Editing Cuneiform (section)

===Derived scripts===
====Old Persian cuneiform (5th century BC)====
{{main|Old Persian cuneiform}}
{{multiple image|perrow=2|total_width=270|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| header=Old Persian cuneiform syllabary<br /><small>(c.&nbsp;500 BC)</small>
| image1   = Old Persian cuneiform.jpg
| image2   = Tomb of Darius I DNa inscription part II.jpg
| footer=[[Old Persian cuneiform]] syllabary (left), and the [[DNa inscription]] (part II) of [[Darius the Great]] (c.&nbsp;490 BC), in the newly created Old Persian cuneiform.
}}
The complexity of cuneiforms prompted the development of a number of simplified versions of the script. [[Old Persian cuneiform]] was developed with an independent and unrelated set of simple cuneiform characters, by [[Darius the Great]] in the 5th century BC. Most scholars consider this writing system to be an independent invention because it has no obvious connections with other writing systems at the time, such as [[Elamite language|Elamite]], Akkadian, [[Hurrian language|Hurrian]], and [[Hittite language|Hittite]] cuneiforms.<ref>Windfuhr, G. L.: "Notes on the old Persian signs", page 1. Indo-Iranian Journal, 1970.</ref>

It formed a semi-alphabetic syllabary, using far fewer wedge strokes than Assyrian used, together with a handful of logograms for frequently occurring words like "god" ({{Script|Xpeo|𐏎}}), "king" ({{Script|Xpeo|𐏋}}) or "country" ({{Script|Xpeo|𐏌}}). This almost purely alphabetical form of the cuneiform script (36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms), was specially designed and used by the early Achaemenid rulers from the 6th century BC down to the 4th century BC.<ref name=schmitt>{{citation|last=Schmitt|first=R.|chapter=Old Persian|title=The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas|editor=Roger D. Woodard|edition=illustrated|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-521-68494-1|page=77}}</ref>

Because of its simplicity and logical structure, the Old Persian cuneiform script was the first to be deciphered by modern scholars, starting with the accomplishments of [[Georg Friedrich Grotefend]] in 1802. Various ancient bilingual or trilingual inscriptions then permitted to decipher the other, much more complicated and more ancient scripts, as far back as to the 3rd millennium Sumerian script.

====Ugaritic====
[[Ugaritic]] was written using the [[Ugaritic alphabet]], a standard Semitic style [[alphabet]] (an ''[[abjad]]'') written using the cuneiform method.