The area defined by the course of the Tigris and, where both rivers come close together, that of the Euphrates in the west, the Persian Gulf in the south, the vast salt desert in the east, and the mountain range centered around the high Demavend in the north, is the homeland of the ancient monarchies of the Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, and the overwhelming Persians who ruled before them. It is also the home of a peculiar type of writing that has become commonly known to us as cuneiform, which seems to have a connection to those world empires simply by its geographical occurrence. Its elements, wedge-shaped strokes and angle hooks, can be found on ancient monuments by Lake Van, near Hamadan, thus Ecbatana, in the ruins of Babylon, and at the palaces of Persepolis, only represented in various ways as symbols for letters.