Nisaba Charting the Heavens Painting

Nisaba is the Sumerian goddess who invented written language. She likely began as a goddess of grain, and inspired her priestesses to keep track of the harvest with marks on clay tablets, which gradually become more complex until the first written alphabet was created. She was the Goddess of scribes, and all writing began with her praises. She was described circa 2125 BC in the Gudea cylinder as holding a gold stylus and a clay tablet carrying the image of starry heaven. In the Hymn to Nisaba, her tablet is made is of lapis lazuli, a semi-precious gemstone prized for its deep blue color.