Inventions

The people of Mesopotamia were amazing inventors. They created cuneiform, the world’s first writing system, around 3200 BCE. It looked like rows of tiny wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay tablets with a reed stylus. Scribes baked these tablets in the sun to make them hard and permanent.

They also invented the wheel, the plow, and sailboats, which made farming and trade much easier. Mesopotamians were brilliant at math and time — their number system was based on 60 instead of 10, which is why today we have 60 seconds in a minute and 360 degrees in a circle! They also made the first maps, calendars, and clocks.