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
Tur (cuneiform) Tur (cuneiform) The cuneiform sign for tur, is used to denote one syllabic usage, "tur", or the sign's sumerograms; it is used in the Epic of Gilgamesh and the 14th century BC Amarna letters. The sign is based on the i (cuneiform) sign, with the one small added vertical stroke. Besides "tur", it is for sumerograms (logograms) BÀN, DUMU, and TUR. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, it is used in the following numbers: "tur"-(11 times), "BÀN"-(3), "DUMU"-(25), "TUR"-(2). The large usage of "DUMU" in the Epic is for the sumerogram being the equivalent of "son", Akkadian language "māru". In the