ProtoSnap uses computer vision to scan the pixels in a picture of a cuneiform table and compares them to a series of ...

The origin of writing is linked to designs engraved on cylinder seals 6,000 years ago, according to new research. A series of correlations between engraving on ancient Mesopotamian artifacts and ...

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

Instead of referring to sounds in an essentially arbitrary way, pictures refer to the world. As such, they require no learning and no translation—making emojis akin to the earlist forms of writing.

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

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Along with Egyptian hieroglyphs, cuneiform is one of the oldest known forms of writing and consists of more than 1,000 unique characters. The appearance of these characters can vary across eras ...