Construction and Implementation of the Cuneiform System

Abstract

Cuneiform was, from its inception, not merely a collection of individual symbols, but a coherent system of information manipulation for which written characters were the main, but not the only, component. This system did not evolve by itself, but was manufactured, developed, and implemented within the framework of a bureaucratic organization which controlled the distribution not only of goods and services but also of status and information. That institution produced the demand for a control technology for which the cuneiform writing system was the eventual realization. While the user institution imposed specific, characteristic constraints and demands, it also adjusted its own needs and goals to adapt to restrictions and functions of the technology itself. We look at the early development of the cuneiform writing system with special attention to the less well recognized peripheral components and to interactions between the technology and its user.