Cuneiform times of Parthian Empire (250 BC – AD 226). The last known cuneiform inscription, an astronomical text, was written in 75 AD. The complexity of the system prompted the development of a number of simplified versions of the script. Old Persian was written in a subset of simplified cuneiform characters known today as Old Persian cuneiform. 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" and "king". Ugaritic was written using the Ugaritic alphabet, a standard Semitic style alphabet (an "abjad") written using the
Ab (cuneiform) AB, Akkadian language for "šību", "elder". In the corpus of the Amarna letters, which is another common use place for 'ab/ap', the name of some of the authors of letters to the Pharaoh, are for example Labaya, and Ayyab. In both cases the use is syllabic for "ab". The usage numbers for the "ab" cuneiform sign in the twelve, Tablets I-XII, of the "Epic of Gilgamesh", are as follows: ab-(11), ap-(28), and sumerogram AB-(12); for "šību", Akkadian language for "elder", only two spellings use "AB"; six other spelliings of "šību" are syllabic/alphabetic. Ab (cuneiform) The cuneiform ab, and ap sign,