Cuneiform is one of the earliest systems of writing, a series of wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay. Cuneiform was developed around 3300 BCE, by the Sumerians, and was adapted for use by many cultures of the era, including the Akkadians, Assyrians, and Babylonians—and surviving in common use until the Roman Emipre spread the use of the latin alphabet in the second century CE.