Here's a breakdown of how they might have arrived at this revolutionary system:
* Early Symbols: It's believed they started with pictographs - simple drawings representing objects. Imagine drawing a picture of a house to mean "house." This is the earliest stage of writing.
* Developing Complexity: These pictographs evolved into ideograms which represented not just objects, but also concepts like "sun" or "life." This added more abstract meaning.
* Adapting to Clay: The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets, pressing symbols into the soft clay with a stylus. This led to the distinctive wedge-shaped marks that give cuneiform its name.
* Phonetic Representation: They eventually moved beyond ideograms to include phonograms, where symbols represented sounds. This made the writing system much more flexible and efficient.
Think of it like this: Imagine starting with a simple drawing of a bird. Over time, it might become more stylized and eventually represent the *sound* of the word "bird."
How Did They Learn?
We don't have records of Sumerian writing schools, but it's likely that:
* Scribes were trained: The skill of writing was passed down through apprenticeships, where skilled scribes taught younger ones.
* Clay tablets were essential: These provided a durable and easily accessible writing surface. They were even used for school exercises!
* Practical use drove development: The Sumerians used writing for everything from record-keeping and trade to literature and religious texts.
The development of cuneiform was a monumental achievement that laid the foundation for writing in the ancient Near East, influencing later writing systems like the Akkadian and Babylonian.