Cuneiform Diaries

[sheshki]

;D

[oipteaapdoce]

Those are awesome tattoos! That must have taken quite a few hours to do.

OK you guys have inspired me, here is my first attempt at Cuneiform



I see there is a bit of a learning curve apparently. Perhaps with practice they will look as fine as the others on here. I think I need a reed pen or something, especially if I'm going to try to do them in clay. I have 50lbs of clay laying around... must do something with it...

I'll update again when I have written more impressive looking cuneiform letters.

Athena

[us4-he2-gal2]

OIP:


Really not to bad for some first signs! ;] and of course we have told clay about you. I think I know where you are getting those signs, it looks like from Sheshki's school of cuneiform level 2 - you should start with level 1 maybe, would go even better. Am sure we can clarify there

[sheshki]

well, cuneiform tattoos didnt take so long...last one maybe 45 minits of pain.
hey, your cuneiforms lookin cool, but i have to agree to bill, start with snell.its easyer because they are sorted in a special way.

[sheshki]

It starts to itch. Badly. Must not scratch!

[cynsanity]

Let me, with honest envy bright in my eyes, state straightforward that it is absolutely wonderful how you write cuneiform and that it looks really, really awesome. Hell, I would be glad if more of the scribes back then would have minded to write the way you do. I'm truly impressed.

Especially since I tried writing cuneiform on clay already, together with a colleague. We both gave up after about 10 lines, and in my frustration (I didn't manage to make a proper-looking Winkelhaken, to my embarrassment) I even dumped the clay and the stylus. So I congratulate you on mastering something I never did and probably never will. It sounds (and looks) as if it takes a lot of time and practise...

(Oh, and it doesn't matter whether you use three or four vertical strokes in the za3 - we can read it anyways, and you could have made the fourth one very small... but I certainly don't want to lecture you on cuneiform

[sheshki]

oh, thank you for your kind words. that touches me.
well, actually i dont practice writing on clay much. each tablet i do is a unique thing and a first try.so, if you will, the pictures i posted here document my praticing. at the beginnig it was very hard, and i was only able to write very big signs. but after a while i lost my chopstick and had to make a new one, which was thicker then the old one and with this it was possible to make smaller and more precise signs. i think my exessive cuneiform-writing-on-paper helped me to write on clay too.
right now i have a bigger amount of fresh claymud in my kitchen, drying to be posted here someday.

[us4-he2-gal2]

*beams* it is a compliment well made An exchange like that is more than enough to make me forget what I was posting..

..what was I posting......


Oh! I finally report that I have finished the Snell workbook which consists of some 132 signs. The last signs I learned were:

Whew. That did take a little too long to finish - now I have the smallest amount of cuneiform knowledge possible instead of no cuneiform knowledge! Yay hm. So next the dub-sar, the scribe, the dub-sar of the e-dub-ba, Frank, has prepared for me some 190+ signs in what we are calling Sheshki`s School of Cuneiform: level 2 and has received orders from Clay to draw up an ever growing list of signs to learn, yes it is a list of perpertual growth. The influence of clay is great - the signs shall drift slowing through my brain attempting to awe my faculties into submission. But how could I possibly memorize 800 signs??

I have begun fantasizing about the possibility of making drastic life changes - perhaps I should shave my head and get a cuneiform tattoo. I should reduce the number or non-enenuru people I talk to, and only do so many shifts at work as would sustain a small diet - like rice and water. I would in effect be becoming a modern day monk, like a cuneiform monk. I must wonder: is this the ultimate evolution of my strangely obsessive nature and, if so, what am I waiting for??

......


(I guess I would kind of miss coffee. I don't know if that would be on my budget anymore! 0_0)

[oipteaapdoce]

Dec 5, 2008 11:00:18 GMT -5 us4-he2-gal2 said:

*beams* it is a compliment well made An exchange like that is more than enough to make me forget what I was posting..

..what was I posting......


Oh! I finally report that I have finished the Snell workbook which consists of some 132 signs. The last signs I learned were:

Whew. That did take a little too long to finish - now I have the smallest amount of cuneiform knowledge possible instead of no cuneiform knowledge! Yay hm. So next the dub-sar, the scribe, the dub-sar of the e-dub-ba, Frank, has prepared for me some 190+ signs in what we are calling Sheshki`s School of Cuneiform: level 2 and has received orders from Clay to draw up an ever growing list of signs to learn, yes it is a list of perpertual growth. The influence of clay is great - the signs shall drift slowing through my brain attempting to awe my faculties into submission. But how could I possibly memorize 800 signs??

