# Christopher Woods 2010: The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing

> Christopher Woods, 2010. 4 records on Mysteries Department cite it. Museum-catalogue synthesis taking the majority view that cuneiform was invented for…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/sources/SRC0DEDJ79W18NK/the-earliest-mesopotamian-writing  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Sources](https://mysteriesdept.com/sources)[Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)Christopher Woods 2010

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# The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing

Christopher Woods, 2010.

**Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk** Chapter0

## What it's used for here

Museum-catalogue synthesis taking the majority view that cuneiform was invented for Sumerian, with the limited rebus evidence; about 5,000 tablets from Uruk excavated 1928-1976. In C. Woods (ed.), Visible Language: Inventions of Writing in the Ancient Middle East and Beyond, Oriental Institute Museum Publications 32, pp. 33-50. CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.

## Cited by on this site 4 records

[The sexagesimal numeration and the unbroken continuity of signs and lists into Sumerian cuneiform are more easily…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEDXN34DDPV/the-sexagesimal-numeration-and-the-unbroken-continuity-of)

Evidence

EVD

[The sign shapes and the lexical lists continue without a break from Uruk III into Early Dynastic cuneiform, which…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/evidence/EVD0DEDXMB7KHAG/the-sign-shapes-and-the-lexical-lists-continue-without-a)

Evidence

EVD

[The German excavations at Uruk begin to recover archaic tablets from the Eanna precinct](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform/events/EVT0DEDQAWSQX5G/the-german-excavations-at-uruk-begin-to-recover-archaic)

EVT

[Proto-cuneiform: the archaic texts of Uruk](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/proto-cuneiform)

The mystery article

MYS

## Cite it

```
Christopher Woods (2010). The Earliest Mesopotamian Writing. https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp32.pdf
```

[Find it at isac.uchicago.edu](https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/oimp32.pdf)

Key

**SRC** 0DEDJ79W18NK

Kind

Book chapter

Rights

The publisher's

Kept

31 Oct 2026, for editors

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

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