Cuneiform to left-to-right in horizontal rows (rotating all of the pictographs 90° counter-clockwise in the process) and a new wedge-tipped stylus was introduced which was pushed into the clay, producing wedge-shaped ("cuneiform") signs; these two developments made writing quicker and easier. By adjusting the relative position of the tablet to the stylus, the writer could use a single tool to make a variety of impressions. Cuneiform tablets could be fired in kilns to bake them hard, and so provide a permanent record, or they could be left moist and recycled, if permanence was not needed. Many of the clay tablets found
Ma (cuneiform) an increased prepositional use of i (cuneiform), for Akkadian "ina", (i-na), for "in, into, etc." ---- Ma (cuneiform) The cuneiform ma sign, is found in both the 14th century BC Amarna letters and the "Epic of Gilgamesh". In the Epic it is also used as the sumerogram MA, (for Akkadian language "mina", "manû", a weight measure, as MA.NA, or MA.NA.ÀM). The usage of cuneiform "ma" in the "Epic of Gilgamesh", is only exceeded by the usage of a (cuneiform) (1369 times, and 58, A (sumerogram), versus 1047 times for "ma", 6 for MA (sumerogram)). The high usage for "a" is