The origins of writing in ancient Mesopotamia and beyond may rest on a group of cylindrical seals. A team of archeologists from the University of Bologna in Italy has identified a series of ...

When rolled on a moist clay tablet, these engravings left low-relief markings, signifying that the object's owner authorized the written document. In this respect, a cylinder seal's impression is the ...

List of illustrations -- Note on the text -- Chronology -- Eridu -- Uruk -- Shuruppak -- Akkad -- Ur -- Nippur -- Sippar -- Ashur -- Nineveh -- Babylon -- Notes and references -- Bibliographies ...

Adapting to technological advances is a defining part of 21st-century life. But it’s not unique to us: it’s been part of the human story since our earliest written records – even featuring in the ...

In the dusty city states of ancient Mesopotamia, long before the advent of written language, mysterious symbols etched into stone cylinders told stories of trade, ownership, and governance. Today, ...

Roman, Egyptian, and Chinese civilizations had many different ingenious inventions. Chocolate was a big aphrodisiac for Mesoamerican civilizations and used for energy. The first earthquake detector is ...