ancient Near East
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Scientists Decode a 4,000-Year-Old Tablet After a Century — Information Outlives Understanding
A 4,000-year-old cuneiform tablet, long unread in a museum collection, has finally been decoded thanks to advances in linguistics, digital archives, and pattern recognition. The inscription reveals ancient economic administration and highlights a larger truth: artifacts can preserve knowledge for centuries before humanity gains the tools to understand them.
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A Forgotten Hellenistic Megacity Re-Emerges From the Desert of Southern Iraq
Archaeologists in southern Iraq are confirming the rediscovery of Alexandria on the Tigris, a long-suspected Hellenistic port city linked to the Seleucid era. Drone surveys, magnetometry, and radar reveal an urban grid, canals, and civic complexes beneath silt and desert, showing how modern imaging can expose buried centers of ancient trade and power.