I have begun fantasizing about the possibility of making drastic life changes - perhaps I should shave my head and get a cuneiform tattoo. I should reduce the number or non-enenuru people I talk to, and only do so many shifts at work as would sustain a small diet - like rice and water. I would in effect be becoming a modern day monk, like a cuneiform monk. I must wonder: is this the ultimate evolution of my strangely obsessive nature and, if so, what am I waiting for??

......


(I guess I would kind of miss coffee. I don't know if that would be on my budget anymore! 0_0)

No, no, no, you must do like the ancients! Farm all day, make beer all night, eat lots of fatty meat soups, eat lots of wheat drink lots of beer, lots of fresh veggies, and then write lots of cuneiform. Oh and don't forget the odd liver divination to make sure you are doing it all right, very important! I'm sure if you stick to all of this, you will be expert in no time! I think only certain priests shaved their heads, so you can likely keep the hair. Also, perhaps working many hours at your job could be done in place of the farming if you buy fresh produce.

Athena

[sheshki]

Congratulations Bill,
Clay and me are very proud of you! But dont worry, learning signs from now on will be a piece of clay compared to the first 110. (132 you said...did you create some new?) Because now you know the basics and many of the signs you already know, appear in the one way or another in the new signs.


Here are some examples


you already know ga and gin2 from the list, so only new name to learn...


here are two signs combined, ka as a frame and li inside


here is one where the two signs inside are from the list, me and en


and here you can spot an ir

....but, as it is written at the ancient tablets of Clay, his servant Bill will come across signs of weired names and shapes, those might confuse him, but if he does not shave his head all will be well.
He will just inhale the new signs like a raging firestorm inhales the trees of a forest.
ahm, where was i .... so u see Bill, new shores ahead. Keep on learning. And all of you who are afraid of the challenge, just try it its easy, if not, money back.
Ah, before i forget it, some stranger signs as well




Oh, and, our fellow member lara has sworn by the Clay that she will post about her learnings today.

[laramar]

Dec 5, 2008 20:04:33 GMT -5 sheshki said:

Oh, and, our fellow member lara has sworn by the Clay that she will post about her learnings today.

Thus, as sworn in the name of Clay:

Lara's Cuneiform Diary, entry #1

I had been thinking about learning to write cuneiform signs since taking my first introductory course in mesopotamian history last spring. There weren't any suitable courses available at the university at that time, and I was unsure how to proceed. Which book to use, and would it be possible at all to learn these strange looking signs by myself?

After joining this board and getting invaluable advice (and some very extensive push...err, guidance ) from our dub-sar of the e-dub-ba, Sheshki, I finally got started. I'm now on the steady path of learning 3 signs at a time from Snell's Cuneiform Workbook:

aš ba zu
an ka la
tu li mu

etc.

I try to learn new signs every day, but if I notice that I have forgotten some, I take a few days break and relearn the "difficult" signs.

I'm at 36 signs now, and learning is becoming easier day by day which is encouraging. I found my daily 2-hour commuting very suitable time for going through the signlist and making sure I still remember the signs I learned on the day before.

To keep track of my progress I decided to resurrect my unused livejournal account. View my Cuneiform Diary at laramar.livejournal.com/

[sheshki]

a new piece of clay is ready


still a bit too wet...but soon...

[sheshki]

Today at around noon i checked the clay with my chopstick-writer. Then i left appartment. After some hours i came back, was like...ok, lets write...and , what fun, the chopstick was in stealthmode. Arrr.(with a pirates r). I searched maybe an hour. Without success. So i had to cut a new one. And here is its first work

This time i tried to make a copie of a royal inscription of Amar-Sin

CDLI Link

[sheshki]

And just for fun i made this Gudea inscription...well, the others are also made for fun
I tried to write fast.
Here is a short quote from our chatroom.

HERBST9 (22:34:15): i now will perform a freestyle gudea inscription...
HERBST9 (22:39:01): done



and here is my new signature



Long live mighty Clay !

[sheshki]

today, while my son was blocking the computer with watching roadrunner and coyote( i dont have a tv so he had to watch it at my pc) i formed a bowl out of clay.
later the evening i started to cover it with signs and as i was finished i noticed that, if i use it as a bowl, the signs are upside down....
so, i guess i have to make something out of clay to give this one here a new function, a bowl cover maybe...

here is the transliteration of the text:

bottom, or top,depends...

