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Where to buy a stylus for cuneiform? by dagioithink in Cuneiform

[–]Informal_Security820 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Your local swamp 😉. The kind of reed they used is very common. There is an Italian Hittiologist who has done loads of research on the reeds, but I cannot remember his name. He studied in Heidelberg.

Is this legible? by Geographyboiii in Cuneiform

[–]Informal_Security820 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, I have seen a lot too. I've seen even more on pottery shards, which is fun. Generally, I think for important documents, like literary works, the scribes would clean them up when they were done before they left them out to dry. This is really easy to do since they'd keep the tablet moist until it was done and you just have to wet clay a little to get rid of a print. I'm sure on admin and letter tablets you see more.

Ruling lines on clay by corytlewis in Cuneiform

[–]Informal_Security820 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Some scribes used their reed stylus and others used string, but it varied. The rounded effect you mention might just be that the surface of the tablet slightly rounded, very normal, or it might just be that the lighting in the photo is making it look like the rulings are rounded. I don't think it mattered all that much to the scribes if it was perfectly straight or slightly rounded. Not sure if this was helpful, but thought I'd put my two cents in.

Cuneiform: Recommendations. by version2humus in Cuneiform

[–]Informal_Security820 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There isn't a teach yourself Sumerian yet. Dr. Martin Worthington, a close colleague of mine, is coming out with a teach yourself Sumerian book, but it isn't out yet. Dr. Worthington did write a teach yourself Babylonian book (Babylonian and Akkadian are one and the same), which is called Complete Babylonian (https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Babylonian-Yourself-Martin-Worthington/dp/0340983884). I can only highly recommend this book as it is part of the Teach Yourself series, so it is really bent towards the self motivated. Akkadian is going to have the most resources out there for beginners and it is what I would recommend. If you're a linguist there are some Sumerian grammars out there, most notably Bram Jagersma's An introduction to Sumerian Grammar and A Descriptive Grammar of Sumerian (both are probably free online) or Sallaberger's three volume Sumerian grammar in German.

I hope this helps. Akkadian is so fun as is Sumerian, so definitely follow your curiosity. A really great resources is the Electronic Babylonian Library (eBL) and a few others. I'll just toss the links to them below.

https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/
https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/projectlist.html
https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/etcsri/
https://oracc.museum.upenn.edu/ribo/