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

The earliest known writing system, called cuneiform, was invented around 3100 B.C.E. in Mesopotamia. Before cuneiform, however, humans used a simpler writing system called proto-cuneiform that ...

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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 ...

It's one of the earliest examples of writing that we know; it's about beer and the birth of bureaucracy. "For me, it's a first sign of writing, but it also tells you about the growth of the early ...

and early writing systems. The present-day Near East is the cradle of the world's oldest and largest historical empires. It is also an area greatly influenced by Western imperialism ideologies and ...