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Inscription on the Negau helmet B. Source: Peter1936F / CC BY-SA 4.0

Do the Runes on the Negau Helmet B Really Date Back Over 2,000 Years?

The exact origin of the runic alphabet is still an enigma for scholars, who continue in their efforts to deduce when it first appeared. Because of this, every new archaeological excavation that bears...
Researcher holding the bronze Irulegi hand inscribed in Vasconic script. Source: Aiestaran, M. et. al / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Bronze Hand Inscribed with Rare Vasconic Script Linked With Basque Found in Spain

A stunningly rare artifact found at an Iron Age site in Spain contains an example of the equally rare ancient Vasconic script. Dating to the first century BC, the artifact in question is a flattened...
Rongorongo Tablet D engraved with the undeciphered script.  Source: (© Museum Archives of the Congregazione dei Sacri Cuori di Gesu e Maria, 3D model Produced by ERC INSCRIBE Project, based at the University of Bologna)

Undeciphered Rongorongo Script Found on Easter Island Predates European Contact

There has long been an air of mystery and intrigue surrounding a set of wooden tablets with writing on them found on the tiny, remote South Pacific island of Rapa Nui (more commonly known as Easter...
A hooded scribe working on an ancient manuscript.  Source: UniverseInside / Adobe Stock

Top 10 Mysterious Ancient Manuscripts and Inscriptions Yet to be Deciphered

While exploring the enigmatic depths of ancient history, scholars often stumble upon cryptic relics, among which lie manuscripts that continue to defy the most skilled scholars and linguists. The...
Ernst Stötzner during scanning a cuneiform tablet in order to decipher the text.  Source: Maike Glöckner/Uni Halle

Ancient Cuneiform Tablets Instantly Deciphered By Revolutionary Methods

New artificial intelligence software is now able to decipher difficult-to-read texts on cuneiform tablets, almost in an instant. Instead of photos, the AI system uses 3D models of the tablets,...
Location of bilingual inscription, which helped linguists crack the ancient Kushan language, in Tajikistan. Source: Bobomullo Bobomulloev / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

2,000-Year-Old Unknown Kushan Language Is Finally Deciphered

Since the 1960s, archaeologists in Central Asia have found rocks carved with a mysterious unknown language. Now, a team from the University of Cologne has deciphered the unknown script, revealing it...
Hand of Irulegi with engraving of early Basque language.      Source: Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi

Enigmatic Bronze Hand Holds First Basque Script Ever Discovered

A linguistic expert has decoded curious symbols on a 2,100-years-old bronze hand that was discovered last year at an Iron Age castle in Spain. The symbols represent the “earliest” text ever...
Close up of the Liber Linteus. Source: Curious Expeditions / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The Liber Linteus: An Egyptian Mummy Wrapped in a Cryptic Message

In 1798, the French under Napoleon Bonaparte launched a military campaign in Egypt. Along with soldiers and military personnel, Napoleon brought a large number of scholars and scientists known as...
Example of Vai script, which researchers believe can provide insight into the development of writing. Source: British Library

Vai Script Invented in the 1800s Sheds Light On the Development of Writing

An isolated African script is revealing secrets about the unknown evolutionary origins of handwriting and the development of writing. The Vai script was created just two centuries ago to solve the...
Deriv; Hawaiian Tiki carvings and Easter Island statues with Rongorongo script

Was there a Common Writing System used by Pacific Islanders?

