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
Ne (cuneiform) actual 'letters'.) The ne (cuneiform) sign has the following uses, besides "ne", in the "Epic of Gilgamesh": The sign is a "two-part" compound sign. The center and left is the sign for "[[am (cuneiform)]]", and the right is the sign for "[[is (cuneiform)]]", [[Image:Sumer gis.jpg|100x24px]], (and listed as [[Giš (cuneiform)]], cuneiform "GIŠ" (the "is" sign) being the use for [[GIŠ (wood Sumerogram)]]). The specific usage numbers for the sign's meaning in the "Epic of Gilgamesh" is as follows: "bil"-(9), "kúm"-(5), "ne"-(1), "pil"-(2), "ṭè"-(13), "BIL"-(3), "NE"-(1). In the Amarna letters, the sign is used for spelling "qabû" in the introduction for