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

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

In Mesopotamia, the birthplace of civilization, the earliest known writing system started around 3,000 BCE. Developed by the Sumerians and written on clay tablets, the first cuneiform is largely ...

The oldest known example of writing comes from Mesopotamia and dates to about ... a non-alphabetic kind of writing that grew out of a simple system of pictographs into a flexible medium with ...