Recently in Syria, archaeologists found a new source of writing from around 2400 BCE. They think that they discovered some of the oldest hints of writing in history, which was shocking to scientists, as they thought the oldest form of text was the cuneiform text.

Located in an ancient Syrian tomb, this clay print has confused archaeologists since its discovery around November 24, 2024. They are trying to figure out how to encode it, but this is proving difficult. But this could be very important because if scientists can encode it, they could find out how ancient life in Syria worked.

From what researchers uncovered, ancient Syrian people may have used this writing for labels and methods of communication.

The earliest ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics date back to about 5,200 years ago, which seems recent compared to the Syrian writing. But something that is a bit less ‘recent’ is the cuneiform text, also known as the Kish tablet, which was inscribed in 3400 BCE. This shows that there are many traces of writing scattered throughout history, but none have been found older than the Syrian text.