Many scholars believe that cuneiform writing, glass, accounting -- and even bureaucracy -- were invented there.

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When the Babylonian cuneiform was translated, it was immediately realized that the cylinder had a very special significance.

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Many surmise cuneiform writing originated in ancient Mesopotamia to record business transactions.

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The city's financial and administrative systems relied on the world's first known system of writing, cuneiform, which was used to record transactions, issue receipts and compile inventories.

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The most serious bunions are treated with a joint-fusion surgical procedure known as a lapidus bunionectomy, in which the first metatarsal and the next bone back, a cuneiform, are fused together.

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"It is the case that at about 3200 BC the first cuneiform tablets were written that we really do recognise as being representations of language, that being the standard definition of writing, " he said.

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From surgeons making 3-D printed replacement bones to archaeologists making replicas of cuneiform tablets, the technology has a huge potential for allowing scientists to pursue their work with more flexibility and much lower costs.

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