The Mystery of the World’s Oldest Writing System Remained Unsolved Until Four Competitive Scholars Raced to Decipher It

In the 1850s, cuneiform was just a series of baffling scratches on clay, waiting to spill the secrets of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia

By Joshua Hammer

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/mystery-worlds-oldest-writing-system-remained-unsolved-until-four-scholars-raced-decipher-it-180985954/?utm_source=smithsoniandaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=editorial&lctg=93133550

Austen Henry Layard at PG:

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/40288

#history #oldmanuscript