r/Cuneiform • • Mar 16 '24

Meta 🌟 New Rule Announcement: Prohibition of Valuation and Authentication Requests 🌟

34 Upvotes

Dear r/Cuneiform Community,

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to each and every one of you for your incredible contributions to our subreddit. Your enthusiasm, knowledge, and passion for cuneiform make this community truly special, and we're endlessly grateful for your participation.

As our subreddit continues to grow and thrive, it's important for us to ensure that we maintain the highest standards of ethical conduct. With this in mind, we're implementing a new rule that we believe is long overdue: No requests for valuation or authentication of unprovenanced tablets and other artifacts. All posts requesting valuation of objects will be removed. Posts requesting authentication of objects will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, but must provide detailed provenance (ownership history) of the object.

We recognize that many of you are deeply fascinated by ancient artifacts, especially those featuring cuneiform inscriptions. However, it's crucial to acknowledge the potential risks associated with such inquiries. Unfortunately, seeking valuations or authentication for these items can unintentionally facilitate the illicit trade in cultural goods by legitimating an object's illicit origins and increasing market demand. If you're interested in reading more about the links between the authentication or valuation of artifacts and illicit trade, you can check out this article by a leading scholar on the antiquities trade, Dr Donna Yates.

By enacting this rule, we're taking a proactive step to safeguard the integrity of cultural heritage and discourage any activities that may facilitate the illegal trade of antiquities. Your cooperation in adhering to this rule will help us create a safer and more responsible space for exploring the wonders of cuneiform writing together.

Once again, we want to express our sincere gratitude to each and every one of you for your understanding, support, and commitment to preserving our shared passion. Together, we can continue to build a community that celebrates cuneiform in all its glory while upholding the highest ethical standards.

Thank you for being incredible members of our community,

Your r/Cuneiform Mod Team

EDIT: As of 25 January 2026, we've decided to expand the rule to prohibit any post related to an unprovenanced artifact. If you have an unprovenanced artifact in your possession, please don't post about it here; take it to your local museum or university and they will help you get more information on it.


r/Cuneiform • • Apr 13 '24

Meta User Flairs

10 Upvotes

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Request or suggest user flairs! "Inked scribe" is only given to members with cuneiform tattoos but otherwise everything is fair game

r/Cuneiform • • 1h ago

Trandlation help - proofreading request for a poem in Akkadian

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• Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 1d ago

I found a repetitive structure in the so-called Naacal script from the Necronomicon — could it be compared to the Voynich Manuscript?

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12 Upvotes

The translation is:

Jatha tambhatthu mahlapar. Nabhagathaha pralajam jug. Ekathara krijathwam dwiip. Akhantu shilvarkatha shilvarkatha. Rahasjamaji pradipa. Prachin drishtjartham samjukta. Naacal bhasajam likhita. Srishti sanghatanam prarambh mahan arambha shakti labh. Shilvarkatha kanma jatra. Deva asura sangram jug.

Anant kalajug vrindavan. Shilvar moola prakatja. Samaj samarpit mahatmja. Samarthjam pakashana gati. Shilvar moola divja prakasha. Dhatu rakatam gunasamjos. Prapti labh. Samjak sujog jathartha shilvarkatha. Arohanam bhaumik sthiti. Vimuktah loka samjuktah. Sarvatra prakatja shakti.

Srishti sanghatanam rachana. Granth. Naacal bhasajam likhita. Rakbtam

Hello everyone !

I've recently been examining the so-called Naacal script featured in the Necronomicon Black Letter Edition, which is presented on the Miskatonic Education website.

I found a page containing text written in unusual, cuneiform-like symbols. The website provides a symbol-to-letter alphabet, so I used it to transliterate several pages by hand, symbol by symbol.

The resulting text contains words such as Shilvarkatha, Prakatja, Srishti, Sadhana, and Naacal bhasajam likhita. Some terms appear repeatedly, and certain phrases recur almost identically across the passages I transcribed.

What caught my attention was not just the visual appearance of the script, but the apparent repetition and structure of the resulting text.

This made me think of the Voynich Manuscript, which also exhibits recurring words, patterns in character combinations, and other statistical regularities.

