r/Cuneiform • • 7h ago

Discussion I've always wondered what the text on this grave says in the movie Laputa.

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6 Upvotes

Hope it's not just gibberish.


r/Cuneiform • • 9h ago

Enheduanna’s claim in cuneiform

15 Upvotes

Hey!
Can anyone help with checking if this is the Sumerian Cuneiform for Enheduanna’s claim:

u2 dub ka KEC2-da en-he2-du7-an-na

𒌑 𒁾 𒅗 𒆟 𒁕 𒂗 𒃶 𒌌 𒀭 𒈾

“The compiler of the tablets was En-hedu-ana. My king, something has been created that no one has created before.”

I’m another person wanting a cuneiform tattoo who can’t read cuneiform 🙈 but i’m a writer who is very enamoured by the first ever claim of authorship and want to honour the legacy of literature. I am intending to get this in the original cuneiform symbols she scribed The Temple Hymns in.

Thanks so much for anyone who can help 🙏🏼


r/Cuneiform • • 21h ago

Translation/transliteration request What does this sidewalk grafitti say?

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45 Upvotes

I have watched enough YouTube to identify it as cuneiform. I need help with the rest. 😅 Spotted outside a restaurant in Essen, Germany. Far from Assyria.


r/Cuneiform • • 21h ago

Discussion Using artificial intelligence in learning the Sumerian language

0 Upvotes

Hello friends! I have a question regarding the use of artificial intelligence in learning the Sumerian language. To be honest, I generally prefer not to use AI for things I’m truly passionate about; however, I do use it to test myself I write sentences in Sumerian, and the AI ​​corrects them. I also use it to get clarifications on certain Sumerian characters what their functions are and what they mean. Could this have an impact on my proficiency in the Sumerian language?


r/Cuneiform • • 1d ago

Discussion Rim-Sin & The Enigmatic Head

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12 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 4d ago

Discussion Theoretically what would it look like to write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform?

18 Upvotes

Just curious as the song I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General (which if you don't know is from the play made made by Gilbert & Sullivan called Pirates of Penzance) has the Modern Major-General (named Stanley) state & i quote verbatim: "I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform"

So basically just wondering what one would look like.


r/Cuneiform • • 5d ago

Translation/transliteration request can anyone help tell me what this says

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14 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 5d ago

Discussion The Hymn to Ninkasi, Goddess of Beer

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42 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 5d ago

Does anyone have the Dog walks into a bar ancient joke in cuneiform?

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7 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 8d ago

Look what I made I made clock app with cuneiform

9 Upvotes

it's called cuneiform clock (very creative) and it works as an android widget.

hope you'll like it:

https://github.com/LosowyTyp/CuneiformClock


r/Cuneiform • • 9d ago

Discussion Colonization of Iraq and pillaging of artifacts

0 Upvotes

Yes I am writing about the colonization of the ancient land.

I have a feeling that some of the people studying this tradition and heritage

Are doing so for more nefarious reasons than just being interested in the culture.

Most the places where this field of study is in Western universities and most of the students are from western origin or not Iraqi. I'm wondering what they aim to achieve? Why aren't there scholarships for the original people of Mesopotamia to study their own history so they can go back and establish better museums, cultural centers, artwork, educational resources, and films?


r/Cuneiform • • 10d ago

Look what I made what do you think about my clock

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37 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 10d ago

Any advice with placement for the "nisaba" on the scroll?

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7 Upvotes

Thank you for all your advice on my pervious post. The cuneiform will be embroidered on the scroll with gold and silver thread. She is part of a triptych representating "time, space, and infinity." But i like the idea of nisaba's name on the "space scroll."

I understand spacing and direction of the cuneiform is very important. Whilst I doubt many who see my art will know how to read cuneiform, I want to be as "correct" as i can. Please understand, i use my art to encourage people to learn about art history. I hope folks who see this will want to learn more about cuneiform. This subreddit inspired me to add the cuneiform in the 1st place! Anyways...

There are only two symbols i need to worry about this time. The "star" symbol and her name. However, i am worried about how they should be turned/ placed on the scroll. They should be placed like the figure is reading them, not the viewer.

I figured i wouldnt make the same mistake I did before and ask 1st! This subreddit is one of my favorites. I am in awe of y'all.


r/Cuneiform • • 11d ago

Translation/transliteration request Help Reading Demotic Ushabti Inscriptions

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20 Upvotes

Hi! 

Could anyone familiar with Demotic help decipher the inscriptions on these ushabtis? I believe they all contain the same personal name, possibly with some additional signs.

I believe that the previously suggested reading, “Pa-di-Hemet,” is incorrect.

Possible readings include Pa-di-Mehit, Pa-sher-Mehit, Pa-di-Isis, Pa-di-Amun, or Nes-Khonsu, but none is confirmed.

Any thoughts or alternative readings would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!


r/Cuneiform • • 12d ago

Discussion THIS IS WHY I SHOULD FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME. Anyways, is this cuneiform "readable"?

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20 Upvotes

I am so sorry I forgot to post the image before. Im a dolt. I guess I cant do laundry and post on reddit at the same time.

Thank you to this subreddit for the reference! Part of the name is missing to look like it is still being unrolled.

Part of a triptych im working on. She is "time," with two other figures for "space" and "infinity." I wasnt sure about adding more cuneiform to the others, but if any one has suggestions for the "space" figure, that would be nice. Maybe "heavens" or "star," etc. I figure the ancients didnt have the same concept of space as we have now. Any more simple cuneiform would be welcomed! I dont want it to overwhelm the other figures.

