The Egyptians used hieroglyphics in the same way as the Sumerians used cuneiform. Cuneiform means "wedge - shaped."
Sumerian scribes would use a stylus to imprint or impress wedge shaped marks in clay. The marks formed simple pictures or pictograms. For instance, a picture of the head of a person was read as the word "head". With time, The Sumerians improved this by adding sounds and meanings.
The writing was done on the clay tablets using a stylus made from a reed. The clay had to be soft and moist during writing, after which it was allowed to harden forming a permanent record.