The origins of writing in ancient Mesopotamia and beyond may rest on a group of cylindrical seals. A team of archeologists from the University of Bologna in Italy has identified a series of ...

Joshua Hammer takes a hugely enjoyable look at three rivals who competed to decipher the world’s oldest writing ...

Designs on stone cylinders dating back six thousand years correspond to some signs of the proto-cuneiform script that emerged in the city of Uruk, in southern Iraq, around 3350–3000 BCE.

Ancient DNA has revealed links between the cultures of Egypt and Mesopotamia. Researchers sequenced whole genomes from the ...

Researchers from the University of Bologna have unveiled how ancient cylinder seals played a key role in the development of writing in ancient Mesopotamia, marking a significant breakthrough in ...

In the same city, a form of archaic writing made up of pictographic signs called proto-cuneiform also developed. Like the cylindrical seals, proto-cuneiform was used for accounting and bureaucratic ...

Researchers report that AI deciphered the Hammurabi tablet at 98% accuracy, opening the door to translating ancient cuneiform ...

Around 2,500 years ago, a princess living in what is now modern-day Iraq collected a number of artefacts, including a statue, ...

And what these ancient texts often show is that we are not so different from our forebears who came thousands of years ago, says historian Dr Moudhy Al Rashid. Her new book Between Two Rivers: Ancient ...

Researchers have made another major stride in understanding humanity’s origins of writing. In Mesopotamia, the birthplace of civilization, the earliest known writing system started around 3,000 BCE.

Researchers are shedding light on an ancient Babylonian tablet known as the oldest map of the world. The map was likely created around 2,600 years ago and offers a glimpse into the past.