1. How to... Write in Cuneiform and Become a Scribe! “Knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice.” ~Anton Chekhov By: Michael Nelson

2. How to…Write in Cuneiform and Become a Scribe! A guide on how to become literate in a growing Sumerian world.

3. Table of Contents Page 3……………………………….. Page 4……………………………….. Page 5……………………………….. Page 6……………………………….. Page 7……………………………….. Page 8……………………………….. Page 9……………………………….. Page 10……………………………… Page 11……………………………… Step 1: Entering School Step 2: Surviving School Step 3: Behavior Step 4: Getting a Stylus Step 5: Getting Your Tablet Step 6: Writing on the Tablet Step 7: Getting a Seal Step 8: Baking the Tablet Citations

4. Step 1: Entering School In order to learn Cuneiform you must first learn how to read and write in Cuneiform. This means you must go to school. However, only upper-class boys can go to school. So, in order to proceed with this step you must become an upper-class boy in the Sumerian civilization.

5. Step 2: Surviving School Once entering school you must survive the system. Sumerian school is very strenuous. School will go from early in the morning to late in the evening. You will be taught how to read and write, along with some arithmetic. You will stay in school for 12 years before becoming a scribe. You must be prepared before proceeding with this step.

6. Step 3: Behavior You will be severely disciplined in Sumerian school. You may even be beaten. Good behavior in a Sumerian scribe school is the key to success. If you can behave and do your work for all 12 years you will become a scribe, a prestigious position in the Sumerian society.

7. Step 4: Getting a Stylus When you finally finish scribe school you will become a scribe. You are also then one step closer to writing in cuneiform. However, first you must attain a stylus. A stylus is the Sumerian tool used to write in cuneiform.

8. Step 5: Getting Your Tablet After you receive your stylus you must get a clay tablet to write on. You can either make your own tablet, or buy a tablet. It does not matter what you do as long as you attain a tablet.

9. Step 6: Writing on the Tablet Since you now have the tablet and the stylus, you now can write on the tablet. You must use the stylus’s wedge shaped side to press marks into the tablet. There are hundreds of symbols you can use in writing Cuneiform, and all of these symbols should have been taught to you in scribe school.

10. Step 7: Getting a Seal After writing on the tablet you must go prove that you wrote that particular document. In order to prove this you must get a cylinder seal. Cylinder seals are used to sign the clay tablets you will write on. Each seal is unique. In order to use a cylinder seal you must roll the seal on the tablet.

11. Step 8: Baking the Tablet After you write on your tablet and you sign your tablet with your cylinder seal, you can now dry the tablet to make the writing permanent. There are two ways to dry your tablet. You can either dry the tablet in the sun or bake the tablet in a kiln. After this is done, you have now successfully written in cuneiform and have become a scribe. Kiln

12. Citations Snyder, Marcia. "Ancient Mesopotamia." Hypermedia Education. Hypermedia Education, 1995. Web. 10 Dec 2010. <http://hypermedia.educ.psu.edu/k-12/edpgs/su96/meso/mesopotamia.html#temple>