Cuneiform Reflection

Today in Humanities class we did a lesson on the ancient writing called "Cuneiform". We each had to write a sentence about the Sumerians and their life in cuneiform writing. A Cuneiform Alphabet is quiet complicated. I choose to translate the sentence, "Sumerians honored the gods in religious ceremonies". It didn't seem like it would take me long to translate it into Cuneiform but it did take some effort and time. The Cuneiform alphabet is very different from our alphabet. The letters were a lot harder for me to write and it took a little while before I started figuring out how to pose all the lines, and how to connect them into a sentence. I must say that writing a short English sentence and translating it into the ancient Cuneiform alphabet was a very difficult experience. Of course it was fun but it took a long time for me to find the letter, pre-write it, learn how to curve and make the correct shape and then again make a final draft. My expectations were much lower. I expected this to be an easy project since it was only a few words and a short sentence. Towards the middle I could finally see and understand why it took them a long time to write stories, and facts. I was proud of my final piece. I finished it in time and it looked good although it wasn't professional or neat it looked like it was from the ancient time. The second part of the activity was to try and read someone else's work, and translate it back from Cuneiform to English. My friend Helene was kind enough to lend me her Cuneiform piece which wasn't as long as mine but it was even more difficult for me to figure out what it meant and find each letter. The Cuneiform alphabet is very similar. The letters all have a difference but look very much alike which in the beginning through me off track. I tried hard to translate every word she wrote but it was very difficult because the letters were not as clear. When I was done and looked into the English words that I got it said," JUMERHANJ REALLZ THEIR GODS". I showed it to Helene and she was surprised by my final answer. She showed me the real translation which was," SUMERIANS REALLY RESPECTED THEIR GODS." I was stunned to see that I got half of it right but I wondered why the rest was wrong. It was only later that Helene figured that she hasn't finished her work and some letters were not turned in the right direction. This activity was very interesting and difficult. I can't help but wonder how the Sumerians had the time and patience to write every single letter in Cuneiform. In conclusion I must say that Cuneiform is an interesting kind of language and style of writing and it was a great experience.

My Cuneiform Piece

Cuneiform Alphabet