Title
Southern Mesopotamia: Cuneiform tablets
Description
The earliest writing was not on paper, but on clay tablets. Instead of a pen, scribes used an instrument called a stylus that was triangular in cross-section. They would press the tip of the stylus into the clay to make the triangular portions of the symbol and drag the edge of the stylus across the clay to make the lines. The size and shape of clay tablets varied with the type of text being recorded and with changing scribal preferences. When a scribe finished with one side of the tablet he would turn the bottom edge up and write on the back. After he was done writing, the tablet would usually be set in the sun to dry (though tablets were sometimes fired in a kiln).
Location Modern Country
Iraq
Location City
Southern Mesopotamia