Researchers from Italy’s University of Bologna have found important connections between proto-cuneiform script, which existed before the cuneiform script at Uruk, and designs on 6,000-year-old cylinder seals. Professor Silvia Ferrara pointed out the importance of the findings and said, “We wanted to question the traditional explanations that writing was born in Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium.”
IT IS THOUGHT TO BE EFFECTIVE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WRITING
Cylinder seals were also used as an accounting system in trade networks between Uruk and other surrounding cities in Mesopotamia. It is thought that seals, which play an important role in regulating trade, were also effective in the development of writing.
“WE SAW THAT IT WAS USED IN A MANNER SIMILAR TO THE FIRST SIGNS OF WRITTEN”
Kathryn Kelley and Mattia Cartolano, co-authors of the study, said that they tried to examine the relationship between sealing technology and writing in order to understand the birth of writing. “We saw that the symbols on these seals were used in a similar way to the first signs of writing,” Kelley said.
Professor Silvia Ferrara noted that seals cannot be considered the sole source of writing, but they make a great contribution to the origin of writing. (DHA)