Cuneiform is the writing used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia — the land between two great rivers, in what is now mostly Iraq. A writer pressed a cut reed into wet clay, and the marks came out shaped like little wedges. That is what the word means: "wedge-shaped".

Cuneiformcuneiform這個字 is the writing used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia指的是古代美索不達米亞人使用的文字 the land between two great rivers那是兩條大河之間的土地 in what is now mostly Iraq大致就是現在的伊拉克 A writer書寫的人 pressed a cut reed把削好的蘆葦桿 into wet clay壓進濕的泥板裡 and the marks came out shaped like little wedges壓出來的痕跡就像一個個小楔子 That is what the word means這就是這個字的意思 'wedge-shaped'「楔形的」

It is not an alphabet like English, with one letter for each sound. It is a whole system of signs that could stand for sounds or for whole words, and more than one language used it, including Sumerian and Akkadian. It is one of the oldest writings we can still read.

It is not an alphabet like English它不是像英文那樣的字母系統 with one letter for each sound一個音對應一個字母 It is a whole system of signs它是一整套符號系統 that could stand for sounds or for whole words可以代表聲音，也可以代表整個字 and more than one language used it而且不只一種語言使用它 including Sumerian and Akkadian包括蘇美語和阿卡德語 It is one of the oldest writings它是最古老的文字之一 we can still read我們現在還讀得懂

You will meet the word in history class, in museums, and in news about old cities. We use it as an adjective (cuneiform tablets) and as a noun (cuneiform for the writing itself).

in history class在歷史課 in museums在博物館 and in news about old cities還有關於古城的新聞裡 You will meet the word你會看到這個字 We use it as an adjective我們可以把它當形容詞用 (cuneiform tablets)（像cuneiform tablets楔形文字泥板） and as a noun也可以當名詞用 (cuneiform for the writing itself)（cuneiform指這種文字本身）

Though actually, the wedges were a way of writing, not a language — saying "they spoke cuneiform" is the usual slip.

Though actually不過實際上 the wedges were a way of writing這些楔形符號是一種書寫方式 not a language不是一種語言 saying 'they spoke cuneiform'說「他們說cuneiform」 is the usual slip是常見的說錯