We cannot yet be certain whether writing spread from Mesopotamia, or developed independently in these civilisations. As Mesopotamian society became more complex, writing allowed administrators to ...

The selection of cylinder seals they analyzed originated before writing emerged in ancient Mesopotamia, through to the proto-literate period. They argue that similarities in the way common ...

The world’s oldest known writing system may have had its origins in the imagery on decorated cylinders used to denote ownership. Some of the symbols on these cylinder seals correspond to those ...