Writing is a complex system of rules that tells us how to arrange and interpret symbols to convey all kinds of information, from literal descriptions to abstract thoughts.

Spanish archaeologists recently announced the discovery of an ancient stone with perplexing symbols carved onto it. The symbols, experts believe, are actually an ancient alphabet. If their ...

An engraving on an ancient lice comb is potentially the oldest known sentence written using an alphabet. The ivory comb bears a sentence in an early Canaanite script, estimated to date back almost ...

Clay objects roughly the size of fingers were discovered during a dig at the ancient city of Umm el-Marra. The engraved symbols may be part of the earliest known alphabet. What appears to be ...

The ancient Egyptians invented one of the earliest known writing systems used from around 3000 BC. The symbols they used were called hieroglyphs, which comes from a Greek word meaning ‘sacred ...

While still a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, UC Santa Cruz professor Elaine Sullivan unearthed ancient artifacts in Syria marked with the oldest known alphabetic symbols.

Symbols on finger-sized clay objects discovered during dig at ancient city of Umm el-Marra could be earliest known alphabet (Glenn Schwartz, Johns Hopkins University) ...

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

A Johns Hopkins archaeologist recycles a 20-year-old hypothesis that small clay cylinders found in an ancient tomb reset the genesis of letters by 500 years. Why are people listening now?

Researchers have discovered evidence of the oldest alphabetic writing in human history. The writing was etched onto clay cylinders discovered during a dig at an ancient Syrian city.