In 2016 two tourists found engraved petroglyphs on a Hawaiian Beach. This was an important find because it suggested that the ancient Polynesians had a common writing system which was used from...
Armenian Alphabet Monument. Source: Rita Willaert / CC BY 2.0

The Armenian Alphabet, A Vision From God

The Armenian alphabet is the script developed for the writing of the Armenian language. This alphabetic writing system was developed during the 5th century AD and is still in use today. The Armenian...
The Phrygian King Midas monument named Yazilikaya at Eskişehir, Turkey. (Selcuk/Adobe Stock)

Lost Kingdom that Crushed King Midas Identified in Turkey

Archaeologists have made an amazing discovery in the south of Turkey. While investigating an area rich in archaeological remains they believe that they have found a formerly lost city and kingdom...
Indus Valley seal found at Mohenjo Daro with script (Peter / Flickr)

IT Guru Unlocks Secrets of Ancient Indus Script

The Indus Valley civilization, also known as the Harappan civilization, was the earliest known urbanized ancient culture that emerged on the Indian subcontinent between 2500–1700 BC, and according to...
Closeup of glyphs on a Mayan calendar. Credit: zimmytws / Adobe Stock

Artificial Intelligence Inching Closer to Deciphering Long Lost Languages

With new technology available to us, we’re inching closer to the end of the days when deciphering ancient languages is a painstaking task filled with frustration and confusion. Nifty machines...
Sumerian civilization artifact.

Sumer: Where Written Language, Arithmetic and Civilization Were Born

The Sumerian civilization (known also as Sumer) was one of the earliest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization emerged in the region of southern Mesopotamia (modern day southern Iraq...
Sumerian tablets, Sumerian script is known as cuneiform. Source: Pixabay/ CC0

Sumerian Tablets: A Deeper Understanding of the Oldest Known Written Language

Ancient languages are captivating despite the fact that studying them or learning about them is a long, complex process. Of course, many students just get briefly acquainted with this subject and...
Assyrian Cuneiform

Deciphering Cuneiform to Get a Handle on Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

Cuneiform is a system of writing that was invented by the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia. Believed to have been created sometime during the 4th millennium BC (between 3500 and 3000 BC), this script...
Ashurbanipal: The Oldest Surviving Royal Library in the World with Over 30,000 Clay Tablets

Ashurbanipal: The Oldest Surviving Royal Library in the World with Over 30,000 Clay Tablets

The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal has sometimes been described as the ‘first library’ in the world, or the ‘oldest surviving royal library in the world’. The library was discovered by archaeologists...
Egyptian Papyrus from Macquarie University with proposed Coptic Love Spell

French Academic Detects A Little Bit of Love Magic on Egyptian Papyrus

A French University lecturer has announced that he has deciphered an Egyptian magical spell written on a piece of papyrus. The spell has baffled experts, because of its enigmatic language and imagery...
The engraved whetstone found in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Karen Langsholt Holmqvist/NIKU

Puzzling Medieval Runes Found on Stone in Norway

A rare find of a stone bearing engravings of runes that date back to the Middle Ages has been unearthed recently at an excavation near Oslo. The relic is a whetstone which was a tool used for...
Luwian Hieroglyphic inscription by the Great King of Mira, Kupanta-Kurunta, composed at about 1180 BC.

3,200-Year-Old Stone Inscription Narrates the Tales of Sea People and a Trojan Prince

A group of Swiss and Dutch archaeologists have announced the rediscovery of a 29-meter-long (95 ft) Luwian hieroglyphic inscription that supposedly narrates the tales of mysterious “Sea People” and a...
relief at the ancient Persian city of Persepolis (now in modern Iran), including inscriptions in cuneiform, the world’s oldest form of writing.

The Controversial Road to the Recovery of Cuneiform Texts

It is a little-known piece of history that Saddam Hussein was a great fan of ancient Mesopotamian literature. His enthusiasm for epics written in cuneiform – the world’s oldest known form of writing...
A section of the letter supposedly written by a nun possessed by Satan.

17th Century Letter Allegedly Written by Possessed Nun Decoded For the First Time

After 341 years, a mysterious jumble of archaic script allegedly written by an Italian nun possessed by Satan has finally been unraveled. Scientists have accomplished the feat through the use of a...
Mayan script is typically in the form of blocks, which can represent a sound, word, or sentence.

Linguists Are Finally Unravelling the Mysteries Trapped Within Mayan Hieroglyphs

Today, there are over six million people that speak a language that evolved out of the Maya civilization, which inhabited parts of what are now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador for...

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