[Cuneiform]

Cuneiform is a system of writing characterized by wedge-shaped impressions made by a stylus generally on a clay tablet or engraved on stone or metal. Cuneiform writing developed in ancient Mesopotamia at about the same time that hieroglyphic writing developed in Egypt. By the middle of the fourth millennium BCE, cuneiform was used in both Egypt and Mesopotamia to keep records, and it continued in use throughout areas under Mesopotamian control and influence until the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, when the Aramaic language and Phoenician script gradually replaced it.