The tablets were purposefully thrown in a well to obscure what was written on them, but there were still impressions on the wood scholars painstakingly deciphered.

Roman “wax tablets” were wooden frames holding a thin layer of wax used like a reusable notepad. The wax is gone in the Tongeren material, but stylus pressure sometimes bit deep enough to leave ...

A new translation of cuneiform relics from the second millennium B.C. highlights the warnings that astrologers saw in eclipses. By Franz Lidz It was good to be the king in ancient Babylonia, unless, ...

A discovery in southern Iraq has given us a rare glimpse into the world of ancient bureaucracy. Researchers from the British Museum and Iraq have unearthed over 200 clay cuneiform tablets and 60 seals ...

One of three stone tablets found in northeastern Iraq that may reveal more information about Mesopotamian life. University of Central Florida, courtesy of Tiffany Earley-Spadoni An ancient game board, ...

Ancient “curse tablets” were found inside graves at an excavation site in France, archaeologists said. Service d'archéologie, 2024 While excavating a historic hospital in France, a team of ...

Editor’s note: This story is part of Meet a UChicagoan, a regular series focusing on the people who make UChicago a distinct intellectual community. Read about the others here. In the half-dark of a ...

Red tape may feel like a modern-day frustration, but according to archaeologists, it's been a part of governance for millennia. Evidence from ancient Mesopotamia reveals that bureaucratic systems were ...