It was one of the first civilizations to develop a system of writing.
Initially pictographs or icons were used, with one of the earliest dictionaries containing about 2,000 graphic symbols, each one meant to resemble that which it represented.
However, as society developed and the need to record complex matters increased, the limitations of pictorial representation became apparent.
Gradually people realized that written signs could be used to represent sounds rather than things.
So pictures were replaced by cuneiform script, a written code based on a series of wedge-shaped characters, usually inscribed on to a soft surface, such as clay.
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