How were cuneiform and hieroglyphics alike and different?
Both were writing forms which passed information from person to person – from one generation to another. Cuneiform began in Sumer (by the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers) and Hieroglyphic which started somewhere around Memphis in Egypt. Both started around the same time – and they were tremendous acts of human genius to stumble on anything this complex. But Cuneiform was written for people to understand (who could read it) – Hieroglyphic, on the other hand, was a religious form of writing which was actually meant to obscure what the author was saying – perhaps Hieroglyphic was written to be read by the gods. Cuneiform also had a fairly long history as it developed from simple markings to a complex language. Hieroglyphic seems to have sprung instantly into existence – perhaps in one generation. Then the Egyptian people were so conservative that certain elements of Hieroglyphic remained unchanged for the next 4000 years until it was finally lost all together. Both languages
