* Sumerians: The inventors of cuneiform writing around 3500 BCE.
* Akkadians: Who adopted and further developed cuneiform writing after conquering the Sumerians.
* Babylonians: A later Mesopotamian civilization that used cuneiform for their laws, literature, and scientific knowledge.
* Assyrians: Another Mesopotamian civilization that used cuneiform extensively for administration, historical records, and religious texts.
While the main users were Mesopotamian, cuneiform spread to other regions and was also used by:
* Hittites: An Anatolian civilization that adopted cuneiform for their own language and writing system.
* Elamites: A civilization in southwestern Iran that also adopted cuneiform for their own language.
* Ugarit: A Canaanite city-state that used a modified form of cuneiform for their own language.
Cuneiform writing remained in use for over 3,000 years until it was gradually replaced by other writing systems like the alphabet.