^dinanna za₃-mi₂
^den-ki za₃-mi₂
^den-lil za₃-mi₂
^dnin-gir-zu za₃-mi₂
^den-zu za₃-mi₂
^dnin-hur-sag za₃-mi₂
^dutu za₃-mi₂
^dereš-ki-gal za₃-mi₂
^damar-ud za₃-mi₂
lu₂ šeš-ki le-ip-zi-ik ki 25-12-8

the side inscription

kug ^dereš-ki-gal-la-ke₄ za₃-mi₂-zu dug₃-ga-am₃
kur gul-gul an-da me ba-a nin-ĝu₁₀ ḫi-li gu₂ e₃ dinana za₃-mi₂



The clay is mighty!

[sheshki]

A few days ago i made a cylinderseal out of clay.
Here are some pictures.
It says : ^dinanna za₃-mi₂





Inanna be praised!

Did anyone receive a claymail lately?

[sheshki]

Recently i started again to learn the signs from snells book but in sumerian. I also created a set of claypieces with a sumerian sign on each side as you can see below ( there are still some that i have to create. Should be 55 pieces total...).

[sheshki]

Me again

Another claypiece was ready today. This time i choosed an inscription by Entemena (P222515). (only the first 4 columns though...)



Well, the clay was almost too dry so i had to hurry and messed up the spacing .The fourth column didnt fit, so i wrote the rest at left site and bottom. If ancient scribes can place their signs like they want why shouldnt i do the same
Size is 220mm x 155mm (8.66142" x 6.10236")



My biggest inscription so far i think. Long live mighty clay

[sheshki]

The Entemena claypiece did break today. I didnt dry it properly, or better forgot to turn it on the other side from time to time that it can dry on both sides equally. So it started to look like an old piece of salami that did get too much fresh air. And a crack appeared. Well another chance to raise "fixing clay things"skill. My first repaired tablet didnt survive long, because kitty needed to sit on it urgently! I hope i have more luck this time, but the dried out salami shape will stay.

[us4-he2-gal2]

Mein Fruend:



Congratulations on this Early Dynastic style tablet - is quite a feat! Doesn`t matter that it got cracked afterwords, its the scribal feat of making it that is the point. The lines are very nicely done and the archaic script is absolutely charming to any dub-sar - Du bist die Meister

[sheshki]

Thanks Bill,

today i created another one. I painted it with watercolour before writing. Dont ask why it looks like it does. I started painting and in the end it took shape

I did use an inscription by Shu-Sin, but it turned out a bit freestylish Object is 19 cm in diameter.

cdli.ucla.edu/search/result.pt?id_text=P226503&start=0&result_format=single&-op_id_text=eq&size=100





















Btw, if u turn the second last picture 90° u have a blue packman

[sheshki]

Today the blue pacman tablet did break into two pieces...it did also get a crack while drying. Well, i guess clay does not want to be round cuz all the squared ones didnt break, only the round ones.

[sheshki]

Winter returned and i walked through the snow.

This is post 222 , so invisible drinks for everyone



sheshki

[us4-he2-gal2]

Excellent snow stomping above Sheshki! It has snowed again in Canada so maybe I can try and get something going this week


Also this week I have begun the new list of signs that Sheshki has put together for me, 110 down, hundreds and hundreds to go 0_0 Perhaps I will put my goal at at least another 100 Neo-Assyrian before trying Sumerian signs. Today I am learning:

[sheshki]

Ahh, sweet ush. You´ll see, list 2 is easy.
Since a while i learn Snells list but in "ePSD sumerian"
The signs below i just scribbled on that postcard(and hope i didnt make too many errors...).
The first person who sends me postal adress will receive that card.
Oh, reminds me....ush, did you forward Ummias tablet yet?

[sheshki]

Ack, at least two errors. Up is a bit misshaped and i wrote ša instead of ša3.Well...that was short after gettig up...

[sheshki]

A close-up of one of my lampshades. I havent forgotten yours, Naomi.

[sheshki]

I just wrote all the 110 signs from snells list in ePsd sumerian. Out of brain. Hows it going with list 2 ushi?



some scribbling

[sheshki]

well, you all missed your chance. the postcard is sent.



edit:link is dead

[sheshki]

A few days ago a guy from austria contacted me via myspace, asking for the cuneiform signs for tiamat for a tattoo he was planning.

here is the finished tattoo.