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 The Sumerian language is the earliest known written language. It first appeared as numerical records, with symbols added to represents the things counted, which then developed into a logographic script representing the whole language, not just accounting objects. The logographic symbols were then generalized using a wedge-shaped stylus to impress the shapes into wet clay, giving rise to the name cuneiform, meaning "wedge-shape". These distinctive wedge shapes were imitated even in carved inscriptions. By ca. 2600 BC, the large set of logographic signs had been simplified into a syllabary of several hundred signs, allowing modern Assyriologists to understand many aspects of the phonology, morphology and syntax of the language. Script error: No such module "Box-header".  Selected biography
Hammurabi (Akkadian, from Amorite ˤAmmurāpi, "the kinsman is a healer", reigned c. 1728 – 1686 BC (short chronology)) was the sixth king of Babylon. He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire, extending Babylon's control over Mesopotamia by winning a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms. Although his empire controlled all of Mesopotamia at the time of his death, his successors were unable to maintain his empire. Hammurabi is known for the set of laws called Hammurabi's Code, one of the first written codes of law in recorded history. These laws were written on a basalt stele standing over six feet tall that was found in 1901. Owing to his reputation in modern times as an ancient law-giver, Hammurabi's portrait is in many government buildings throughout the world. Script error: No such module "Box-header". Selected picture
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[[Image:|100x100px|right|Earliest known pictographic writing c. 3500 BC]]...that c. 5300 BC Eridu was the first settlement in what would become the cradle of civilization? ...that the first writing system was developed in the late 4th millennium BC in Sumer? It was a logographic script which is still incompletely deciphered. ...that the Sumerian language, the Kassite language, and the Hattic language are all language isolates, unrelated to any other known language?
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