A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began

A long-overlooked writing system from 5000 years ago is still largely undeciphered, but could mark the moment humans first represented their speech with written words

A lost ancient script reveals how writing as we know it really began

A long-overlooked writing system from 5000 years ago is still largely undeciphered, but could mark the moment humans first represented their speech with written words

Scribal Copyists and Repetition in Ancient Mesopotamia

Explore how Mesopotamian scribal repetition reshaped memory, authority, and creativity, and why ancient fears of mechanical knowledge still matter today.

How to Write in Cuneiform, the Oldest Writing System in the World: A Short Introduction

Teaching child visitors how to write their names using an unfamiliar or antique alphabet is a favorite activity of museum educators, but Dr. Irving Finkel, a cuneiform expert who specializes in ancient Mesopotamian medicine and magic, has grander designs.

Finding the ‘universal’: How Chinese aesthetics shaped the Russian modernists

In a new book, Yale’s Jinyi Chu shows how Russian modernists turned to Chinese art forms to expand their understanding of the universal.

The Golden Age of Japanese Pencils, 1952-1967

It was the summer of 1952, and the executives of Tombow Pencil were about to revolutionize the Japanese pencil industry—or, possibly, fall flat on their faces. Hachiro Ogawa, the son of founder Harunosuke Ogawa, was Tombow's managing director, and he had just finished a years-long project, at enormous cost,

The Mortuary Roll of Lucy of Hedingham

Typewriters 101

Typewriters 101 provides an easy and reliable source for anyone to purchase, repair, or learn about their own vintage typewriter.

Londoner solves 20,000-year Ice Age drawings mystery

Furniture conservator Ben Bacon spent hours of his own time decoding cave paintings.