As time went by, the cuneiform got very complex and the distinction between a pictogram and syllabogram became vague. Several symbols had too many meanings to permit clarity. Therefore, symbols were put together to indicate both the sound and the meaning of a compound. The word 'raven' had the same logogram as the word 'soap' [NAGA, the name of a city and the patron goddess of Eresh [NISABA. Two phonetic complements were used to define the word in front of the symbol and [gu behind. Finally, the symbol for 'bird' was added to ensure proper interpretation.