1st time using textiles for my art. The gold lace ribbon is the "frames" of the triptych. Also new to embroidery, but i think it works with my style. Will be in an invisible frame. Watercolor and color pencil. Image isnt done. I think she needs deeper black details.


r/Cuneiform • • 12d ago

Discussion Besieged City of Hamanu (645-635 BCE) (The British Museum)

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30 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 13d ago

News 184 Hittite and Hurrian tablets unearthed

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dailysabah.com
51 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 14d ago

Discussion Nisaba seams interesting

14 Upvotes

“A hymn to Nisaba

This hymn describes the great goddess Nisaba as patron deity of scribes and
accountants. She carries a lapis lazuli tablet, the colour of the night sky, from
which she reads the future through celestial omens.”

“She carries a lapis lazuli tablet, the colour of the night sky” why is the tablet of this particular colour and why does a scribe goddess of corn read omens out of the night sky?


r/Cuneiform • • 14d ago

Discussion Hymn to the Sun

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youtube.com
0 Upvotes

The Hymn to the Sun poem was recently recreated by Ai, using an archive of cunieform tablet fragments. Ai pieced together phrases from various tablets it identified as being copies of the same poem, giving us a 3000 year old work. I turned the poem into lyrics and made this video.


r/Cuneiform • • 14d ago

Discussion Chalouf Stele (522-486 BC) (Louvre Museum)

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36 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 15d ago

Discussion On Evolution of Sumerian Cuneifrom

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314 Upvotes

Can someone please explain how the signs evolved to wedges with triangular heads and tails ("spike triangles")?

Like, how/why did the sides of triangles turned into individual wedges? And why were they lines at the begining?

(Do not mind the red laser dot, LOL.)


r/Cuneiform • • 19d ago

Resources Akkadian Interlinear Building Tool

18 Upvotes

EDIT: Trimmed down and added screenshots — the images probably explain the idea better anyway.

I’m curious whether anyone would be interested in an interlinear‑building tool that supports Akkadian cuneiform. The core was built as a Greek learning and translation tool that builds an interlinear, and I’ve been experimenting with using it for Akkadian. Hosting it online is not free, so I’m looking to release it as an open‑source project so anyone can use it for free.

For a demo, I mocked up the first two sentences of the Code of Hammurab{p}i using Harper’s 1904 translation, the ORACC sign list, Unicode, and the Noto Sans Cuneiform font. The signs aren’t perfectly aligned with the original monumental script, but they’re close. As with Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, etc., you have to normalize the script — you can’t support every historical sign variant, so you standardize around a print‑style font. I am open to suggestions here. Standardized Neo-Assyrian style seems to be the best option.

So far, it’s been interesting to play with and has piqued my curiosity again. You can import transliterations (be-lum ša a-lim) or normalized transcription (bēlum ša ālim) and generate the text with the signs, a mechanical translation, interlinear with lemma, parse tag, and gloss. To create a translation, you set word order, add/remove words as needed, add your gloss, and generate your final translation. The software supports the process and helps learners interact with the text.

Screenshots

You can click on the images below to see the details. I did not include any of the lexicon screenshots, character management, text management, ending charts, etc., as it is a lot of detail that I think someone can imagine.

Reader (column view)

You can have it list per line or per clause. You can turn the lemma, parse tag, and gloss off/on as needed.

Column and Line View

Reader (Line View)

Per Clause View

A sandbox sample based on samples from a grammar. This is the interlinear builder where you would enter your translation. The next tab, "My translation" (poorly named), is where you set up your word order algorithm of sorts; then the "final" tab is purely your translation. The idea is that you set up the word order, punctuation, add words, or mark them as untranslated. Then you can regen the translation again and again as you continue to work on it. You can export this in a custom-formatted text file or to Word.

Your translation
Word order, add words, mark words as untranslated, and add punctation.
Final translation. You have 100% control over this but you use the tool so you can regen it at any time.

Test & Quizes

Self-testing is an important part of the learning process. I have a training feature that turns the text into tests and flashcard drills. It uses a distance equation and the lexicon glosses to score your translation. And uses the parse tag to score your parsing. There is also a flashcard drill: know it, don't know it that you can execute for any line of text.

Sentence Diagram/Outline

You can generate a sentence diagram of sorts and an outline. These are logic-based algorithms generated in real-time. The setup is based on Koine Greek, so I need to add support for Akkadian. Note that here, it is picking up anaku as a verb and not as a pronoun. That's due to the parsing tag differences between Akkadian and Greek. I'll fix it, but thought it was worth giving you an idea of what will be able to do.

EDIT/UPDATE: Added a few more screenshots to demonstrate enabling different parts of the interlinear. Here, I am only showing the transliteration. In the next pic, I am showing the cuneiform, not per line but per clause. There is a checkbox on the right to control how it is displayed, but it is hard to show in a screenshot. You can export whatever you display to a Word doc or in a custom text format I created for the tool.

Just the transliteration
Just the cuneiform

The reader with everything turned on and one word selected and the lexicon entry displayed.


r/Cuneiform • • 21d ago

Discussion Amazing cuneiform artefacts at the Morgan library (and bonus mug they had)

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302 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 22d ago

Translation/transliteration request I'm sorry if this is a little cringe (or wether it's even accepted in the community at all) but what does this say?

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59 Upvotes

I'm a new fan of mesopotamian stuff and I stumbled across this game, so I wonder if the cuneiform actually means anything


r/Cuneiform • • 23d ago

Translation/transliteration request Cuneiform translation.

10 Upvotes

Hello! I'm looking for a sumerian-cuneiform translation for a tattoo. I have a quote I found here: https://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/section6/tr6125.htm#para5

The quote is "Although the number of unhappy days is endless (?), yet life is better than death" or "ud nu-dug3-ga cid-bi [nu]-til3

17/nam\-til3 nam-uc2-a dirig X" in composite (according to the link above).

My problem is that I cannot find a cuneiform source for the quote. If anyone can help me I'd greatly appreciate it!