Cuneiform, the oldest identified writing system, defied deciphering – until 1857. What happened then makes a terrific read, ...

Numerous cuneiform tablets relate tales ... and goddesses that were believed to control every aspect of life. In the Mesopotamian world, the gods owned the cities, and humans did their bidding ...

Almost 4,000 years ago, a Mesopotamian man named Nanni was so disappointed with the copper he bought from a trader named ...

Scholars had only recently succeeded in cracking the code to the region's history: the complex cuneiform (wedge-shaped) script in which most of the ancient Mesopotamian texts were written.

The finding reinforces an idea proposed in earlier research: that cuneiform script — which was developed in early Mesopotamia around 3100 B.C. and is thought to be the earliest writing system ...

When a vast library of texts amassed by Mesopotamian King Ashurbanipal was burned to the ground about 2700 years ago, the clay tablets were preserved by the heat. Selena Wisnom's new book reveals more ...

The translation of ancient Assyrian writing into modern languages was a challenge that had long vexed historians. Three ...

Researchers have discovered an extensive and remarkably well-preserved system of ancient irrigation canals in the Eridu ...