The elegant pictorial writing system of the ancient Egyptians—known as hieroglyphics—has fascinated generations of archeologists. Its precise origins are uncertain. One ancient Egyptian legend holds ...

The Indus Valley civilization was one of the most advanced in the world for over 500 years. More than 1000 settlements sprawled across 250,000 square miles of what is now Pakistan and northwest India ...

Researchers have uncovered links between the precursor to the world’s oldest writing system and the mysterious, intricate designs left behind by engraved cylindrical seals that were rolled across clay ...

Ancient writing systems tell stories of forgotten civilizations and lost knowledge. Their decipherment often requires decades of scholarly work, combining linguistics, archaeology, and historical ...

The room we are in is locked. It is windowless and lit from above by a fluorescent bulb. In the hallway outside—two stories beneath the city of London—attendants in dark suits patrol silently, giving ...

Found in the throne room of the Black Panther movie, Nsibidi was a method of writing in Southeastern Nigeria even before European civilisation came to West Africa. Nsibidi is a very exclusive system ...

In a region in Georgia, a mysterious Bashplemi tablet has surfaced with a brand-new writing system that was never seen before. And it may alter current beliefs about ancient writing systems ...

Some ancient writing systems cannot be deciphered. Can artificial intelligence help crack the codes of the past?

SANTA CRUZ — While a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, UC Santa Cruz history professor Elaine Sullivan unearthed ancient artifacts in Syria marked with an alphabetic script whose meaning ...

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Ancient written languages emerged as a revolutionary development in human history, allowing civilizations to record important ...