Did you know the first writing system wasn't made with pencils or pens, but with a stick pressed into clay?

Thousands of years ago people in ancient Mesopotamia created a way to write down numbers, names, and even stories using wedge-shaped marks.

This early form of writing is called CUNY form, and it helps shape the way we read and write today.

Cuneiform was first developed over 5,000 years ago in a place called Mesopotamia, in what is now Iraq.

The name cuneiform comes from Latin and means wedge-shaped.

That's because the marks made in the clay looked like tiny wedges. Writers used a tool called

a stylus, usually made from a reed to press into the clay. The people who first invented Cuneiform

were the Sumerians. Around 3,200 BCE, they began using symbols to record numbers and goods.

At first the symbols were simple pictures, like a drawing of a fish to mean fish.

But over time, these pictures changed into signs made of wedges.

The symbols became quicker to write and more abstract.

This made it easier to record more ideas. Kuneiform writing began as a way to

keep records. Samarian merchants and temple workers used it to count grain, animals, or trade goods.

Later it was used for much more, laws, letters, stories, and prayers. It was a major step in human history, allowing people to record

information, send messages, and share ideas across time and distance. Cuneiform wasn't just used

by the Sumerians. Later cultures adopted it too, including the Acadians, Babylonians,

Assyrians, and Persians. Each group added their own language

to the system. The symbols stayed mostly the same, but how they were read changed depending on the

language. Cuneiform had hundreds of different signs. Some stood for whole words. Others stood for

sounds like letters in our alphabet. This meant that

CUNiform could be used to write many different words and even entire sentences. But it wasn't easy

to learn. Students had to memorize hundreds of signs. They trained in special schools to become

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