Nabu is cognate to the Sumerian deity called Nisaba. The latter was an earlier, Sumerian goddess of writing, learning, and the harvest. She was also the patroness of scribes. Gradually, her cult ...

By coincidence, the Sumerian word for "arrow" also sounds like "ti," and so scribes used the arrow symbol to represent the phrase "to give life to." Written symbols became associated with syllables.

The earliest recorded handwriting we have is from Sumerian scribes from the year 3200 B.C., and honestly, that writing sample is about as legible as my own.

Object Details Author Visicato, Giuseppe Date 2000 C2000 Call number DS69.9 .V58 Type Books Physical description xv, 298 p. ; 24 cm Place Iraq Babylonia Data Source Smithsonian Libraries Topic Scribes ...

In ancient Mesopotamia, cylinder seals — often carved with exquisitely detailed scenes — were used to roll the owner’s unique stamp onto a document produced by scribes, attesting to its ...