Cuneiform (Reading the Past) [Paperback]

C. B. F. Walker (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0520061152 | ISBN-13: 978-0520061156 | Publication Date: June 25, 1987

The cuneiform writing system flourished in the Near East from before 3000 BC to AD 75. This book surveys the development of the script from the earliest pictographic signs to the latest astronomical tablets and the process by which it came to be used for writing many different Near Eastern languages. Sample texts show how the script is analysed into words and syllables and how to read the names of the most famous kings as they appear on monuments. In addition, extracts from contemporary Sumerian literature and school texts give an account of the training of the scribes, and the various types of inscription they wrote are illustrated. The decipherment of cuneiform is explained and--for the collector--some guidelines for the identification of fake inscriptions are given.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"There is nothing in existence or in preparation to my knowledge that competes with the Walker text. I rate it as very important."--Anne Kilmer, University of California, Berkeley

From the Back Cover

"There is nothing in existence or in preparation to my knowledge that competes with the Walker text. I rate it as very important." (Anne Kilmer, University of California, Berkeley)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: University of California Press (June 25, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0520061152
• ISBN-13: 978-0520061156
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #465,967 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An elegant production., February 1, 2004

By 

Tom Brody (Berkeley, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cuneiform (Reading the Past) (Paperback)

Cuneiform is a type of writing that has been used for at least 15 languages, including Sumerian and Akkadian. Apparently, cuneiform could even be used to relay secret messages in English to your friends. According to Ancient Iraq, by Georges Roux, and Ancient Mesopotamia, by A. Leo Oppenheim, there are more than 100,000 Sumerian and Akkadian tablets written in cuneiform with, for example, 15,000 tables found at Tell Mardik and 25,000 found at Ashurbanipal. However, the book being reviewed (Walker) will does not provide the reader with any sort of start towards the goal of phonetically reading these tablets. Walker's book does reveal a few of the ancient cuneiform letters (pages 12-14), but does not reveal all of these letters, and does not instruct the reader how to string the letters together to form words, aside from an example given on page 56. The author does do a better job with a later form of cuneiform ("old Persian"), and here 36 cuneiform characters are shown. But again, there is little or no attempt at instructing the reader how to read any cuneiform text. An elegant job is done in illustrating various tablets, cyclinders, monuments, envelopes, and prisms, bearing cuneiform script. The photos are large, on glossy paper, of high quality, and generous in number, despite the concise nature of Walker's paperback book. If anything is missing from the pictures, it is a photo of the 1760 BC (71 cm tall) code of Hammurabi, that is, the one with the engraving of Hammurabi and Shamash, god of the sun and of justice. Walker's writing is first rate and comprehensible to the layperson. The author's credentials are appropriate and first rate (employee of the British Museum), and the publisher is Univ. of California Press (Go Bears!). The book provides us with a number of fun facts, for example, the clay envelopes used for inserting clay tablets, e.g., for security purposes, and the fact that Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon, the first king of Mesopotamia, is the first known author in the history of the world. However, the book really needs a second edition, with a full chapter devoted to teaching the reader some of the basic elements on how to phonetically read ancient cuneiform text and/or old Persian cuneiform, along with more examples of pre-translated examples, and exercises for the reader. In its present edition, the book should really be called "Archeology of Cuneiform" or "Concise History of Cuneiform."

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A useful illustrated survey of the cuneiform writing system., June 16, 2001

By 

tepi "tepi" - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Cuneiform (Reading the Past) (Paperback)

CUNEIFORM by C. B. F. Walker. 64 pp. Volume 3 in the 'Reading the Past' series. University of California Press / British Museum, 1987. ISBN 0-520-06115-2 (pbk.)

The present book offers a brief illustrated survey of the cuneiform writing system which flourished in the Ancient Near East between 3000 BC and 75 AD. It covers the development of the script from its earliest pictographic signs, and explains the process which led to cuneiform being used for writing, not only Sumerian and Akkadian, but also many other Near Eastern languages.

After a brief Preface, seven chapters follow : 1. Origin and Development; 2. Tablets and Monuments; 3. Scribes and Libraries; 4. The Geographical Spread; 5. Decipherment; 6. Sample Texts; 7. Fakes.

The sample texts show us how the cuneiform script is analyzed into words and syllables, and also how to read the names of the most famous kings as found in various inscriptions. Extracts are given from Sumerian texts which describe how scribes were trained, and the many different kinds of inscription they wrote are illustrated.

Also explained is the exciting story of the decipherment of cuneiform, and, since original inscriptions can be very expensive and are often faked, a few guidelines for identifying fakes are included for the benefit of collectors.

The book is rounded out with a useful summary of the main international collections, 'Where to see Cuneiform Inscriptions,' a short list of books for 'Further Reading' which includes such familiar names as Kramer, Oppenheim, and Chiera, and a handy Index.

The book is a large 8vo in size (9.5 by 7 inches), bound in a sturdy decorative wrapper, stitched, and well-printed (though in a rather tiny font) on strong paper. It contains a useful map, and is profusely illustrated with line drawings and with black-and-white photographs of many ancient cuneiform-bearing artefacts such as sculptures, clay tablets, seal impressions, stelae, and so on.

All in all, C. B. F. Walker's book is a handy guide, and sturdy enough to be taken along on a trip to a museum or collection to be used as a reference. But given the enormous importance of cuneiform as the vehicle of the most ancient and amazing body of literature that has come down to us, and of the basic civilizational patterns which the modern world has inherited from Mesopotamia and which still govern us, it seems amazing that this should be the only book devoted to a general survey of the subject in English (though there are chapters in others).

Although the style in which this book is written might have been a bit livelier, the illustrations are very nice to have, and anyone who is at all interested in cuneiform will find much to enjoy in it. A few other recommended texts follow.

For a sumptiously illustrated text on quarto sized pages which gives many large beautiful reproductions of cuneiform, readers are referred to:

A MANUAL OF SUMERIAN GRAMMAR AND TEXTS. Second Revised and Expanded Edition. By John L. Hayes. 471pp. Malibu : Undena Publications, 2000. Aids and Research Tools in Ancient Near Eastern Studies No.5. ISBN0-89003-508-1 (pbk.)

A reproduction of an incredibly beautiful 1861 copper engraving of a Royal Inscription which was one of the earliest pieces of cuneiform to be published after its decipherment will be found as Figure 1 on page 62 of Assyriologist Jean Bottero's :

MESOPOTAMIA : Writing, Reasoning, and the Gods. By Jean Bottero. Translated by Zainab Bahrani and Marc Van De Mieroop. 311 pp. Chicago and London : The University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN 0-226-06727-0 (pbk.)

This engraving is definitely something you shouldn't miss. I don't think we'll ever see the likes of it again. It's almost worth the price of the book. And the rest of Bottero's book is marvelous too!

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent walking-tour of the development of cuneiform, February 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cuneiform (Reading the Past) (Paperback)

This excellent book, which is one of a series of concise texts dealing with ancient scripts, provides a comprehensive overview of ancient Mesopotamian cuneiform logographs. Helpfully, these are divided into various periods and cultures, spanning nearly three thousand years of the development of the written languages of this "cradle of civilazation." Outside the scope of this book is the basic liguistic philosophy which would place this group of languages in a wider context. Nevertheless, this text will help to open wide the heavy door which seals most of us from the legacy of these pioneers of incisive chronicle and timeless literature. Tellingly, I've been able to employ the tables in this book to aid in the decipherment of inscriptions of Old Babylonian cylinder seals.