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

BCE, an ancient accountant recorded an order for more than 200 wooden tables, chairs, and stools. How do we know this? From a tiny tablet with cuneiform writing discovered in southern Turkey. Although ...

The oldest reference in the first known writing — cuneiform — was not about gods or kings, but about beer. Lots of it. It was ...

Instead of referring to sounds in an essentially arbitrary way, pictures refer to the world. As such, they require no ...