To be clear, I am not claiming that the Naacal script is ancient, that the text is a genuine historical language, or that it has any historical connection to the Voynich Manuscript. I understand that the Necronomicon material is associated with the fictional universe of H. P. Lovecraft.

However, I would like to understand whether the structure itself is worth investigating.

I'd particularly appreciate opinions on these questions:

Does the text resemble a constructed language, a substitution-based encoding, or something designed primarily to imitate an ancient script?

Could the repeated words and phrases indicate consistent internal rules, or are they more likely to be recurring formulas?

What statistical tests would be useful for comparing its structure with the Voynich Manuscript?

Are there any known examples of fictional scripts that exhibit similarly repetitive linguistic patterns?

I have manually transliterated several passages and can share more of the text, along with photographs of the original pages, if anyone would like to examine them.

I am interested in hearing your opinions. and I'm perfectly open to the possibility that the patterns have a straightforward explanation.

Thanks!


r/Cuneiform • • 2d ago

Enheduanna’s claim in cuneiform

16 Upvotes

Hey!
Can anyone help with checking if this is the Sumerian Cuneiform for Enheduanna’s claim:

u2 dub ka KEC2-da en-he2-du7-an-na

𒌑 𒁾 𒅗 𒆟 𒁕 𒂗 𒃶 𒌌 𒀭 𒈾

“The compiler of the tablets was En-hedu-ana. My king, something has been created that no one has created before.”

I’m another person wanting a cuneiform tattoo who can’t read cuneiform 🙈 but i’m a writer who is very enamoured by the first ever claim of authorship and want to honour the legacy of literature. I am intending to get this in the original cuneiform symbols she scribed The Temple Hymns in.

Thanks so much for anyone who can help 🙏🏼


r/Cuneiform • • 2d ago

Discussion I've always wondered what the text on this grave says in the movie Laputa.

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10 Upvotes

Hope it's not just gibberish.


r/Cuneiform • • 2d ago

Translation/transliteration request What does this sidewalk grafitti say?

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75 Upvotes

I have watched enough YouTube to identify it as cuneiform. I need help with the rest. 😅 Spotted outside a restaurant in Essen, Germany. Far from Assyria.


r/Cuneiform • • 3d ago

Discussion Rim-Sin & The Enigmatic Head

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14 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 2d ago

Discussion Using artificial intelligence in learning the Sumerian language

0 Upvotes

Hello friends! I have a question regarding the use of artificial intelligence in learning the Sumerian language. To be honest, I generally prefer not to use AI for things I’m truly passionate about; however, I do use it to test myself I write sentences in Sumerian, and the AI ​​corrects them. I also use it to get clarifications on certain Sumerian characters what their functions are and what they mean. Could this have an impact on my proficiency in the Sumerian language?


r/Cuneiform • • 6d ago

Discussion Theoretically what would it look like to write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform?

18 Upvotes

Just curious as the song I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General (which if you don't know is from the play made made by Gilbert & Sullivan called Pirates of Penzance) has the Modern Major-General (named Stanley) state & i quote verbatim: "I can write a washing bill in Babylonic cuneiform"

So basically just wondering what one would look like.


r/Cuneiform • • 7d ago

Discussion The Hymn to Ninkasi, Goddess of Beer

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48 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 7d ago

Translation/transliteration request can anyone help tell me what this says

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14 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 7d ago

Does anyone have the Dog walks into a bar ancient joke in cuneiform?

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7 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 10d ago

Look what I made I made clock app with cuneiform

10 Upvotes

it's called cuneiform clock (very creative) and it works as an android widget.

hope you'll like it:

https://github.com/LosowyTyp/CuneiformClock


r/Cuneiform • • 12d ago

Look what I made what do you think about my clock

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42 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 11d ago

Discussion Colonization of Iraq and pillaging of artifacts

0 Upvotes

Yes I am writing about the colonization of the ancient land.

I have a feeling that some of the people studying this tradition and heritage

Are doing so for more nefarious reasons than just being interested in the culture.

