The world's oldest known system of writing was influenced by symbols used for trade — engravings found on cylinders used in ...

New research traces Mesopotamian origins of writing back to trade symbols, shedding light on the evolution of written ...

"We focused on seal imagery that originated before the invention of writing, while continuing to develop into the ...

The discoveries shed new light on life in ancient Mesopotamia. Examples of the cuneiform tablets found, and an aerial view of Fayadia District, Iraq. Photo: Iraqi State Board of Antiquities and ...

This is a Sumerian cuneiform clay tablet from the Ur III period, c.2100 B.C. This was the heyday of the Sumerian civilisation which occupied much of modern day Iraq. Sumerian was a non-Semitic ...