Vessel with clay tablets as records of offerings at the Ashur Temple

The culture of writing is of central importance in the presentation of the ancient Near East. The invention of writing as a way of storing information and a means of communication was one of mankind’s most significant advances. First evidence of the process is seen in the Mesopotamian south. By the end of the 4th millennium BC its city cultures with their complex organisation had already developed writing as an aid to administration. From simple notations written on small clay tablets with reed styluses a system of written signs was soon created that made it possible to keep records of crucial information and to convey news of all kinds. Owing to the appearance of its signs, this system is now known as cuneiform writing.