Researchers investigating how the first writing arose identified the motifs on preliterate "cylinder seals" used in the trade of agricultural products and textiles.

Oxford historian, Dr Moudhy Al Rashid, on her book Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History ...

Assyrian scribes are often depicted in pairs. One writing in Akkadian on a cuneiform tablet, the other writing in Aramaic on a parchment or papyrus sheet. Among several bronze lion-weights found at ...

Cuneiform is one of the earliest forms of written expression and so represents a huge leap forward by human kind. This writing system was in use for more than 30 centuries and was finally replaced ...

Deciphering some people's writing can be a major challenge—especially when that writing is cuneiform characters imprinted onto 3,000-year-old tablets. Now, Middle East scholars can use ...

This piece of clay contains some of the earliest writing in the world. It's called 'cuneiform,' which means wedge-shaped. This tablet is a record of the daily beer rations for workers. Beer here ...