Early writing evolved purely from necessity, as merchants needed a reliable way to tally agricultural surpluses and livestock exchanges.

The term stems from the Latin word "cuneus," meaning wedge. These triangular impressions replaced earlier pictographs to speed up writing.

While unbaked clay naturally crumbles over time, the intense heat from invading armies' fires effectively baked the tablets into hard ceramic.

Scribes crafted a stylus from the abundant reeds growing along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, pressing its squared-off tip into wet clay.