The language and script of the older tablets is Akkadian, which was superimposed on the older Sumerian language and script. The words of the Akkadian language consisted of one or more syllables; each syllable was represented by a collection of what are essentially line segments. The Akkadians used a stylus with a triangular cross-section held at an angle to the clay, which produced wedge-shaped impressions that could be oriented in different ways. From cuneus, the Latin word for “wedge,” the script became known as cuneiform.
–What is Akkadian | Video by Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences
