great detail - as we know it. Long, interesting and controversial account of how we came to be on this planet. Many parallels with the biblical narrative but less supernaturally uncovered. "The Lost Book of Enki" by Z. Sitchin is an interesting start to many more of his interesting books.

[@serpentines6356]

Humans have always been quite imaginative.

[@enkilugal3282]

My hope is that all of Zecharia Sitchin's books are someday required reading in K-12 school system. "The Lost Book of ENKI" is a wonderful book. It's a great starter book for Sitchin's collection. The Anunnaki were not imaginative beings as some people today suggest. These Anunnaki haters can't get past the brainwashed minds to understand humanities true history. I've written a new religion called ENKI, that maybe in 500 years from now will overtake a lot of the major religions of today. There are nine tenets of ENKI religion. 1) Love is the key to being 2) Show compassion for all Life 3) Our thoughts, both positive and negative, do affect the universe as a whole 4) We exist to find the fundamental structure and order of the universe 5) Gain knowledge to explore the universe and exchange knowledge with extraterrestrial species 6) All Life are the eyes, voice and consciousness of the universe 7) Live life in harmony with nature 8) The processes of nature cannot be evil 9) All Life are born and live till death with equal rights There are no "thou shall not..." statements in ENKI. Humanity has self-realization of what is right and wrong. There is no omnipotent GOD that lives in the sky just as there is no Satan living beneath our feet. These beings were invented by our ancestors after the Anunnaki left earth for the purpose of controlling humanity; well, that was the plan.

[@november1624]

🙏🏻

[@gabemorris6692]

"...until written scripts became popular in about 100 b.c.e." This dating is known to be off, now. There is a new BBC video about the discovery of an early bronze age, Canaanite tusk comb, dated to approximately 1700 BC in the video description, which carries an inscription of a complete sentence using an alphabet. The cuneiform is still older than known alphabets, though.

[@haedien]

make a telegram plss😄😄

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

😆

[@tiglamingo]

The video is really good but sanskrit is older than cuneiform

[@alexandergalitevstudentfvh8696]

bullshit.

[@barrymoore4470]

Cuneiform writing is attested as early as the close of the fourth millennium before Christ. The earliest witness to Sanskrit is the Rg Veda, the oldest hymns of which are dated to the middle of the second millennium before Christ. Hence, cuneiform writing is demonstrably older than the earliest evidence for Sanskrit.

[@AkoGooran]

[@epicinsightssmm]

Too bad you are so anti-Biblical. Not all scholars agree on which is older and you should do a better job of explaining that not all academia agrees with your views.

[@WorldHistoryEncyclopedia]

We're not anti-Biblical at all. Sorry you feel that way.

[@Sami.Mohammad754]

U r following the wrong religion 😅 Real religion is Islam ☪️ ❤

[@madihalone8356]

I'm not Christian but she said that( not all scholars believe that ) so how is that anti-biblical