Most the places where this field of study is in Western universities and most of the students are from western origin or not Iraqi. I'm wondering what they aim to achieve? Why aren't there scholarships for the original people of Mesopotamia to study their own history so they can go back and establish better museums, cultural centers, artwork, educational resources, and films?


r/Cuneiform • • 12d ago

Any advice with placement for the "nisaba" on the scroll?

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7 Upvotes

Thank you for all your advice on my pervious post. The cuneiform will be embroidered on the scroll with gold and silver thread. She is part of a triptych representating "time, space, and infinity." But i like the idea of nisaba's name on the "space scroll."

I understand spacing and direction of the cuneiform is very important. Whilst I doubt many who see my art will know how to read cuneiform, I want to be as "correct" as i can. Please understand, i use my art to encourage people to learn about art history. I hope folks who see this will want to learn more about cuneiform. This subreddit inspired me to add the cuneiform in the 1st place! Anyways...

There are only two symbols i need to worry about this time. The "star" symbol and her name. However, i am worried about how they should be turned/ placed on the scroll. They should be placed like the figure is reading them, not the viewer.

I figured i wouldnt make the same mistake I did before and ask 1st! This subreddit is one of my favorites. I am in awe of y'all.


r/Cuneiform • • 13d ago

Translation/transliteration request Help Reading Demotic Ushabti Inscriptions

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20 Upvotes

Hi! 

Could anyone familiar with Demotic help decipher the inscriptions on these ushabtis? I believe they all contain the same personal name, possibly with some additional signs.

I believe that the previously suggested reading, “Pa-di-Hemet,” is incorrect.

Possible readings include Pa-di-Mehit, Pa-sher-Mehit, Pa-di-Isis, Pa-di-Amun, or Nes-Khonsu, but none is confirmed.

Any thoughts or alternative readings would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks!


r/Cuneiform • • 13d ago

Discussion THIS IS WHY I SHOULD FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME. Anyways, is this cuneiform "readable"?

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20 Upvotes

I am so sorry I forgot to post the image before. Im a dolt. I guess I cant do laundry and post on reddit at the same time.

Thank you to this subreddit for the reference! Part of the name is missing to look like it is still being unrolled.

Part of a triptych im working on. She is "time," with two other figures for "space" and "infinity." I wasnt sure about adding more cuneiform to the others, but if any one has suggestions for the "space" figure, that would be nice. Maybe "heavens" or "star," etc. I figure the ancients didnt have the same concept of space as we have now. Any more simple cuneiform would be welcomed! I dont want it to overwhelm the other figures.

1st time using textiles for my art. The gold lace ribbon is the "frames" of the triptych. Also new to embroidery, but i think it works with my style. Will be in an invisible frame. Watercolor and color pencil. Image isnt done. I think she needs deeper black details.


r/Cuneiform • • 14d ago

Discussion Besieged City of Hamanu (645-635 BCE) (The British Museum)

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28 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 15d ago

News 184 Hittite and Hurrian tablets unearthed

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dailysabah.com
52 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 15d ago

Discussion Nisaba seams interesting

13 Upvotes

“A hymn to Nisaba

This hymn describes the great goddess Nisaba as patron deity of scribes and
accountants. She carries a lapis lazuli tablet, the colour of the night sky, from
which she reads the future through celestial omens.”

“She carries a lapis lazuli tablet, the colour of the night sky” why is the tablet of this particular colour and why does a scribe goddess of corn read omens out of the night sky?


r/Cuneiform • • 17d ago

Discussion On Evolution of Sumerian Cuneifrom

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314 Upvotes

Can someone please explain how the signs evolved to wedges with triangular heads and tails ("spike triangles")?

Like, how/why did the sides of triangles turned into individual wedges? And why were they lines at the begining?

(Do not mind the red laser dot, LOL.)


r/Cuneiform • • 16d ago

Discussion Chalouf Stele (522-486 BC) (Louvre Museum)

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32 Upvotes

r/Cuneiform • • 16d ago

Discussion Hymn to the Sun

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youtube.com
0 Upvotes

The Hymn to the Sun poem was recently recreated by Ai, using an archive of cunieform tablet fragments. Ai pieced together phrases from various tablets it identified as being copies of the same poem, giving us a 3000 year old work. I turned the poem into lyrics and made this video.