8. How do we know about Mesopotamian culture, myth and literature?

Mesopotamian culture, myth, and literature was preserved by Mesopotamian systems of writing. Most Mesopotamian cultures developed a cuneiform system of writing which mainly consisted of wedge-shaped symbols. The name "cuneiform" comes the latin word cuneus, which means wedge. The earliest known cuneiform writing is projected to be developed by the Sumerians in the ancient city of Uruk from 3500-3000 BCE. All great Mesopotamian cultures utilized the cuneiform writing, such as the Akkadians, Babylonians, Elamites, Hittites, Assyrians, and the Hurrians, and was abandoned for an alphabetical script some time after 100 BCE. The writing was sketched onto a clay tablet with a stylist, then was fired so the clay would harden. Often laws, myths, and literature were inscribed on these clay tablets, allowing for the preservation of their ancient society.

Sources: http://www.ancient.eu/cuneiform/ Class History Notes

Miller Humphreys